BACK
DOOR Newsletter on East Timor home
| timor oil
BACK
DOOR Newsletter on East Timor
Timor
Oil - Voices in Solidarity
Aktivador
hakerek ho laran metin kona ba Timor nia Mina
Minyak
di Timor: Solidaritas
O
Petróleo de Timor: Solidariedade
Comments
in solidarity with East Timor's just claim to oil and gas
rights in the Timor Sea.
Priority
is given to those writers who are being denied publication in the
"mainstream" corporate-dominated or government-controlled media
Up-Dated: 9 Oct
2005
Return to Main
Contents:
BD:
The 2004 TIMOR OIL Collection
NEW = Added to BACK
DOOR Website within the past month
Bahasa
Baru 6 Okt
2005 LH: Bantuan Australia seharusnya mendukung Timor-Leste
http://www.laohamutuk.org/reports/AusAID/FTM_Bahasa.html
La’o Hamutuk mengutuk keputusan
yang baru saja diambil oleh pemerintah Australia untuk mencabut
komitmen AusAid membantu organisasi non pemerintah (LSM) Timor-Leste,
karena organisasi non pemerintah Forum
Tau Matan (FTM) mengekspresikan ketidaksetujuan mereka terhadap
pandangan-pandangan politik Australia. ... Pada akhir bulan Juli,
Counselor AusAID menginformasikan FTM bahwa alasan yang sebenarnya
pembatalan dana adalah FTM telah menandatangani siaran pers yang
berjudul ‘’Masyarakat Sipil Timor-Leste Menuntut Penyelesaian yang Adil
atas Batas Laut.’’ " La’o Hamutuk, Institut Pemantau dan Analisis
Rekonstruksi Timor Lorosa’e
NEW 6
Oct 2005 LH: Australian Aid should support Timor-Leste, not Australia’s
political interests
http://www.laohamutuk.org/reports/AusAID/FTM.html
Media Release added 9 Oct
2005
"La’o
Hamutuk
condemned the recent decision by the Australian government to revoke an
AusAID commitment to a Timor-Leste non-governmental organization (NGO),
because the NGO, Forum Tau Matan
(FTM), expressed political views
Australia disagrees with. ... At the end of July, AusAID’s
Counsellor (Development Cooperation) informed FTM that the real reason
the grant was cancelled was that FTM had signed the press release “East
Timor Civil Society demands a Fair Resolution of Maritime Boundaries.”
" La’o Hamutuk, East
Timor Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis
28 July 2005 Timor Sea Justice
Campaign: Briefing Paper on Greater Sunrise
Briefing paper added 28 July 2005
This paper has
been prepared for the [Australian] opposition parties and East Timor
solidarity and activist groups to encourage informed responses to the
signing of a temporary resource sharing agreement between Australia and
East Timor covering the Greater Sunrise gas field.
23 April
2005 ACTU: Unions urge fair go
for Timorese in Talks
Media Release added 23 Apr 2005
"
Supporting the economic development of East Timor should be a priority
for the Australian Government. With an annual budget of just $100
million East Timor is very poor. ... Both Australian and East Timorese
trade unionists are
keen to guarantee that East Timor also benefits from its fair share of
downstream development. ... The ACTU also wants to see more emphasis
placed on East Timorese
employment on the rigs and platforms in the Timor Sea. " ACTU
President Sharan Burrow
22
April 2005 APHEDA: Justice for
East Timor in Oil & Gas Negotiations
Statement of support added 23 Apr 2005
"Union Aid Abroad
supports the Timor Sea Justice Campaign in demanding that Australia:
* Stop unilaterally exploiting
contested gas and oil resources in the Timor Sea.
* Place disputed revenues taken
by the Australian Government into a trust fund to be distributed
accordingly once a permanent agreement has been reached.
* Immediately negotiate in good
faith a permanent maritime boundary in accordance with current
International Law.
* Re-recognize the authority of
the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal on
the Law of the Sea to settle the dispute by independent arbitration if
necessary." Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA
14
Apr 2005 TSJC News: Talks Set for 26th of April
Newsletter added 14 Apr 05
"The next round of
maritime boundary negotiations between the Australian
and East Timorese Governments, have been scheduled to take place in
Dili on the 26th, 27th and 28th of April. The talks are expected to
focus on details of the proposed ‘creative
solution’ in which the Australian Government has reportedly offered
$3-4 billion in return for East Timor postponing its claims of
sovereignty for up to 100 years. A protest will be held by the Timor
Sea Justice Campaign outside of
Melbourne’s DFAT offices at 2 Lonsdale St on Tuesday the 26th of April
at 12 noon. Actions are also being planned in the other capital
cities." Timor Sea Justice Campaign, Melbourne
26 Mar 2005 McKee: How
much is Sunrise really
worth?:
A revised potential revenue estimate for a disputed gas resource in the
Timor Sea
Analysis added 11 Apr 05
"Geoff's analysis shows
that, because crude oil prices have climbed dramatically since 2002,
the potential government revenue arising from a Sunrise gas project is
about four times higher than
the figures used by the oil companies and others. Geoff’s conclusions
are vital as they enable communities in East Timor,
Australia and elsewhere to appraise the actual value of the Sunrise gas
resource. Because Geoff clearly states his assumptions, these can be
used by ordinary people to evaluate the fairness or otherwise of the
Australian government’s offers to East Timor." Editor, Back Door
Newsletter
March 2005 MMIETS: Eye Witness
Accounts of Poverty & Hunger in East Timor
Accounts added 7 Apr 2005
"The whole of the Suai district is
affected by hunger. Suai had rain very early so the people planted
corn, but without further rain it has all died. Aileu had so much rain
that the crops were washed away." Tess Ward,
Educator, MMIETS
"The desperate
poverty situation,
particularly of the children, was brought home to me when I saw a young
boy about 8 years old climbing into putrid rubbish
to retrieve some tins which he could sell. ... There are few paying
jobs for the youth ... immediate, stop-gap
measures are necessary to tide people over; [but] the causes of this
poverty
must be addressed." Joan Westblade, Health Worker, MMIETS
25 Mar 2005 TSJC: TV channels SBS and SEVEN
Pull Timor Sea Ads
Press release added 31 Mar 2005
“Channel
7 and SBS have announced that they will not be screening the latest
television commercials about the Timor Sea dispute written and funded
by Australian businessperson Ian Melrose. ... “What
I want to know is, have the networks received any directives or
suggestions from the Australian Government? What’s changed since the
last ads were screened?” ” Timor Sea Justice Campaign,
Melbourne
23 Mar 2005
TSJC: NEW TV claims Aus Gov is 'doing a Skase'
Press release added 31 Mar 2005
“The
Australian Government is stealing billions of dollars from a country
whose children are dying from preventable diseases. Stopping this money
from going to the establishment of a working health system in East
Timor has a direct and fatal impact on the lives of many East Timorese
children.” Ian Melrose, author of TV ads re
Timor Sea oil and gas dispute
20 Dec 2004 ACSJC: Catholic Council urges
Come to the table on Timor Sea
Media release added 21 Dec 2004
"East Timor is among the poorest nations
of the world. Half of the
population of 900,000 is under the age of 14. Food security is
poor and there is widespread malnutrition. ... The only resource
available to East Timor to provide adequately for its
growing population rests in the Timor Sea. ... The ACSJC urges the
Australian Government to resume negotiations on
Greater Sunrise that will allow fair terms to assist East Timor to be
self sufficient and prosperous." Bishop Christopher Saunders, Chairman
of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council (ACSJC)
2
Dec 2004 James Dunn: Timor's Birth-pangs & Australia's Diminishing
Generosity
Commentary added 2 Dec 2004
"If the Australian government is serious
about its concern to help this
new nation gain its deserved level of prosperity, then the answer lies
in according the Timorese the kind of access to the Timor Gap resources
that is theirs by right. It calls for the kind of caring and generosity
that continues to be displayed by Australian state governments and, in
particular, by individual groups throughout the country. In this way
ordinary Australians are displaying the kind of compassion that has
apparently dried up in our Federal Government." James Dunn, author of Timor:
A People Betrayed
Timor Sea Talks
between Timor Leste & Australia:
Canberra & Darwin (Sep/Oct 2004)
Complete compilation: http://www.pcug.org.au/~wildwood/talks.html
25 Sep 2004 MMIETS: Timor
Sea Resources - Issues of Principle
Paper added 28 Sep 2004
"Here
is a paper I gave at
Politics in the Pub on 17.09.04. With the Timor Sea talks underway
between Australia and East Timor at the moment, it remains to be seen
what outcome there will be. I believe that regardless of what the
East
Timor Government accepts, there are issues of principle which
Australians should require that our Government fulfil.
These made up the terms of the recent petition:
1. That a fair and equitable boundary be set.
2. That Australia negotiates in good faith and in a timely
fashion.
3. That Australia returns to International arbitration.
4. That Australia stops benefitting financially from areas under
dispute.
(Please note that Australia has been receiving one million dollars a
day from an area claimed by East Timor. This amounts to nearly 2
billion dollars, ten times the amount we have spent there in aid.) ...
Australian policy
is that we
benefit financially from areas which are under dispute, and that policy
has brought us nearly $2 billion since 1999. In discussing consequences
of this policy, it is both fair and proper
to consider the effects of the distribution of wealth. So whilst
I
argue that the ownership of the resources of the Timor Sea must be
determined only on principles of accepted law and customary practice, I
maintain that the dire need of the people of East Timor makes the
application of justice a priority. East Timor has gained its political
independence, but is not yet
economically independent. It is one of the poorest nations in
Asia."
Sr. Susan Connelly, Spokesperson
on oil issues, Mary
MacKillop
Institute for East Timorese Studies (MMIETS)
24 Sep
2004 IPS: Hopes Rise for New Oil
Revenue Deal
News summary added 28 Sep 2004
"This
week's talks came after months of criticism by the European Union,
United States and Australian parliamentarians and numerous community
groups that the Australian government would unfairly hoard most of the
oil and gas revenues. The
July policy announcement by Labor Party leader, Mark Latham, committing
Australia to renegotiate the sea boundary with East Timor - should the
opposition get into power after Oct. 9 - prompted a furious reaction
from the Australian government." Bob Burton
"Australia
wants to get Sunrise ratified in the Timorese parliament by the start
of next year but that is not going to happen except at the end of the
resolution of the boundary issue from the Timorese point of view, ...
So they are going to have to settle everything by then, which
is really unlikely unless there is a really good offer on the table
from Australia.'' Dan Nicholson, spokesman for the Timor Sea
Justice Campaign
21 Sep 2004 TSJC: Timor
Sea Negotiation Issues Sept 2004
Media release added 28 Sep 2004
"* Despite misleading DFAT
statements, East Timor also has a priority
to establish its own Maritime Boundaries, after a 24 year armed
and diplomatic struggle to remove its illegal occupiers. No deal done
on their Maritime Boundaries during those years can be
accepted as binding today, and the struggle for national sovereignty is
not over until the country establishes its national borders on land and
sea. ...
* We
are worried about a reported offer of an extra $3billion, and the
report saying Mari Alkatiri forecasted that with a median line boundary
they would get $12billion. These figures are far too low from both sides, as the
initial estimates were made on the basis of oil prices of around
US$20/barrel. ...
* A
reexamination of the value of the Greater Sunrise project which
contains nearly 2m BOE, suggests total revenue of at least US$70b in
future years, and a "government take" of US$35billion and up ...
* Our view is that anything less than an East Timor share of 90% of "government
take" will
be unfair, given that under UNCLOS rules we expect East Timor owns 100%
of the resource. This means East Timor must gain at least US$30b not
just $3b."
Rob
Wesley-Smith, Co-convenor, Timor Sea Justice Coalition - Darwin
19 Sep 2004 Greens: East Timor seabed
boundary talks must deliver justice
Media release added 20 Sep 2004
"The
justice of East Timor's claim to alter the seabed boundary is reaching
across the world, ... Just last week 37 European Union deputies
appealed directly to Prime
Minister Howard, calling for a 'rapid and just' solution that would
guarantee East Timor's rights over its resources. Australia has no
business depriving the poorest nation in our region
of the resources it can use to pay for essential services and
infrastructure like schools, roads, and hospitals." Greens Senator Bob Brown
18
Sep 2004 AETFA: National
Rally
for Timor Sea Justice
Message added 20 Sep 2004
"I am sending a message of solidarity on behalf of the Australia East
Timor Friendship Association (South Australia) Inc [AETFA] and our
apologies for not being able to attend the Canberra rally. Best wishes
for the rally
tomorrow. Hundreds of thousands of Australians who believe in
international social justice will be with you in spirit even if the
cannot physically be with you. Greetings of solidarity. Venceremos! [We
will win the day!]" Andy Alcock, Chairperson,
Australia East Timor
Friendship Association (SA), [
andyalcock@bigpond.com.au
| aa@cpsu.asn.au
]
About AETFA: http://www.pcug.org.au/~wildwood/aeta.html
16 Sep
2004 TSJC: Protest outside Timor Sea
talks
Media release added 18 Sep 2004
"I
just feel like we were played for chumps. We went there, did all this
good work and we thought it really was for a good cause. We didn't do
it so our government could illegally profit at the expense of the East
Timorese. That makes me angry" InterFET veteran, Chip
Henriss-Anderssen
"Since
1999, the Australia government has taken more in disputed revenues from
fields closer to East Timor than to Australia than it has given in
combined civilian and military aid" Dan Nicholson, Timor Sea Justice
Campaign - Australia
25 Aug 2004 AFFET:
Selective Human Rights by Howard/Downer
Media release added 26 Aug 2004
"We
do not hear Howard and Downer claiming a feeling of responsibility for
this [genocide of East Timorese], ... We don't even hear them caution
Indonesia re repeating the same sorts of military abuses in Acheh and
West Papua where they continue. And we see them denying East Timor its
own finances from the Timor Sea to at least allow rebuilding of its
infrastructure and to provide jobs for its people." Rob
Wesley-Smith, Spokesperson, Australians For a Free East Timor - Darwin
20
Aug 2004 SJN: Australian Trust Fund from Oil for East Timorese
Media
release
added 20 Aug 2004
"Australia must cease to draw
oil from the Laminaria-Corallina field in the Timor Sea and put the
monies it has accumulated over the last few years into a trust fund for
the East Timorese. Additionally the Australian government must learn to
treat East Timor as an equal in the negotiations surrounding the
disputed maritime boundaries and to conduct these negotiations in a
generous and ethical way." Social Justice Network with East
Timorese community in Perth
19
Aug 2004 AETA: A turning point of history: The 1999 UN Referendum
Article added 19 Aug 2004
"While Cosgrove and
INTERFET were ingrained in our memories as the
"heroes" of East Timor, (to remove the Vietnam stain, I wonder?),
... But behind the scene, Howard and Downer were press-ganging the new
Timorese leadership into signing the iniquitous Timor Sea Treaty which
guaranteed Australia an unfair share of Timor's oil and gas resources
while denying them a fair maritime boundary. "
Jefferson
Lee, Timor
Sea
Campaign officer, Australia
East Timor Association (NSW) & member, Timor Sea Justice Coalition
Sydney
18
Aug 2004 GLW: New Timor Sea deal?
Commentary
added 17 Aug 2004
"In the press conference, Downer stated
that Australia’s concerns
are “less with the revenue we can extract from the Timor Sea than with
the broader questions of sovereignty”. This probably means that the
Australian government is willing to offer East Timor a higher
percentage of revenue, in order to entrench the current, highly unfair,
maritime boundary between East Timor and Australia." Vannessa
Hearman
15
Aug 2004 TSJC Melb: Our work is far from
finished!
Commentary added 16 Aug 2004
"Australia
has indicated a willingness to
negotiate about all of the oil and gas fields in dispute. In exchange,
it seems that the East Timorese government is willing to put its
boundary claims on hold and focus on revenue sharing agreements. While
the Australian government's willingness to actually negotiate is
a step forward and encouragement for those campaigning on this issue,
the deal is not done - and so our work is far from finished. ... the
next month is perhaps the most important since the Timor Sea
Justice Campaign began ... I would encourage everyone to get involved
with the
campaign or to otherwise take action now." Dan Nicholson, Timor Sea
Justice Coalition - Melbourne
13 Aug
2004 AETA Sydney: Jose Ramos
Horta Talk at "Politics Society"
Revised report added
17 Aug 2004
"[Horta] said in his
meeting with Alexander Downer ... they agreed "maybe we should put
aside (the
maritime boundary issue) while we find a framework for a fairer
acceptance of resource allocation. How do we structure (these
negotiations?) we asked each other?". Horta said his (own) choices were
either to "push Australia into a
corner" or seek "a way out for both sides". He said that now "a
financial agreement will be found that will be fairer to both sides".
He acknowledged the key role of Australia (in mobilising international
opinion to support Interfet) in late 1999. He couched this comment in
the context of the difficulty (usually) associated with mobilising the
UN Security Council to take action against mass killings and genocidal
situations. (Implying that the trade off for 'resources before borders'
with Downer was also squaring off Timor's debt to Australia?)"
Jefferson
Lee, Timor
Sea
Campaign officer, Australia
East Timor Association (NSW) & member, Timor Sea Justice Coalition
Sydney
12
Aug 2004 AFFET & TSJC: Keep pressure on for a just
solution
Commentary added 12 Aug 2004
"It looks as though East Timor will sacrifice the
median line boundary, or maybe this is Downer's spin - who really knows
except the participants - but we need to keep the pressure on for a
just solution ... We need the max effort NOW as detail may be sewn up
to East Timor's detriment - it is unacceptable for East Timor to be
dudded of its long term economic future due to a desire to improve
relations with Australia. ... just when success appears to be happening
is the most dangerous time, and when activists good will and
involvement is most needed." Rob Wesley-Smith, Spokesperson,
Australians For a Free East Timor & Co-convenor, Timor Sea Justice
Coalition - Darwin
11 Aug 2004 MMIETS:
DFAT Correspondence re Timor's Oil
Commentary added 12 Aug 2004
“Australia has long been at the forefront
of international assistance to East Timor.” DFAT "This is an
astounding claim which cannot go unchallenged. Australia has not long
been in the forefront of assistance to East
Timor at all. Australia’s support for East Timor was practically
non-existent for 23 years, then reluctantly cautious when Suharto
collapsed. Mounting public opinion was the moving force behind
the
assistance given by any Government. No Australian Government of any
complexion ever had the honesty or the compassion or the courage to
risk overriding “our most important
relationship”, that with Indonesia." Srs. Josephine
Mitchell & Susan Connelly, Mary
MacKillop
Institute of East Timorese Studies (MMIETS)
11 Aug
2004 MMIETS: Letter to Herald re
Timor's Oil
Letter added 12 Aug 2004
"Your editorial Timor solution not in law books
(SMH 09.08.04) mentions in passing that “at Australia's
insistence
there is no court or adjudicator to decide the legal case.” Well, of
course. East Timor’s case is far stronger than our Government would
have us believe, so we wouldn’t want interference from anything
remotely like an independent arbiter." Sr. Susan Connelly, Spokesperson
on oil issues, Mary
MacKillop
Institute of East Timorese Studies (MMIETS)
10 Aug 2004 AETA: Timor solution not in the
law books?
Commentary added 12 Aug 2004
"The crux of the problem is that
bad laws and bad treaties remain so until changed and no deal can
overcome that fact. The original Evans-Alatas 'Timor Gap' Treaty was
flawed and discredited. The May 2002 'Timor Sea' Treaty was similarly
flawed by Canberra's overbearing insistence on 'Annexe E' ;
thereby
locking the very new East Timor administration into conceeding 82% of
Greater Sunrise to Australia at a time when they had no room to
negotiate either royalties or confirmed borders. The real way forward
is, to coin a now popular phrase, "truth in
government". We are obliged by international law to negotiate with
fairness, equity and in good faith with our neighbours. Let's get on
with it while there is still time." Jefferson Lee, Timor Sea
Campaign officer, Australia
East Timor Association (NSW) & member, Timor Sea Justice Coalition
Sydney
6 Aug 2004 Cath News: Nun challenges media
mischief on Timor oil
News with letter added 20 Aug
2004
"Pearson’s gratuitous comments on the
East Timorese Prime Minister end in conclusions which defy both fact
and logic. Far better to reflect on the stimulating observation that in
approximate population and wealth potential, East Timor is to Australia
as Australia is to the US. The big difference is that the East Timorese
stand up to domineering neighbours. Perhaps Australia’s offended frenzy
over resource sharing is a case of backbone envy." Sr. Susan Connelly,
Spokesperson
on oil issues, Mary
MacKillop
Institute of East Timorese Studies (MMIETS)
6
Aug 2004 GLW: Sword-Gusmao
condemns Canberra's gas revenue offer
Commentary added 17 Aug 2004
"[the wife of ETimorese Pres. Xanana
Gusmao] praised the work of the Timor Sea Justice Campaign [http://www.TimorSeaJustice.org],
which has “kept the issue alive in Australia” and “raised public
awareness”. She warned that in Australia, “newspapers don’t necessarily
tell you the real truth” ... " Vannessa
Hearman
Receive
FREE email Web-updates: email wildwood@pcug.org.au
and include the words "Subscribe BACK DOOR" in the message
header.
To add items related to Timor Oil send to BACK
DOOR's email:
wildwood@pcug.org.au
Priority
is given
to those solidarity writers who are being denied publication in the
"mainstream" corporate media
BACK
DOOR Newsletter on East Timor home
| timor oil
| search
Website: http://www.pcug.org.au/~wildwood
Email: wildwood@pcug.org.au