URGENT MEDIA ACTION

BRISBANE TIMOR LESTE GOODWILL COALITION

FOR JUSTICE IN THE TIMOR SEA

On 20^th September the Australian Government will enter the next round of negotiations with the Timorese Government on the Timor Sea. These talks threaten to undermine the sovereignty of this new nation and jeopardise its economic independence if the Australian government pressures East Timor into accepting unfair maritime boundaries in exchange for short-term financial concessions that fall short of due entitlements under international law. The recent apparent breakthrough in negotiations does not guarantee East Timor the sovereign right to establish its boundaries according to international law and benefit from resources in its legitimate territory.

We believe that as a sovereign nation, Timor Leste has the right to settle its boundaries with neighbouring countries and to benefit from its natural resources, particularly as this new nation needs the revenue to develop and provide its citizens with basic services, such as schools and hospitals. Australia should be a friendly and cooperative neighbour to Timor Leste, building on the goodwill between the two nations and respecting the economic, social and cultural rights of the East Timorese.

As Australians we can do better than this! Australia should:

• stick to international legal principles in re-negotiating maritime boundaries with Timor-Leste
• get on with the negotiations in the spirit of goodwill, rather than the six-monthly stalling tactics. Agree to speed up talks per year and a fixed timetable for finalisation of the boundaries within 3 – 5 years .
• reverse its March 2002 withdrawal from ITLOS and from the ICJ with respect to maritime boundary disputes and agree to international adjudication of the boundary it an agreed timetable for succesful negotiations is not met.
• recognise Timor-Leste as a sovereign nation legally entitled to establish maritime boundaries in accordance with international law
• stop relying on negotiations in 1972 and 1989 with the occupier of Timor-Leste, Indonesia.
• be a friendly and cooperative neighbour to Timor Leste, building on the goodwill between the two nations and respecting the economic, social and cultural rights of the East Timorese
• ensure Timor Leste is able to access its fair share of this revenue so it has the capacity and confidence to implement its own development and poverty eradication programs.
• ensure this nation on our doorstep need not continue to struggle to get on its feet.

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Write a letter to the editor. Keep it short and snappy. Add your name, address, e-mail and phone number (or they won’t publish it!).
It usually takes at least a week before they publish. The larger newspapers tend to respond to the reaction to a recent article or news item whereas the smaller community newspapers are not so stringent on timeliness but do tend to go for a "local community connection" to the story.

• In 1972, Australia and Indonesia signed a boundary treaty based on the now outdated continental shelf principle, establishing a seabed boundary much closer to Indonesia than to Australia. Portugal (colonial ruler of East Timor at that time) refused to participate in the discussions, so the boundary was incomplete, resulting in the "Timor Gap".
• In 1989 Australia and Indonesia agreed on the Timor Gap Treaty, which divided revenue from the seabed resources in the "Gap," giving Australia the largest share in return for Australia's recognition of Indonesia's illegal annexation of East Timor. The Treaty defined a small Zone of Cooperation (ZOC), within which resources would be shared equally between Australia and Indonesia. East Timor’s independence invalidated the Timor Gap Treaty with Indonesia.
• In March 2002, before East Timor's independence, Australia withdrew from the jurisdiction of the two international arbitration bodies used to settle maritime boundary disputes, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.
• On 20 May 2002, Australia and East Timor signed the Timor Sea Treaty giving East Timor 90% of revenues from inside the Zone of Cooperation or Joint Petroleum Development Area. Australia profits from larger deposits outside the JPDA, and closer to East Timor than to Aust.
• In 2003, Australia proposed a settlement based on the outdated continental shelf boundaries (pre-UNCLOS) that would give East Timor only 18 per cent of revenues from one field in the disputed area - Greater Sunrise. These are estimated to be between $10 billion and $12 billion over the 25-year life of the development.
• In Early August 2004, in talks between Foreign Ministers, Downer and Ramos Horta Australia offered up to 50 per cent of the Greater Sunrise gas reserves to East Timor (instead of 18%) in a $3 billion bid to defuse a maritime boundary dispute. However Mr Downer insists the agreement with Mr Ramos Horta has no boundary implications. The boundary will remain the edge of the continental shelf (in places is less than 80km from the southern coast of East Timor)
• On September 20^th, if Australia stuck to the UNCLOS principles in re-negotiating maritime boundaries with Timor Leste the proceeds from the 68% of the petroleum resources in the Timor Sea that lie closer to East Timor than to Australia would, justifiably, go to East Timor and they would receive around US $12 billion, while under current interim arrangements, East Timor expects to receive just US $4.4 billion
  

To the Editor,

Australia received international kudos for their role in East Timor including their lead role in INTERFET and being a major donor to the new nation. However, two years after independence Australia’s approach to maritime boundary negotiations with East Timor undermines the viability of East Timor and tarnishes what was our finest foreign policy achievement. Last month, foreign minister Downer posed as the benevolent neighbour for conceding up to 50% of revenues from one of the disputed fields, Greater Sunrise, to East Timor (instead of the 18% Australia previously allocated to them). But Australia still claims the boundary between the two countries lies along the edge of the continental shelf, which is sometimes less than 80 kms from East Timor’s shores.

In fact 68% of the petroleum resources in the Timor Sea lie closer to East Timor than to Australia and international law provides for East Timor as a sovereign nation to locate its maritime boundary half way between the countries. In their negotiations with East Timor on the Timor Sea Treaty, I’m sure many Australians feel, as I do, that the Australian government must demonstrate its commitment to giving East Timor a fair chance for a stable future. This means that in the next talks, on September 20^th, this country should be prepared to negotiate maritime boundaries in accordance with international law of the sea and commit to regular talks to finalise the boundary negotiations as speedily as possible. No Australian government needs to secure its finances by snatching the great bulk of resources that are rightfully East Timor’s. I hope the election ‘hype’ does not distract attention from these important negotiations.

Or a shorter one:

To the Editor,

Shame Australia! East Timor is the largest foreign contributor to Australia’s budget as we reap more than $1 million a day from oilfields in a disputed area in the Timor Sea! In total Australia has received $2.14 billion in oil and gas revenues from the disputed areas of the Timor Sea - nearly ten times as much as it has provided in aid since 1999 ($234.5 million). Under current revenue sharing arrangements Australia takes 72% of revenues when 68% of the deposits are located closer to East Timor than to Australia. With neighbours like us, who needs enemies?! Australia should get on with fair negotiations ASAP.

Timor Lests Page http://www.uq.net.au/cjpc/eastt.htm