Sydney – Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer accused East Timor of trying to stir up sympathy over its claims for a greater share of oil and gas revenues from the Timor Sea oil reserves.

The two countries are in dispute over the seabed boundary between the two countries, the drawing of which divides control of an estimated 30 billion dollars (22 billion US) in royalties from the oil and gas deposits.

"The tactic here is to try to create public controversy in Australia by a lot of emotive criticism of Australia," he told commercial television here Sunday.

Downer said Australia had been incredibly generous to East Timor, but in the battle for revenues Australia would stand by its rights.

Australia wants East Timor to honour an agreement signed last year covering the disputed multi-billion dollar Greater Sunrise field, which the former Indonesian province has so far refused.

East Timor regards the Timor Sea revenue as a lifeline that can end the fledgling nation's dependence on international aid.

Australia wants to keep the maritime border agreed with Jakarta after Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975, which would give it the lion's share of the reserves.

But Dili argues that Jakarta only agreed to that deal in exchange for Canberra's recognition of its illegal annexation of East Timor and the border should lie at the mid-point between the two countries, in line with standard international practice.

Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has said Dili is unlikely to ratify an interim revenue-sharing deal on the Timor Sea reserves because it gives East Timor only 18 percent of revenues while handing Canberra 82 percent.

Downer said East Timor would receive 90 percent of government revenue from a joint development area, whereas a previous deal with Indonesia would have resulted in a 50-50 split.

"In the end when two countries are adjacent with each other, if one is richer than the other that isn't an argument for the poorer country being able to take territory from the richer country," Downer added.