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Canberra slammed for 'bullying'
Timor
By Kalinga Seneviratne
SYDNEY - The Australian government is denying
claims that it bullied the world's newest country, and
one of its poorest - East Timor - to grab a large slice
of a US$48 billion gas and oil deal signed between the
two countries on Thursday.
The Australian Senate
passed the Timor Sea Treaty (TST) late Thursday after
intense debate - but not before Timorese Prime Minister
Mari Alkatiri and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander
Downer signed an agreement in the Timorese capital Dili
earlier in the day, covering two gas and oil fields in
the Timor Sea that divides the two countries.
During an acrimonious debate in the Senate,
Greens leader Bob Brown accused Australian Prime
Minister John Howard of "blackmailing" the Timorese
prime minister by insisting that if the deal was not
signed in Dili, the Australian parliament would delay
the ratification of the treaty.
Brown called the
agreement on developing gas and oil in the Timor Sea
"blackmail of the clearest order against our poorest
Timorese neighbor".
Alkatiri told the Australian
Broadcasting Corp (ABC) that "a lot of pressure was done
from the Australian government, which was not helpful
for the whole process".
If the Timor Sea Treaty
had not been ratified by this Tuesday, the contracts
with the petroleum companies would have run out,
depriving Australia and East Timor of revenues.
Brown was thrown out of parliament for refusing
to withdraw his allegations, but they prompted Howard to
make a special statement to parliament denying that he
had tried to "intimidate or strongarm" East Timorese
leaders over the deal.
Howard called claims of
blackmail "totally false", although leaked documents
published in online and print media showed contentious
discussions between Canberra and Dili late last year on
revenue-sharing from resources in the Timor Sea.
Downer admitted that the negotiations were tough
but played down suggestions from the opposition that it
has led to acrimonious relations between the two
countries. "Australia is on Australia's side and East
Timor is on East Timor's side. So inevitably they have
been lively negotiation, bearing in mind the enormous
amount of money that's at stake here," he said.
Under the Australia-East Timor agreement, the
first slated project is the $18 billion Bayu-Undan
field, which falls completely within a joint petroleum
development area established under the Timor Sea Treaty.
Under the treaty, the two countries have agreed
that East Timor would get 90 percent of the revenue and
Australia 10 percent from the project, which will be
spread over a period of 20 years beginning in 2004.
It is estimated East Timor will earn $15 billion
and Australia $2.5 billion over this period.
The
contentious issue is the neighboring Greater Sunrise
field, which Australia claims falls 80 percent within
Australian waters. This means East Timor would be
entitled to only 20 percent of the revenue from this
venture.
Under the agreement signed in Dili,
Australia is expected to reap $38 billion from these oil
and gas fields, while East Timor will get a meager $8
billion.
The deal will also bring substantial
benefits to the Northern Australian town of Darwin,
where a gas pipeline will be constructed across the sea
to process the gas, and export to Japan and other
countries. Up to 1,500 jobs will be created during the
construction phase and more than 100 ongoing jobs after
that.
Ever since the Timor Sea Treaty was
negotiated two years ago, the Australian government has
made a big issue of how under the accord it has given
away 90 percent of revenues to be raised from the
development of the area.
After the signing of
the Timor Sea Treaty in May, Howard said: "We must serve
our own interests, but also ensure that we are fair and
generous to the people of East Timor."
But many
East Timorese do not see it that way. In fact, they have
been calling for the renegotiation of maritime
boundaries drawn up between Indonesia and Australia
after the 1975 Indonesian annexation of East Timor, an
act that Australia recognized.
Timorese Foreign
Minister Jose Ramos Horta said in August that "Australia
is getting the lion's share of the revenue without
really being entitled to it, and Australia knows very
well that it is not entitled to it".
He
indicated then that East Timor might take the issue to
the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.
But, last year, in a move that astonished the
international community, Australia withdrew from the
ICJ's jurisdiction on maritime boundaries - making
independent arbitration impossible.
Meantime a
leaked transcript of a meeting between Downer and
Alkatiri in Dili in December, published on Friday by the
Australian alternative news website crikey.com.au, says
there was heated debate regarding the maritime boundary
issue.
At one stage, it said that Downer,
irritated by Alkatiri's consistent reference to
renegotiating maritime boundaries, said: "To call us a
big bully is a grotesque simplification of Australia. We
had a cozy economic agreement with Indonesia, we bailed
East Timor out with no economic benefit. Our
relationship is crucially important, particularly for
you, East Timor."
Later, Alkatiri said: "It is
not with generosity that you gave us 90 percent. We have
lost 10 percent". To that, Downer replied, "We claimed
100 percent and we lost 90 percent - I think that's a
pretty good outcome for you."
"Our 100 percent
claim is based on international law and the equidistance
line. It was not a random decision. The present issue of
generosity - I do not accept," replied Alkatiri.
Downer ended the meeting by saying: "We're very
tough. We don't care if you give information to the
media."
It appears that the deal on oil and gas
development was signed on Thursday without any hint of
renegotiating the maritime boundaries.
Some
critics are now asking whether Australia's sending of
troops to East Timor in 1999, to help in its quest for
independence, had been done with an eye on these oil and
gas deals.
Brown told ABC Radio: "'Blackmail' is
a word that has been used in the parliament a thousand
times, but it is never more appropriately used on this
occasion."
(Inter Press Service)
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