Vannessa Hearman, Melbourne
As talks between East Timor and Australia re-commenced in Dili, the Timor Sea Justice Campaign (TSJC) was notified on April 27 that its latest television commercials were again refused broadcast by TV stations. The ads, written and financed by businessman Ian Melrose, were refused clearance by the Commercials Advice Division of Free TV Australia on the grounds that they could be defamatory.
The ads featured World War II veterans claiming that PM John Howard’s actions over the Timor Sea made them ashamed. Marvin “Doc” Wheetly, who served in the 2/2 Independent Company said he owed his life to the East Timorese people. “John Howard, you are making me ashamed”, he said in one of the banned ads.
Melrose said that the ban was preventing Australians from understanding what was being committed by the government on behalf of the Australian people. “The Australian government is refusing to play by the rules. It has withdrawn recognition of the maritime boundary jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice and it is depriving East Timor of billions of dollars which East Timor is legally entitled to. It doesn’t want the Australian public to become aware of this”, Melrose claimed. He added that war veterans had a right to express their views about the government’s actions on the Timor Sea issue.
The ads were to be screened in the week following ANZAC day, while maritime boundary negotiations were held in East Timor. In March, television networks Seven and SBS refused to screen TSJC’s ads, which included the sentence “Stealing kills children”.
The banned ads can be viewed at the TSJC website: <http://www.timorseajustice.org>.
From Green Left Weekly, May 4, 2005.
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