HT Lee – The next round of talks between East Timor and Australia over the Timor Sea oil and gas riches begins on Wednesday in Sydney – just in time to be buried in the post-budget avalanche. Foreign Minister Lord Downer hopes the talks will tie up the loose ends to the creative solutions proposed by his East Timorese counterpart Jose Ramos-Horta.

Rosliwaty Ramly, Putrajaya – Timor Leste is one of the world's least developed countries whereby the majority of its women are illiterate, uneducated subsistence farmers who are marginalised in the social, cultural, economic and political sectors, according its country report.

Marilyn Rodrigues – Catholic advocates for East Timorese asylum seekers are shocked and disappointed that some have had their residency applications rejected on unnamed "serious character grounds".

More than 1400 East Timorese asylum seekers who came to Australia in the early to mid 1990s have been given permanent residency.

Amended versions of Australian businessman Ian Melrose's previously refused Timor Sea TV ads have been resubmitted to the Commercial Advisory Division (CAD) of Free TV Australia and are scheduled to air nationally on Monday evening on networks Seven, Nine and SBS.

Marilyn Rodrigues – Asylum seeker Sereneu (Simon) Pereira hated to tell his "friends and mothers" at St Anne's Nursing Home, Hunters Hill, that he faces having to leave them and go back to East Timor.

Mike Carlton – The mindless cruelties and the rank stupidity of this country's immigration policies grow more disgusting with each passing week.

United Nations – Allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN staff more than doubled last year, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said in a report.

There were 121 allegations in 2004 compared to the 53 in 2003, Annan said in a report to the UN general assembly.

Vannessa Hearman, Melbourne – As talks between East Timor and Australia re-commenced in Dili, the Timor Sea Justice Campaign (TSJC) was notified on April 27 that its latest television commercials were again refused broadcast by TV stations.

Pip Hinman, Sydney – Paddy Keneally, a former wharfie and Australian commander in East Timor, condemned the Coalition government for stealing Timor's oil at a rally in Martin Place on April 26. The same day, talks resumed in Dili between Timorese and Australian authorities over the disputed oil and gas fields in the Timor Sea.

Jon Lamb – Three days of negotiations over the disputed maritime boundary between East Timor and Australia concluded in Dili on April 29.

Sibylle Kaczorek – As the Australian government continues its attempted theft of Timorese oil, solidarity from Australians with the Timorese becomes more important than ever. At Easter, Tomas Freitas, a spokesperson from the East Timor Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Development, was a guest at the third Asia-Pacific International Solidarity Conference in Sydney.

Dili – Amid signs in recent days of an emerging settlement to church protests against the East Timor government, leading Catholic clergymen made new demands Wednesday on the Dili executive including a call for a reconsideration of plans to relax the country's abortion laws.

Mark Dodd – Armed East Timorese police were last night poised to break up a huge church-backed anti-government protest in Dili, the most serious challenge yet to the authority of the fledgling state.

Police and security forces yesterday sealed off parts of the city, erecting razor-wire cordons around the main government offices and parliament buildings in central Dili.

Sarah Stephen – On April 26, 50 East Timorese asylum seekers were hand delivered letters rejecting their applications for refugee status in Australia, and given 28 days to leave the country. The immigration department (DIMIA) is offering individuals $2000 each or up to $10,000 a family, and a one-way ticket to Dili.

Dili – The East Timorese capital braced Tuesday for the possibility of clashes between police and anti-government Catholic demonstrators, but a police deadline for the end of street protests ran down without any confrontation.

Paulo Gorjao – In April 2004, in his progress report regarding the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET), the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, recommended maintaining it for one more year. In May, the UN Security Council did so, but made it quite clear that this was the last extension.

Canberra – Australia has managed to out-wait a cash strapped East Timor in reaching agreement on lucrative Timor Sea oil and gas revenues, US-based strategic thinktank Stratfor says.

In an analysis of the deal which is set to be finalised in Brisbane on May 11, Stratfor said Dili was always likely to cave in.

Presented by Fran Kelly

The failure to resolve the differences between Australia and East Timor over the gas reserves has delayed large-scale developments like the natural gas field known as Greater Sunrise.

Reporter: Rachel Carbonell

Elizabeth Jackson: A dispute between the church and state in East Timor has escalated, with fresh calls from Catholic leaders for the Government to resign.

Protesters have been demonstrating in the capital Dili for almost two weeks, upset over plans to change religious education in schools in the majority Catholic country.

Women and children in East Timor will continue to suffer in poverty unless the nation is able to determine its own wealth, East Timor's first lady Australian-born Kirsty Sword Gusmao said.

Greens Senator Kerry Nettle was in Darwin today to meet with local East Timorese and join the call for a just outcome from the Timor Sea boundary talks due to conclude in Dili today.

The Timor Sea Justice Campaign today welcomed signs that the Australian Government was taking on board public pressure to give East Timor a fair go and approach the ongoing negotiations in a more cooperative manner.

A new UN mission for Timor Leste but what of the future of the serious crimes process?

The United Nations will stay in East Timor (Timor Leste) for another year under a new political mission that will significantly reduce the UN troop presence there.

The Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution that will send 45 civilian advisers, 75 police advisers and up to 10 human rights officers to the developing island country until May 2006.

The latest TV ads about the Timor Sea dispute, financed by Australian businessman Ian Melrose, have been refused approval by the Commercials Advice Division (CAD) of Free TV Australia.

The ads feature World War Two veterans, who fought in East Timor, attacking John Howard over his Government's unilateral depletion of gas and oil fields in the Timor Sea.

Australia and East Timor appear to remain at loggerheads over multi-billion dollar oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea, with no resolution announced at the end of three days of talks.

But Foreign Minister Alexander Downer maintained Australia was not ripping off East Timor over the joint oil treaty and said the federal government wanted to help its tiny neighbour.

The commercial television networks have refused to screen advertisements lambasting the federal government over Timor Sea oil and gas negotiations, East Timor advocates said today.

The ads, bankrolled by Melbourne businessman Ian Melrose, depict World War II diggers verbally attacking Prime Minister John Howard over the talks with Australia's tiny northern neighbour.

Malcolm Brown – Fifty East Timorese who came to Australia 10 years ago or more as refugees, settled in the country and sent their children to school, have now been told they are no longer wanted here – and have just 28 days to get out.

Lisbon – East Timor's government and the nation's powerful Roman Catholic Church have settled a dispute over an end to compulsory religious classes in state schools, East Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatari said Thursday.

Reporter: Tony Jones

Tony Jones: Sister Susan Connolly is one of Australia's best-known and longest-serving advocates for the East Timorese people. She's the Assistant Director of the Mary MacKillop Institute for East Timor Studies in Sydney and she joins us now. Thank you for joining us.

Sr Connolly: Thank you, Tony.

Jon Lamb – A series of rallies organised by the Catholic Church in East Timor is another sign of the simmering discontent and frustration held by many East Timorese.

Tom Allard – Australia and East Timor are close to a historic agreement on sharing the revenue from the lucrative gas and oil fields in the Timor Gap after a multibillion-dollar offer by Australia to help develop the fledgling nation.

Max Lane, Sydney – On April 26, a new round of negotiations will start between the Australian and East Timorese governments over the maritime boundary between the two countries.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang (West Nusa Tenggara) – The West Nusa Tenggara provincial administration called on the central government to hold talks with the East Timor government to ensure a thorough investigation into the recent shooting of an Indonesian Military (TNI) soldier on the border between the two countries. The move was necessary to avoid security instability in the area.

The results of the most recent negotiations held last March in Canberra-Australia, spoke about the establishment of a Resources Sharing Agreement or an agreement which favours a "legal framework" for a "creative solution".

Australia has warned that East Timor could lose some revenue if it insists on drawing a permanent seabed boundary in the Timor Sea. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer issued the caution as boundary negotiations resumed in Dili today.

Sydney – Australia "isn't just a charity" and would protect its own interests in a territorial dispute with East Timor involving potentially billions of dollars from oil and gas reserves, the foreign minister said Tuesday.

With high hopes for a compromise, Australia and East Timor are to resume talks over multi-billion dollar oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea.

The talks, drawn out over the past year, have stalled repeatedly over the disputed maritime boundary between Australia and its tiny neighbour.

In the lead up to next week's maritime boundary negotiations between Australia and East Timor, the Australian Council of Trade Unions is calling on the Australian Government to ensure East Timor receives its fair share of benefits from gas and oil projects in the Timor Sea.

Australia's top labor union leader demanded Saturday that Australian government negotiators give impoverished East Timor a fair share of multi-billion dollar oil and gas deposits under the sea that separates the two nations.

Reporter: Rachel Carbonell

Eleanor Hall: The President of East Timor is playing down concerns that the dispute between Church and State that's erupted in the young nation could escalate. Police are barricading government buildings in the capital Dili, as thousands of people protest against plans to make religious education in East Timor's state schools voluntary.

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – About 5000 East Timorese protesters calling for the Prime Minister to resign were camped in Dili yesterday under banners reading "End the Dictatorship".

The demonstrators, backed by the Catholic Church, have been prevented by riot police from entering the capital's main square, but have remained in a side street.

Dili – President Xanana Gusmao condemned the East Timorese Catholic Church's continuing demonstrations against the government Thursday, saying he would not allow street protests to bring down Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's cabinet.

Emeritus consultant gynaecologist, Barry Mendelawitz, who spent time working in East Timor, has felt compelled by the abysmal state of East Timor's health system to urge the Australian Government to give our neighbours a fair go in the Timor Sea.

Veronica Brooks, Canberra – Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Wednesday maritime boundary negotiations with East Timor will resume next week, marking the sixth meeting in a year as the two sides move closer to a deal.

[IFET sent the following letter yesterday to the UN Commission of Experts which is examining justice for East Timor. The letter, including a formatted PDF version, is online at http://etan.org/ifet/docs/04202005.htm.]

Justice Prafullachandra Bhagwati
Professor Yozo Yokota
Ms. Shaista Shameem

Dili – Hundreds of peaceful Catholic protestors kept up their pressure on East Timor's government for a second day Wednesday, but both the religious activists and the government toned down their sometimes inflamed rhetoric.

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – East Timor was last night facing its worst crisis since independence after influential sections of the Catholic Church called people into the capital, Dili, to protest against the Government.

Vannessa Hearman, Melbourne – The Timor Sea Justice Campaign is set to broadcast its next series of television advertisements to coincide with Anzac Day on April 25. The group has chosen this time to focus on Australian soldiers and their relationship with East Timor.

Rosa Garcia, Dili – East Timor's influential Catholic clergy on Tuesday rallied thousands to protest against Dili's "dictatorship regime" in the latest sign of a growing rift between church and state in the fledgling country.