Tour of Duty

PLAYING FOR THE PEACEKEEPERS by Paul Stewart

On the 20th anniversary of the ‘Tour of Duty’ concert for peacekeeping troops in East Timor, Paul Stewart explains what it was like to be on the ground and what it meant to both performers and audience.

“No way! Get f***ed! F***off!”

The General looks bemused.

I’m backstage December 1999 at the Tour of Duty concert in Dili East Timor. The gig is starring an array of Australian performers. Entertaining the 4000 peacekeeping troops are Kylie Minogue, John Farnham, The Living End, ROY & HG, Gina Jeffries, Graeme Blundell, the Australian Army band and my band, Dili Allstars.

I’ve just asked the General, if he had enjoyed the show. Peter Cosgrove, later to become Australian Governor General, had been charged with bringing stability to the former Portuguese colony in 1999, after all hell broke loose, when the tiny nation decided to break away from Indonesia, which had invaded it, in 1975.

Nursing a well-earned beer the General said, “Well the concert was great but I was sitting next to President Ramos Horta and the Bishop of Dili, when Doc Neeson, lead singer of The Angels, performed his classic ‘Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again’ and then the soldiers in a roar sung a response. To my amusement, Bishop Belo leaned forward and said, 'Mr General, what are those soldiers singing?' and I said, 'Well, Lord Bishop I really can't quite make it out’. Ramos Horta looked instantly at me and I could tell that he heard it very clearly! “No way! Get f***ed! F***off!”

The General admitted he had a huge soft spot for Doc, a one-time cook in the army.

General Cosgrove, the top military man at the time, immediately impressed me at the post-concert BBQ when upon arrival, he walked right past Kylie Minogue and John Farnham to personally thank the East Timorese members of the Dili Allstars. Classy!

The Dili Allstars had been invited to appear at the event by Glenn Wheatley, who apart from being John Farnham’s manager, was a member of legendary Aussie 60’s band The Masters Apprentices.

We all saw how tough it was over there and I’ve always had a soft spot for the army as dad was a Rat of Tobruk

Like many, we were shocked by the television images from East Timor showing the destruction and violence that Indonesian backed militia inflicted on the local population of Timorese, who had decided, en-masse to form an independent nation in 1999.

“John put his hand up straight away and amazingly, Kylie agreed to come from London to do it. In eight hours I’d pulled it all together. We had to take the stage, the musical equipment, everything. I can honestly say it was one of the best shows both personally and professionally I was ever involved with.’’ Wheatley said, “When the call went out for entertainers to perform in front of peace keepers, the Who’s Who of Australian music put up their hands to contribute as did corporate Australia.  (They) all wanted to do something for the troops who had done a great job saving lives and halting destruction.’’

I was honoured when Wheatley rang me personally to invite the Dili Allstars to perform, taking into account our long history with the East Timorese independence movement.

I knew of your personal connection to East Timor so I really want you involved.

My personal connection to East Timor was a life changing day for me but equally, so was when I met East Timorese born Australian musician Gil Santos (keyboards and guitar in the band).

He lost his Dad on the same day in 1975 I lost my eldest brother Tony, who was brutally murdered by Indonesian forces with four other newsmen at Balibo.

It was Gil, who I met at an independence rally in Melbourne, who urged me not to get angry but to get even. To ‘use guitars not guns’ to bring about change and thus, the Dili Allstars were formed.

In our travels together, we have played all over Australia, East Timor, now Timor-Leste, Europe (as guests of the Portuguese Communist Party), South America and Papua New Guinea. We won the 2010 ARIA for Best Movie Soundtrack for our work on the Balibo movie.

Once Wheatley’s invitation was readily accepted, the band was examined by army doctors and given various needles, of the immunisation kind, to cope with our visit to the tropics. Much to the amusement of us all, our tough exterior, solid gay saxophone player, Jenny Pineapple fainted after her first shot.

It was a moving occasion accompanying my East Timorese Band pals Gil, Paulo, Nelito, Fatima and Amilkar back home, as many hadn’t been there since escaping as refugees.
 
The performers met in Darwin where we boarded a massive Hercules transport plane and strapped ourselves in for a bumpy one-hour flight. 

There were tears from my band mates as we touched down, some fell to their knees on the tarmac and kissed the ground of their beloved homeland that they had fought so hard to liberate. 

Upon arrival Gil couldn’t contain himself and broke out of the army base we were housed in to go into the still smouldering city, to visit much loved and much missed relatives.

He missed sound check for the first and only time in all my years working with him but you couldn’t blame the guy.

The Dili Allstars slept, ate and showered with the troops.

Yep, we all got a rough stretcher bed and at meal and shower times, we queued up with the servicemen and women.

The peacekeepers, with weapons slung over their shoulders, loved the concert that was televised live back into Australia on both Channel Nine and Channel Seven. They were enjoying the chance to relax and let their guards down. There was much applause, laughter and sing-a-longs.

The troops certainly loved Kylie in her little Santa outfit and John Farnham, with his amazing voice is still a knockabout guy who doesn’t take himself too seriously and the crowd lapped this up. Pressed by those in attendance, he even launched into his first big hit ‘Sadie The Cleaning Lady’.

“Tour of Duty was a very special project to be a part of. To head off to East Timor and perform alongside the likes of John Farnham, The Angels, The Living End and the Dili Allstars as a way of thanking the thousands of Australian Army personnel rebuilding a war torn country was something I will never forget “

“Christmas has always been a very special time of year for me and my family. The Tour of Duty concert gave me the chance to bring a bit of the spirit of Christmas to the thousands of Australian troops away from their family and loved ones in East Timor at Christmas in 1999.” Kylie Minogue

The Dili Allstars became good friends with hard rocking three-piece, The Living End, with whom we climbed the mountain that houses the huge Jesus statue overlooking Dili.

“Being part of the Tour of Duty was an amazing experience. To see the smiling faces of the soldiers and the Timorese people blended together in the audience was unforgettable, especially given the harrowing circumstances. Many thanks to the organisers, crew and other artists for bringing this special event together. It’s a shame that it had to happen but we are so glad it did”. The Living End 

Later in the evening, the Dili Allstars very kindly got us to perform one of their songs in Tetum, which was included on the B-side of one of their singles providing many mainstream music fans with an introduction to East Timor.

I have never been able to forget the Tour of Duty show to this day.  Peacekeeping veterans approach me and thank me for the support and for our music.

About the Author

Born and bred in the inner-Melbourne suburb of St Kilda, Paulie Stewart was the inaugural winner of the Essence of St Kilda essay prize – as well as an original member of infamous Melbourne punk band Painters and Dockers. Inducted into the Age Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, the group released seven albums and performed more than 1500 live shows throughout Australia, New Zealand and North America.

Stewart is also a founding member of East Timorese/Australian band The Dili Allstars, awarded a 2009 ARIA award for Best Soundtrack (Balibo). The band has toured extensively in Australia, East Timor, Portugal and Brazil, releasing three albums, two EPs and an ABC Music 'Best of' retrospective, raising large sums of money for various East Timorese charities.

He is a founder of The PRICS (Performers Releasing Information about Clean Syringes/Careful Sex), a musical troupe who delivered safe health messages in juvenile detention centers, jails and women’s refuges – and who released two albums in conjunction with leading radio youth network Triple J. Stewart is also a member of The Transplants – a rock band in which all members have undergone organ transplants. The band regularly performs to promote organ donation. He now manages and mentors leading African hiphop act The Flybz.

Biography courtesy of The Wheeler Centre.