Australia beggars its neighbor
uploaded 24 May 2004The Timor Sea gets its name from the fact that it lies off the southern coast of East Timor. Beneath this body of water lie enormous reserves of oil and natural gas. However, none of this wealth has benefited the people who live closest -- and, as such, have a legitimate claim -- to it.
East Timor observed its second anniversary as an independent country last week. It still is what Westerners call a “beggar nation.” What could dramatically turn around East Timor’s fortunes lie just kilometers offshore. But East Timor cannot tap those resources for its own benefit -- courtesy of its rich neighbor Australia.
If a maritime boundary were drawn between East Timor and Australia in accordance with international law, the lion’s share of the oil and natural-gas reserves in the Timor Sea would belong to East Timor. But that is not how the current border is configured.
East Timor insists that the maritime border should be set midway of the 375 miles (about 600 kilometers) of sea between East Timor and Australia. However, Australia refuses to budge from the current border at the continental shelf. In some places, according to this map, Australian waters are as close as 94 miles (about 150 km) from the East Timor coast.
Thanks to the current border, a legacy of the colonial era, East Timor has no access to, much less benefit from, the Timor Sea oil fields, which have been estimated to generate $20 billion in royalties alone.
Painfully, poor East Timor has been trying to negotiate with wealthy Australia for its rightful share of the offshore oil and natural-gas revenue. Australia has refused to make any concession to the tiny nation, which it -- along with many others, including the Philippines -- helped to gain independence following decades of brutal Indonesian occupation.
Nothing came out of the last round of negotiations over the disputed territory, although talks are scheduled to resume in September.
While Australia continues to help East Timor with aid, it has virtually condemned the East Timorese to permanent paupery by insisting on virtually exclusive rights to the Timor Sea oil fields.
Last Wednesday the British charity Oxfam warned that East Timor was in danger of becoming a failed state if Australia continues to deny it its rightful share of Timor Sea oil revenues.
While Australia regards itself as a “generous donor,” it has actually reaped 10 times more in revenues from East Timor than it has given since 1999, Oxfam said.
Australia earns the equivalent of $1.7 million a day from a temporary deal granting access to two-thirds of the Timor Sea oil fields, Oxfam explained. But if a maritime boundary were set up between the two countries according to international law, it would deliver “most if not all” of these resources to East Timor.
Oxfam reported that tensions over the Timor Sea energy reserves “stand to push East Timor to the brink of becoming a failed state through no fault of its own.”
Oxfam also said the row could “tarnish” Australia’s support for East Timor.
BBC News Online quoted James Ensor, Oxfam Community Aid Abroad’s director of public policy, as saying: “The vast oil and gas reserves of the Timor Sea provide East Timor with a window of opportunity for providing for its people and future generations. However, Australia is not displaying good faith in its current negotiations with [its] neighbor.”
The Oxfam report highlighted the current plight of East Timor, where one in four people lives below the poverty line.
In addition, the fledgling country faces a $30-billion deficit over the next four years. East Timor is heavily dependent on foreign aid, even for such basic needs as health, education and infrastructure.
Oxfam noted further, however, that international aid to East Timor is expected to decline steeply in the coming years. For instance, Australia’s contributions are due to drop 8.4 percent during the next financial year.
East Timor wants access to Timor Sea energy reserves, which it believes it is entitled to under international law, so that it can develop without dependence on foreign aid.
During the Independence Day rites on Thursday, East Timor President Xanana Gusmao led officials and the diplomatic corps dignitaries in a moment of silence in respect of the hundreds of people who died during East Timor’s bloody independence vote from Indonesia in 1999.
“I appeal to you all, my brothers and sisters, to help rebuild this country with the skills and capacity that we have so that there will be a bright future for the next generation,” Gusmao said. “Show the international community and the United Nations that we can govern our own country.”
No thanks to Australia, East Timor faces a long and arduous struggle.
Source: CBN
