A Fair Deal for East Timor by ABC News / The Age 9:07pm 12th Apr, 2004   April 12, 2004. (ABC News)    East Timor sea deal under Threat.    East Timor's Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri says his Parliament will not ratify an agreement which paves the way for oil and gas fields in the Timor Sea to be developed.    Last month, the Australian Parliament passed laws giving effect to an agreement between Australia and East Timor to develop oil and gas resources expected to generate revenues of $10 billion.    East Timor is not happy with the deal because it will receive only 18 per cent of revenue and is currently disputing the seabed and maritime boundaries.    Mr Alkatiri says there has not been good faith on the part of the Australian Government and the Australian community should object.    "I trust the Australian people, the Australian politicians, academics and all of the Australians of goodwill and I think they can really influence the Government," he said. "They still can put pressure on the government, to change the Government's position."    East Timor's ambassador to Australia, Jorge da Conceicao Teme, says Australia should listen to both moral and legal arguments. "We hope Australia, as the closest neighbour ... developed, democratic country, would not want to see East Timor become a very poor country by putting these difficulties to East Timor," Mr da Conceicao Teme said.    March 30, 2004 (Editorial: The Age)    If Australia and East Timor cannot agree on a maritime boundary, let the court decide.    East Timor's viability as a nation depends in large part upon its ability to exploit limited resources. Despite massive international aid efforts since the departing Indonesian military and anti-independence militias laid waste to 70 per cent of the island's infrastructure, the East Timorese economy remains fragile.    Its limited agricultural base aside, the one bright spot on the economic horizon for the world's newest nation lies deep beneath the Timor Sea. The oil and natural gas reserves of the surrounding waters represent the future prosperity of this tiny country.    Those resources also represent the point at which Australian and East Timorese interests collide. Australia is well aware of the worth of the oil and gas riches in the Timor Sea. It should not be forgotten that when Australia recognised Indonesian sovereignty over East Timor, it took the dubious course of entering into an agreement to develop a "zone of co-operation" with Indonesia for the exploitation of those resources, without any reference to the wishes of the East Timorese people.    A final delineation of the maritime boundary between Australia and East Timor will determine which nation controls those assets. Dili believes this would be in its interests and claims Canberra is not moving quickly enough to complete the boundary, while in the meantime continuing to exploit the oil reserves to Australia's profit. Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri says international law demands that Australia "exercise restraint in respect of the exploitation of disputed maritime areas".    East Timor has threatened to take the matter before the International Court of Justice, despite Australia's position that it will not submit to the court's jurisdiction on matters of disputed maritime boundaries.    Australia has a moral obligation to continue to deal with its neighbour both fairly and transparently. If there is a genuine dispute that the parties cannot resolve bilaterally - and from the words of Dr Alkatiri that certainly appears to be the case - then it is in Australia's interests as much as East Timor's to have the matter independently arbitrated.    As a bare minimum, legislation currently before the Australian Parliament dealing with the exploitation of oil and gas reserves should be held over until the position is clarified. If, as Australia claims, it has acted fairly towards its tiny neighbour, then it has nothing to fear from having the matter referred to the international court.    Ultimately, it is in Australia's interests to behave generously towards East Timor. Oil revenues from the Timor Sea for Australia are incidental compared to their importance and value to East Timor. Yet from both economic and security perspectives, a viable neighbour is far preferable to a vulnerable one trapped in a cycle of poverty and dependence on foreign aid.    March 10, 2004. (ABC News)    "US urges Australia to agree on fair Timor deal"    Members of the United States Congress have written to the Prime Minister John Howard urging Australia to negotiate a fair maritime boundary with East Timor. The letter is signed by 53 members of the House of Representatives. US Congress members have urged Australia to agree on an equitable sharing of oil and gas resources in the Timor Sea.    East Timor has already passed legislation setting the boundary on Australia's side of the median line, which would give it lucrative gas fields Australia considers its own. But Australia wants the boundary closer to East Timor and has refused to let international tribunals decide the matter. The letter also criticises Australia for not negotiating the issue more swiftly and says revenue from disputed areas on East Timor's side of the median line should be held in trust until a permanent boundary is settled.
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