TODAY, the people of East Timor go to the polls for the first elections since they were granted independence from Indonesia in 2002.
| Dated: 09 April 2007
Publication: The Advertiser
Portfolio: Foreign Affairs
| Independent future relies on revenue from oil and gas
| Author: Senator Natasha Stott Despoja
| Summary: TODAY, the people of East Timor go to the polls for the first elections since they were granted independence from Indonesia in 2002.
| TODAY, the people of East Timor go to the polls for the first elections since they were granted independence from Indonesia in 2002.
In the lead up to this historic event, you will have seen images of violence and intimidation on the television news after clashes among rival political parties.
In the midst of this, President Xanana Gusmao has decried the fact that the money from oil and gas revenue is sitting in bank accounts while the people of his country starve. He has a point.
Timor-Leste is a small and poor country, it is not blessed with many resources on which to base an economy. Oil and gas revenues are likely to be a significant proportion of the national income.
In the last Senate session, we passed the "Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea" Treaty. Thankfully, the treaty arrangements are more generous now to Timor-Leste than the original agreement.
Timor-Leste receives half the royalties from the Greater Sunrise field, whereas under the earlier proposal it would only have received 18 per cent of the total share. Timor-Leste has got a better deal and, hopefully, the returns from these resources will help them rebuild their country and achieve social and economic stability.
There is a further role for Australia in this process. While we were instrumental in helping Timor-Leste achieve independence, our generosity during that process is in stark contrast to our negotiations with Timor-Leste on oil and gas. Our Government bullied the Timorese to accept a deal that was questionable in its legal basis and miserly given the poverty in Timor.
If the maritime boundary between Australia and Timor-Leste had been determined by the conventions of international law, the Greater Sunrise field would lie entirely within Timor-Leste's economic zone, not to mention some of the other fields that currently lie within the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA) and from which Australia is already extracting resources.
We refused to allow the determination of the maritime boundary between Australia and Timor-Leste by the International Court of Justice. The Treaty prevents Timor-Leste from pursuing any permanent maritime boundary claims for 50 years.
We are one of the wealthiest nations per capita in the world, blessed with natural resources in the midst of a commodity boom yet we tried to cheat the Timorese out of the proceeds of these oil and gas fields. I understand some would defend Government actions as standing up for the Australian economy and jobs (the Government will earn more than $10 billion in upstream revenue over the life of the project). I also want Australian jobs protected and our economy to grow, but not if it means we adopt standover tactics with one of the world's poorest nations.
The pre-election period in Timor reminds us that stability in Timor-Leste is still fragile. Much depends on the ability of the Timorese Government to improve living conditions and job opportunities for their citizens. The more royalties that Timor-Leste receives, the better the chance to achieve long-term stability. A stable Timor-Leste is in Australia's interest.
We could have gifted the oil and gas royalties to the Timorese - a gift to them to celebrate their independence. We could have done that without setting a precedent that would weaken our position in any future maritime border negotiations.
If we had gifted the resources, we would be less likely to need to risk our own finances or our people in further peace-keeping missions there and they would need less development aid from us. Just as importantly, we would have further cemented the goodwill felt towards us after helping them achieve independence.
There are benefits to be had from being truly magnanimous and they are often worth many times more than some extra money in our own pockets.
Senator Stott Despoja is the Australian Democrats' Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Attorney-Generals, Science & Biotechnology, Higher Education and the Status of Women
SECOND THOUGHTS
Focus on the legalities of the Hicks case
Discussion about David Hicks being a candidate for Parliament is an unhelpful and silly distraction from the real issues. It is a ridiculous idea.
For me, this debate has always been about fundamental principles such as the rule of law and international humanitarian law, as it should be.
This issue is bigger than one person - something the Government has yet to understand.
|
|
