Petition to revoke Timor Gap Treaty

Petition to revoke Timor Gap Treaty

A petition campaign which calls on the federal parliament to revoke the Timor Gap oil exploration treaty is being conducted at university tertiary campuses across Australia. The national launch of the campaign took place on August 9 at the University of Melbourne with guest speakers Tom Uren, Lindsay Tanner, Phil Cleary, Vicki Bourne, Bishop Deakin and Cancio Noronha, representing the people of East Timor.

The Timor treaty was signed with Indonesia in December 1989. Portugal has taken the Australian government to the International Court of Justice, challenging the legality of this treaty.

The treaty divides the mineral and oil rights of the seabed in the Arafura and Timor seas and sets up a joint authority to administer oil exploration in the shared zone. Oil and mineral profits believed to be worth billions of dollars are being stolen from the brutalised people of East Timor.

The Australian government's 1979 decision to recognise in Indonesia's annexation of East Timor was influenced by a desire to facilitate the Timor Gap Treaty.

At the launch of the national petition campaign, Tom Uren spoke of the very real debt that the Australian people owe to the East Timorese for their courageous support of Australian soldiers during the second world war.

The aim is to present the petitions to parliament on November 12, 1995, the anniversary of the Dili massacre. For all inquires and petitions, send an SAE to James Aubrey, Box 72 Union House, University of Melbourne, Parkville Vic 3052, or contact the group on your campus which is organising the campaign.

From GLW issue 159