Global Policy Forum

The Australian government was today accused of bullying impoverished East Timor, as the two countries began talks to establish a permanent maritime boundary in the oil-rich Timor Sea. The Catholic Commission for Justice Development and Peace accused the Australian government of making a "greedy grab" for the Timor Sea oil revenue to the detriment of East Timor. The drawing of the boundary will divide up control of the estimated $30 billion in royalties from Timor Sea oil and gas deposits, including the multi-billion Greater Sunrise field.

Australia had earlier won an 82 per cent slice of the Greater Sunrise royalties in a previous deal, but this is yet to be ratified by the East Timorese parliament. East Timor wants the new seabed boundary no further away than halfway between the two countries - but Australia would lose potentially billions of dollars in royalties. The commission's executive officer Marc Purcell said under the International Law of the Sea, the boundary should be drawn in the sea halfway between the two countries - handing East Timor two-thirds of the oil riches.

He said the Australian government had refused to submit to the international "umpire", the International Court of Justice, to resolve the dispute. "If a line were drawn half way in the sea between the two countries, two thirds of these riches would lie closer to East Timor and, according to the International Law of the Sea, be rightfully theirs," Mr Purcell said. Officials fear negotiations could drag on for decades, with Australia preferring to meet only twice a year for boundary talks, while the East Timorese wanted to meet monthly. "No one is holding their breath with the negotiations," Mr Purcell said. "Negotiations, which should only take a couple of years at most, will instead only be finished when our grandchildren are heading for retirement and the oil and gas fields under Australia's control have dried up."

East Timor's Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has warned his government could withhold ratification of a joint agreement over the lucrative Greater Sunrise field if Australia did not negotiate in good faith. Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown said protests were planned at the Australian embassy in Dili over the division of the resources tomorrow. It follows a demonstration involving 1800 protesters at the embassy last week. The First Lady of East Timor, Kirsty Sword-Gusmao, today said the negotiations were key to a prosperous economic future for the country. She urged Australians to support a "fair go for East Timor". Mrs Sword-Gusmao, the Australia-born wife of President Xanana Gusmao, is in Australia for two weeks to promote the work of the ALOLA Foundation, an organisation she began to care for women and children in East Timor.

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