TIMOR’S OIL

This article is part of Right Now’s March issue, focusing on East Timor.

By Tom Clarke

Published March 10, 2014

Since the discovery of vast oil deposits under the Timor Sea in the early 1970s, oil has been the ever-present third player in Australia’s relationship with East Timor.

Prior to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, Australia’s ambassador to Indonesia Richard Woolcott infamously sent a cable back to his political masters in Canberra suggesting Australia’s chances of securing a more lucrative deal over the Timor Sea resources would be better if Indonesia controlled East Timor. It read:

“This could be much more readily negotiated with Indonesia by closing the present gap than with Portugal or an independent Portuguese Timor.”

This set the tone for the next 25 years of Australia’s response to Indonesia’s illegal occupation of East Timor which saw the death of over 200,000 Timorese men, women and children. Australia was all too eager to cosy up to the Suharto dictatorship for political and economic gain.

The 1989 Timor Gap Treaty confirmed this for the world to see.

The treaty was signed by Australia’s foreign minister at the time, Gareth Evans, and Indonesia’s foreign minister, Ali Alatas, as they clinked champagne glasses in an aeroplane flying high above the Timor Sea. Two men divvying up resources that did not belong to either of the nations they represented. It was Timor’s Oil.

Platform-Bayu-Undan-2012

Today, an independent East Timor enjoys 90% of the government revenue from one of the key fields in the Timor Sea, Bayu-Undan. However, the dispute over other significant deposits located nearby is still raging and some deposits, namely the Laminaria-Corallina fields, have nearly been depleted without Timor receiving a cent.

The dispute is likely to continue in one form or another until permanent maritime boundaries are established between East Timor and Australia.

East Timor has never had permanent maritime boundaries. It wants permanent boundaries and, as a sovereign nation, it is entitled to have them. Australia however, has consistently refused to establish boundaries with East Timor. Instead it has jostle our tiny neighbour into a series of temporary resource sharing arrangements – all of which short-change East Timor out of billions of dollars in government revenues to which it is entitled.

To understand the complexities of the current dispute, it helps to step through the various milestones that led to the current state of play.

In 1972 Australia and Indonesia agreed on a seabed boundary. This was based on the now out-dated “continental shelf” argument and the boundary was a lot closer to Indonesia than Australia. Because Portugal, the then colonial ruler of Timor, did not participate in the negotiations, a gap was left in the boundary. This became know as “The Timor Gap”.

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MINYAK TIMOR
Artikel ini adalah bagian dari edisi Maret Right Now , dengan fokus pada Timor Timur .

(Diterjemahkan dengan bantuan Google Translate)

Oleh Tom Clarke

Sejak penemuan cadangan minyak besar di bawah Laut Timor pada awal tahun 1970an , minyak telah menjadi pemain ketiga yang selalu ada dalam hubungan Australia dengan Timor Timur.
Sebelum invasi Indonesia ke Timor Timur, Duta Besar Australia untuk Indonesia Richard Woolcott secara memalukan mengirimkan pesan kabel kembali ke master politiknya di Canberra, menunjukkan kemungkinan mengamankan kesepakatan lebih menguntungkan atas sumber daya Laut Timor, Australia akan lebih baik jika Indonesia menguasai Timor Timur . Bunyinya:
” Ini bisa lebih mudah dinegosiasikan dengan Indonesia dengan menutup kesenjangan ini dibandingkan dengan Portugal atau Timor Portugis merdeka. ”
Ini mengatur nada untuk 25 tahun ke depan, respon Australia terhadap pendudukan ilegal Indonesia atas Timor Timur yang melihat kematian lebih dari 200.000 orang Timor, pria, wanita dan anak-anak. Diatas segalanya, Australia terlalu bersemangat untuk nyaman dengan kediktatoran Suharto untuk kepentingan politik dan ekonominya.
The Timor Gap Treaty 1989 menegaskan hal ini bagi dunia untuk melihat masalah ini.
Perjanjian itu ditandatangani oleh menteri luar negeri Australia pada saat itu , Gareth Evans , dan Menteri Luar Negeri Indonesia, Ali Alatas , karena mereka bersulang gelas sampanye di pesawat terbang yang terbang tinggi di atas Laut Timor. Dua pria ini membagi- sumber daya yang tidak termasuk dalam salah satu negara yang mereka wakili,itu adalah Minyaknya Timor.

Platform-Bayu-Undan-2012

Hari ini , Timor Timur yang merdeka menikmati 90 % dari pendapatan pemerintah dari salah satu bidang utama di Laut Timor, yaitu lading minyak dan gas Bayu -Undan. Namun, sengketa deposito penting lain yang terletak di dekatnya masih mengamuk dan beberapa deposito, yaitu bidang Laminaria – Corallina, telah hampir habis disedot tanpa Timor menerima satu sen pun.
Sengketa ini kemungkinan akan berlanjut dalam satu bentuk atau lain sampai batas maritim permanen dibangun antara Timor-Timur dan Australia.

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