Act NOW to preserve East Timor's rights

In March the Howard Government passed the Greater Sunrise Unitisation Agreement Amendment Bill through the Senate. The aim of this Bill was to provide security for any company developing the oil and gas fields in the area - but the unspoken agenda was to make the interim boundaries between Australia and East timor virtually permanent. This could entrench Australia receiving the lion's share of the economic benefits flowing from the Greater Sunrise gas field, the largest in the Timor Sea - a gas field that should rightly belong to East Timor.

The present boundary between Australia and East Timor was drawn up between Australia and Indonesia in 1972, and is based on the continental shelf. It gives Australia about 80% of the seabed between the two countries. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Sea, developed in 1982, recommended that where countries are less than 400 nautical miles apart, the boundary be drawn equidistant between the two countries. Australia refuses to recognise a median boundary with East Timor, and in 2002, declared it would not recognise the International Court of Justice for matters relating to marine border disputes.

Under pressure, the Howard Government finally agreed to begin negotiations on the border dispute, but East Timor feels Australia is not negotiating in good faith and believes Australia will draw out these negotiations for 15 or 20 years until all the oil and gas is depleted before agreeing to a median boundary.

Moreover, with the passage of the Greater Sunrise Unitisation Agreement Amendment Bill, this commercial agreement would override any future boundary agreement and ensure that Australia would benefit for this massive gas field situated in East Timor's territory. East Timor would be locked into an unequal commercial and revenue sharing arrangement that would be almost impossible to change. This is why the East Timor Government is refusing to ratify this Greater Sunrise Bill, despite great pressure by the Australian government.

Please click here to sign the petition.

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Last Modified: Wednesday, 16-Nov-2005 16:05:18 EST
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