U.S. lawmakers urge Australia to be fair over East Timor
U.S. lawmakers urge Australia to be fair over East Timor
Agence France-Presse, Washington
A group of U.S. legislators has urged Australia to fairly
negotiate its maritime boundary with tiny neighbor East Timor for
equitable sharing of petroleum resources.
The fate of substantial oil and natural gas deposits in the
sea between Australia and newly independent East Timor depends on
a permanent boundary agreement to be hammered out between the two
countries.
In their letter to Australian Prime Minister John Howard, the
53 members of the U.S. House of Representatives urged Canberra
"to move seriously and expeditiously in negotiations with East
Timor to establish a fair, permanent maritime boundary and an
equitable sharing of oil and gas resources in the Timor Sea".
Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank, who initiated the
letter, said a fair agreement on permanent boundaries and the
ability to derive revenues from the development of offshore
petroleum and other resources was key to impoverished East
Timor's progress.
It is "essential to East Timor's ability to rebuild its
nation, alleviate mass poverty, and avoid long-term dependence on
foreign aid", he said in a statement.
Following its independence from Indonesia in 2002, East
Timor's parliament passed a law claiming a 200 nautical mile
exclusive economic zone around the island and sought negotiations
for a permanent maritime boundary with Australia.
The Australian government agreed to the talks, which was first
held last November, but declined to accept a timetable or an end
date for resolving the issue.
The next round of talks are scheduled to take place in East
Timor's capital Dili on April 19-23.
The U.S. legislators also urged Australia to hold monthly
meetings as requested by East Timor, rather than the semi-annual
meetings, which Canberra have been insisting on, for a quick
resolution to the issue.
"The world is watching closely how Australia treats East
Timor" in the negotiations, said Karen Orenstein, the Washington
Coordinator of the East Timor Action Network advocating for
sustainable development, economic justice and human rights in
East Timor.
"Australia will lose the goodwill it generated in 1999 if it
cheats East Timor out of the tens of billions of dollars of
petroleum revenue," she said.
In that year, an Australian-led, UN-backed force helped stem
pro-Indonesia militia violence that followed East Timor's vote
for independence in October, 1999.