Jon Lamb, Darwin
Media hype over agreement between the East Timor and Australian governments on the disputed maritime boundary between the two countries has been clouded by a series of contradictory claims since the conclusion of the most recent round of talks.
“We feel the discussions were very successful. There will probably be no further need for negotiations”, stated foreign minister Alexander Downer on May 13. Downer’s comments were consistent with claims he made a fortnight earlier, after talks in Dili, when he said that “substantial agreement on all major issues” had been reached.
Since the April 29 announcement, a flurry of media reports have stated that East Timor agreed to accept a minor increase in royalties of between $2 and $5 billion in royalties and to forgo the final settlement of the maritime boundary by 50 to 60 years.
While Downer and PM John Howard’s insistent banter of a “fair and generous deal” has been widely reported by the Australian corporate media, there has been almost a complete lack of any commentary on the position of the East Timorese negotiators, government representatives and activist groups campaigning for justice in the Timor Sea.
According to a May 13 report by the Portugual-based Lusa news service, East Timor’s prime minister Mari Alkatiri stated that reports of an agreement were “an absolute lie. There is no accord and, if there is one, in the terms announced by ABC , it would be totally against my orientations. And, thus, void.” Alkatiri added that negotiations were continuing and that East Timor’s position “remains unaltered”. He said: “Let us negotiate at the table and not under the pressure of the media.”
On May 20, East Timorese foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta stated that reports of a deal were “pure, absolutely pure, erroneous speculation by the media”. He also said that “So far no figures have been discussed and to put it in such a way that we agreed to shelve sovereignty for a particular price tag, that is absolutely erroneous”.
Editorials and commentary pieces marking East Timor’s third anniversary of independence continue to speculate about the state of negotiations. According to Lyndsay Murdoch in the May 21 Sydney Morning Herald, “Most Timorese do not know it yet but the governments in Dili and Australia have struck a basic deal on Greater Sunrise that will reap East Timor $US5 billion”.
The SMH editorial on May 24 claimed that the “reported agreement to share Timor Sea oil and gas revenue more equitably will smooth over an unhappy diplomatic rift” and that “it will give East Timor a realistic chance at self-reliance”. The editorial, titled “East Timor’s best chance”, warned of a “failed state” like the situation in Papua New Guinea, if the oil and gas wealth is “squandered”.
The Financial Review and Forbes carried reports on May 24 claiming that a deal was “very close”. But Alkatiri made clear with his comments in these reports that “We are not rushing. We’re looking for a good agreement between two neighbour states ... we’ve been discussing for almost three years. It’s still a very short time. Everywhere around the world, [countries] have been discussing for hundreds of years and they’re still waiting to [be] resolved.”
Whatever “agreement” may have been reached, it still needs to be debated and ratified by the East Timorese parliament. East Timorese non-government organisations and activist groups have indicated their opposition to signing off on anything less than full sovereign rights. International and Australian-based solidarity groups, such as the Timor Sea Justice Campaign, have also stated that they will continue to campaign against the Howard government’s grand theft of East Timor’s oil and gas wealth.
From Green Left Weekly, June 1, 2005.
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