[stirlo]

I'm sorry but whats wrong with this?

It's exactly the job of the Australian intelligence agencies to protect for the countries interests and gain advantages where they can.

This case is even more reasonable as it's a country spying on a country so both parties have the opportunity do so.

The NSA has directly spied on corporations (Airbus) and passed the information to their own corporations (Boeing) in the past which seems less acceptable to me.

[GlennS]

There is no way East Timor has an equivalent opportunity to spy on Australia.

Australia needs these island states to stay friendly for national security reasons.

It shouldn't be taking advantage of their small and relatively unsophisticated governments to make a quick buck.

[harpiaharpyja]

I think there's an argument that kind of underhanded behaviour is not in the best interests of Australia.

[sokoloff]

Getting caught at it is not in the best interests. Getting away with it presumably is.

[BLKNSLVR]

There's obviously something fairly deeply wrong with it, or wrong with it being known by the Australian public, given the government's efforts at suppressing it.