East Timor Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta has criticised an Australia-based campaign calling for a better oil and gas revenue deal for his country.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner said the Timor Sea Justice Campaign (TSJC), financially backed by Melbourne businessman Ian Melrose, had become counter-productive.

The campaign, which has featured television ads, calls for a boundary in the Timor Sea halfway between Australia and Timor, giving the fledgling nation greater and fairer control over oil and gas fields.

The campaigners say revenue from oil and gas development should be put in a trust fund until the boundary dispute was resolved in international courts.

But Mr Ramos-Horta said while a solidarity campaign could be healthy and helpful, some of the comments made by the TSJC were misguided. "Often the tone and language of some individuals purporting to speak for the Timor Sea Justice Campaign exceeds the bounds of what is proper and has become counter-productive," he said in a statement today.

"While the Timor-Leste (East Timor) government welcomes all expressions of support from friends in Australia, some of the arguments and language used by certain elements of the TSJC suggest that the Timor-Leste government does not know, cannot know, is not able, to defend our own country's vital interests.

"We were able to do so for 24 long years against overwhelming odds." Mr Ramos-Horta said his country and Australia had "basically finalised" an agreement on the $5 billion Greater Sunrise oil and gas fields in the Timor Sea, but some of the details were yet to be worked out. But the question of a permanent maritime boundary had been set aside temporarily. East Timorese president Xanana Gusmao met with Prime Minister John Howard in Sydney two weeks ago to discuss the agreement, which was reported to be worth $13 billion in royalties to Timor.

The government was now working to inform MPs and the public about the merits of it, Mr Ramos-Horta said. "We believe (it) to be in Timor-Leste's best interests, as it is just and fair," Mr Ramos-Horta said.

There had also been productive talks between East Timor prime minister Mari Alkatiri and resources giant Woodside about the issue of a pipeline to the country's southern coast, he said.

Mr Ramos-Horta said he believed his country had the expertise to negotiate a fair deal. "It seems that there are an abundance of instant experts in Australia who seem to be even more patriotic than us," he said.

Timor Sea Justice Campaign spokesman Tom Clarke said the campaign had never been targeted at the Timorese government. "The Timor Sea Justice Campaign's focus has always been on the Australian government and what we see to be the Howard government's refusal to abide by current international law," Mr Clarke said.

"We've never been in business of criticising the East Timor government. "The inadequacies lie squarely with the stone-walling and hard-nosed Australian government taking advantage of the poorest nation in Asia." Mr Clarke said a permanent maritime boundary was the only way to ensure legal certainty over the oil and gas reserves and give companies the confidence to develop them.