The Age - Tuesday 26 April, 2005.

Timor talks to continue after protests

Talks over the lucrative Timor Sea gas and oil reserves will continue in Dili on Wednesday after protesters in Australia called for a better deal for East Timor.

The Australian government came under fire at rallies in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide over the controversial maritime boundary talks.

The protesters said Australia was trying to cheat its smaller neighbour out of royalties worth about $41 billion.

World War II veteran John "Paddy" Kenneally, who served in East Timor in 1942 and fought alongside the Timorese, led the charge in Sydney, demanding Australia agree to a midway boundary between the two countries.

"(Foreign Minister) Alexander Downer wants the East Timorese to live off the crumbs that fall from the rich Australian table," he said.

The bilateral talks, drawn out over the past year, have stalled repeatedly over the disputed maritime boundary.

Australia has been accused of playing hardball over the resources.

Canberra wants the boundary set back closer to East Timor and is seeking most of the royalties from the Greater Sunrise gas field, worth about $9 billion.

It is also asking East Timor to hold off on its permanent boundary claims in return for a guarantee of 90 per cent of revenues from the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA), worth more than $10 billion.

Both governments recently indicated the dispute was moving closer to a compromise solution.

But Mr Downer said Australia needed to protect its economic interests.

"I'm sure East Timor wouldn't be the independent country it is today if it hadn't been for the Howard government, but Australia has its own interests as well," he told ABC radio.

"Australia isn't just a charity. The Australian government and the Australian people have their own interests and they have to be protected as well."

East Timor has an annual budget of about $100 million, more than 50 per cent of adults are illiterate, and life expectancy is more than 20 years below that of Australia, according to Community Aid Abroad Oxfam Australia.

The talks in Dili are scheduled to conclude on Thursday.

- AAP

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