Anger in East Timor as Australia plays tough over gas reserves

No wonder Howard and Bush get along so well! Stealing oil and gas is their common goal.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/indonesia/Story/0,2763,1062329,00.html

Anger in East Timor as Australia plays tough over gas reserves

Jonathan Steele Tuesday October 14, 2003 The Guardian

<snip>.....Despite starting out as one of the world's poorest and most war-torn states, East Timor stands to benefit from huge gas reserves which lie under the sea that separates it from Australia.

But harsh Australian negotiating tactics over disputed claims to the gas have forced the government to accept that long-promised revenues will not materialise for several more years, if ever. <snip>

The huge reserves of gas in question are known as the Greater Sunrise field. Although they are closer to East Timor than Australia, they were "awarded" to Australia under a treaty with General Suharto, in 1989. <snip>

The Timorese government, with the backing of the UN, announced last year that it wanted to renegotiate the boundary line. Under normal international practice it would be fixed as the halfway mark, putting all of Greater Sunrise inside East Timor's waters. Australia first announced it would not accept any decisions by independent arbitrators such as the international court of justice, thus leaving East Timor at the mercy of bilateral negotiations with its giant neighbour. Then it persuaded cash-strapped East Timor last year to agree that 20% of Greater Sunrise was part of a "joint production area", giving Australia a right to a share. Now Australia is declining to set a timetable for completing negotiations on the remaining 80%. By delaying production, the apparent aim is to press East Timor to soften its claim. <snip>

Australia's attitude to the East Timorese is shameful, and this applies to successive governments of both parties since WW2. The
East Timorese gave enormous assistance to Aussie troops fighting
the Japanese, at great cost to themselves, many died, but they never
betrayed the Aussies. Their repayment has been to remain helpless
at the hands of Indonesia while our governments have looked the other way. Now having made a big show of helping the East Timorese
following the massacres after the Timorese voted for self-
determination - Australian troops moved in when it was almost all
over - we are now stealing from a friendly nation whose people
have been tortured, raped and murdered, and whose land has been
ravaged. It is disgusting.

It is typical of John Howard's mean spirit and dishonesty - he is
one of the ugliest and most divisive prime ministers we've ever had.
He makes me ashamed to be Australian. And Alexander Downer loves
to think he's a big player on the world stage, but he's really a
stupid little pipsqueak who crawls to the big countries and throws
his weight around with little ones.