Issue #1459      16 June 2010

Australia tries to bully East Timor over gas project

East Timor stories are not front-page news anymore but it does not mean that nothing of importance is taking place. Presently there is a serious diplomatic tug of war taking place between Australia and East Timor.

“…many developing countries fall victim to the corporate resource giants exploiting and plundering their sovereign resources.

“Timor-Leste (East Timor) will be the country that goes down in history as the nation to put a stop to it,” declared Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

Mr Gusmao was referring to the ongoing dispute between Timore-Leste authorities and Australia-based Woodside Petroleum. Woodside is planning to build a floating liquefied natural gas platform to develop the Sunrise natural gas fields in the Timor Sea. Timor-Leste insists on its building the LNG plant in their country, arguing that it will bring more benefits for the nation and provide desperately needed training and work opportunities for East Timorese.

The Sunrise field straddles the maritime border between Australia and the Joint Petroleum Development Area, a region 90 percent held by Timor-Leste and 10 percent by Australia. The project requires the approval of both governments.

It is not the first time Australia has tried to use bullying tactics against East Timor.

Former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri was a tough negotiator when it came to Timor-Leste’s rights to oil and gas reserves with Australia which resulted in “regime change”. Mr Alkatiri hoped that a state-owned oil company assisted by China, Brazil, Malaysia and Portugal (former colonial power) would help Timor-Leste to diversify its economic ties.

It is ironic that both the President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Gusmao seem to be extremely unhappy with Australia at the moment.

East Timor needs and is entitled to the revenue from its oil and gas for its development.

There was another development that Australia is trying to put a gloss on but is not very happy about.

Last week two 43-metre Chinese-made navy patrol boats were launched in Timor-Leste. They are not exactly the latest in defence but they are suitable for patrolling fishing grounds and, generally speaking, protect the East Timorese economic zone.

Timor-Leste is still a very poor nation. While fighting for its independence the country’s representatives stated over and over again that the nation would not be a financial burden as it had all the natural resources necessary to pay its way. And it does. It is important that Australia starts to treat its neighbour in a respectful way – trying to take advantage of it may work in the short term but it is a poor foundation for mutually beneficial relations.  

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