WHEN THE TINY Airnorth plane landed at Dili airport I knew something about campaigning but little about Timorese politics. Like even the most casual Australian observer, I recognise our neighbourhood is a vastly diverse one. A comfortable friend to the south-east; an arc of unstable and developing nations to the Pacific north; the largest Muslim nation on the doorstep; beyond, the former tiger economies and the world’s most populous nations.

I arrived as one of four political staffers and consultants participating alongside Timorese counterparts in a seminar called ‘Keeping Your Campaign on Track’, a program organised and funded by ALP International Projects.