Former prime minister John Howard says Australia’s spy agencies acted in the national interest when they bugged East Timor’s fledgling government during negotiations over oil and gas reserves two decades ago.

Australia was roundly criticised for the bugging that occurred in 2004, when operatives from the Australian Secret Intelligence Service placed covert listening devices in the Palace of Government in Dili, given the clandestine operation came as East Timor was attempting to forge its way as a newly independent country.