Sydney – Australia was on Monday accused of bullying impoverished East Timor about the division of revenue from a multi-billion dollar oil and gas field as talks to establish boundaries began in Dili.
The Catholic Commission for Justice, Development and Peace also accused the government of making a "greedy grab" for Timor Sea oil revenue to the detriment of East Timor. The estabishment of a permanent maritime boundary will divide up control of the estimated $30 billion in royalties from Timor Sea oil and gas deposits, including the multi-billion Greater Sunrise field.
Australia won an 82 percent slice of the Greater Sunrise royalties in a previous deal, but this is yet to be ratified by East Timor, whose Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has warned ratification could be withheld if Australia does not negotiate in good faith.
East Timor wants the new seabed boundary no further than half way between the two countries, a division which would potentially cost Australia billions of dollars in royalties.
The commission's executive officer Marc Purcell said under the International Law of the Sea, the boundary should be drawn in the sea halfway between the two countries, handing East Timor two-thirds of the oil revenues.
But the Australian government had refused to submit to the international "umpire", the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to resolve the dispute, he said.
"If a line were drawn half way in the sea between the two countries, two thirds of these riches would lie closer to East Timor and, according to the International Law of the Sea, be rightfully theirs," Purcell added.
He said on the issue of oil, Australia had "done the dirty" on East Timor by pulling out of the ICJ, the tribunal which oversees agreement of international maritime boundaries.
Canberra was afraid that if it went to arbitration, the umpire would find in favour of the East Timorese, he said.
The commission also believes Canberra has been dragging its feet in talks, preferring to meet only twice a year for boundary talks, while the East Timorese wanted to meet monthly.
"Negotiations, which should only take a couple of years at most, will instead only be finished when our grandchildren are heading for retirement and the oil and gas fields under Australia's control have dried up," Purcell said.
Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown said protests were planned at the Australian embassy in Dili about the division of the resources on Tuesday following a demonstration involving several hundred protesters at the embassy last week.
East Timor's first lady, Australian-born Kirsty Sword-Gusmao, wife of President Xanan Gusmao, urged Australians to support a "fair go for East Timor" in the negotiations which she said were key to a prosperous economic future for the country.