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Timor Sea campaigners look hopefully to Woodside
Timor Sea Justice Campaign Media Release - January 9, 2006
The Australian lobby group that has been calling on the Australian Government to negotiate permanent maritime boundaries with East Timor, is now hoping that the temporary resource sharing agreement set to be signed in Sydney this week, will pave the way for Woodside Petroleum to commit to an onshore processing facility in East Timor.
Timor Sea Justice Campaign (TSJC) co-ordinator, Tom Clarke, claimed that while the Australian Government was continuing to short change the East Timorese of billions of dollars, the upside of the new deal would be the opportunity it presents for Woodside Petroleum to make a significant and lasting contribution to East Timor's economic development. "The Greater Sunrise gas field, which is the only field the new deal covers, will produce billions of dollars of 'government royalties', but other 'down stream benefits' need to be taken into consideration.
Obviously East Timor should also receive a fair share of the flow-on economic benefits from the development of its own resources," Mr Clarke said.
The development of the Greater Sunrise gas field, located twice as close to East Timor than to Australia, will potentially generate thousands of jobs and produce other economic benefits associated with on-shore infrastructure and investment.
"The greed of the Australian Government has really let down the people of East Timor through this deal. However with the legal frame work now in place, there's a real hope that companies such as Woodside Petroleum will look towards contributing to a sustainable industry in East Timor that may help the poorest country in Asia escape from continuing poverty," Mr Clarke said.
The TSJC would also like to see more emphasis placed on East Timorese employment on the rigs and platforms in the Timor Sea, claiming that East Timorese workers are currently filling only a small portion of the jobs.
Whilst acknowledging that the 50 percent of royalties East Timor will receive from Greater Sunrise under the new deal, is an improvement on the miserly 18 percent previously offered, the TSJC says it will continue its campaign for permanent boundaries, as for many East Timorese the issue is integral to the process of self-determination and achieving true independence.
"This deal is really just a band-aid solution for one particular gas field. If more petroleum resources are discovered tomorrow, it will be back to square one. So the Timor Sea Justice Campaign, along with various groups and individuals, will continue to push for the Australian Government to finish the job by establishing permanent boundaries with East Timor in accordance with current International Law," Mr Clarke said.
For more information or further comments, please contact:
Tom Clarke
Co-ordinator
Timor Sea Justice Campaign
Melbourne
moble: 0422 545 763
e-mail: tom@timorseajustice.org
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