Vannessa Hearman
On April 29, Greens Senator Kerry Nettle met with local East Timorese in Darwin and condemned the "resource-sharing" deal offered to the Timorese by the federal Coalition government as "manifestly unfair". She said that the deal currently offered to the Timorese would "rob East Timor of at least $40 billion in revenue".
Nettle challenged Labor leader Kim Beazley to pledge that a future Labor government would refer the boundary negotiations between Australia and East Timor to the International Court of Justice.
Northern Territory Chief Minister Clare Martin welcomed the imminent deal between Australia and East Timor, arguing that the winners would be "territory business — and Timor Leste". Yet under this deal, the most lucrative hydrocarbon field, the Greater Sunrise natural gas field, would be divided most inequitably — with East Timor getting less than 20% of the royalties, whereas it could be entitled to up to 100% of the royalties were the boundaries to be re-drawn using the median line between the two countries.
In recently issued letters to constituents defending the government's stance on the Timor Sea, Coalition MPs have claimed that Australia has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to East Timor. They have also argued that Australia's withdrawal from international jurisdiction on this issue "reflects the government's view that such disputes are best settled by negotiation, not litigation".
Liberal MP Kevin Andrews' letter stakes a claim on Australia's exclusive rights to "all reservoirs lying outside the Timor Sea Treaty JPDA [Joint Petroleum Development Area]" on the grounds that these fields were negotiated under the 1972 Australia-Indonesia Seabed Boundary Agreement. His letter argues that East Timor has made "ambit claims" to these fields which "Australia rightly exercises exclusive sovereign rights". Therefore, according to Andrews, Australia has no obligation to put any proceeds from the oil fields outside of the JPDA into a trust account.
Tomas Freitas, a Timorese activist in Dili with the Movement against the Occupation of the Timor Sea (MKOTT), told 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly that MKOTT is awaiting clarification from East Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's office about what the contents of the deal are. Until then, MKOTT continues to adhere to the principle that the maritime boundary delimitation is key to this struggle.
Tom Clarke, spokesperson for the Timor Sea Justice Campaign, accused the Australian government of being fearful of the outcome of any international legal proceedings on the Timor Sea issue. "Whatever the percentage split they end up settling on for the $50 billion Greater Sunrise field, it must be remembered that under international law, East Timor has a very strong legal claim over the field, while the Australian government has such a lack of confidence in its legal argument, that it pre-emptively withdrew recognition of the maritime boundary jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice", he said.
The Timor Sea Justice Campaign is calling on all supporters to continue to exert pressure on the Australian government pending further meetings between the two governments. At this stage, meetings are scheduled to take place in Sydney or Brisbane around May 11.
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, May 11, 2005.
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