East Timor has threatened to withold ratification of an agreement with Australia to develop oil and gas resources in the Timor Sea worth eight-billion US dollars. And East Timor says it could still take Australia to the International Court of Justice, even though Canberra says it will not submit to boundary rulings by the World Court.
Presenter/Interviewer: Graeme Dobell Speakers: Jorge Teme, East Timor's Ambassador to Australia
Dobell: At issue are two resource rich areas in the Timor Sea which fall on the Australian side of a border negotiated with Indonesia more than 30 years ago. The two areas are on either side of the Timor Gap, which is being jointly developed by East Timor and Australia.
East Timor says a new permanent boundary, set at the mid-point between the two countries, would give it complete ownership of the two disputed areas. Dili says Australia is wrong to claim sole jurisdiction when there are overlapping claims, and now is threatening to withold its formal approval for an agreement to develop the Greater Sunrise field. East Timor's ambassador in Canberra, George da Conceicao Teme.
Teme: With this ratification I think East Timor will not benefit much from the exploration.
Dobell: Is the threat that East Timor will not ratify?
Teme: Well, East Timor basically has the intention to ratify, but then a maritime boundary, a permanent maritime boundary along the line must be determined in order to determine a fair and just share of the oil and gas.
Dobell: If East Timor threatens not to ratify, does that raise significant question for the developers, for those who would be looking at developing the seabed resources?
Teme: Well, what East Timor is seeking is frequent negotiations to look at how East Timor could benefit more from what is supposed to be its right. Because East Timor desperately needs the money to reconstruct and rebuild a country that has been devastated.
Dobell: East Timor wants Australia to speed up negotiations on a permanent maritime boundary. Canberra says it wants the formal talks to be held only twice a year. Beyond that process, East Timor holds out a final threat – to turn to the International Court of Justice, where Dili thinks it'd be well placed to win an argument that the new boundary should be mid-way between the two countries.
To shut off that recourse to the World Court, Australia announced two years ago that it would no longer submit to the Court's rulings on maritime boundaries. But Ambassador Teme says, Canberra may not be beyond the court's reach....
Teme: International Court of Justice ... to insist Australia to reenter International Court of Justice. Because, according to the UN convention 1982, if there are two countries that cannot resolve any problems of any overlapping claims, that International Court of Justice is the only way to resolve. The example is like Malaysia and Indonesia over two islands that has been resolved last year.
Dobell: Australia, though, has said that it no longer accepts the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice over boundary issues. Do you see some legal way around that Australian position?
Teme: Well, we see Australia wants this to be discussed bilaterally. We Timorese are more than happy to be guided under our very developed neighbour and we appreciate it, but we also want to be guided in a just and honest way.
Dobell: Do you think that you will get a better deal, if you can put it onto a mulinational legal stage than you are going to get from Australia bilaterally?
Teme: Well, because we are just starting the negotiations, and we hope more talks can be done in order to explore a more productive and amicable solution over this claim.
Dobell: The Australian approach so far though has not been productive and amicable?
Well it depends on how you or we judge it. But everybody knows that Australia has been broadly involved in the restoration of peace and security around the globe, and we always hoped that Australia would treat its neighbour in a just and honest way, and that should be acceptable for the people of East Timor.