News Release - TIMOR SEA JUSTICE CAMPAIGN - News Release
Tuesday, 26 April, 2005.
www.timorseajustice.org

PROTESTS CALL FOR A FAIR GO FOR EAST TIMOR AS MARITIME BOUNDARY NEGOTIATIONS RESUME

The Timor Sea Justice Campaign will today hold protests in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne to call for 'a fair go for East Timor' as maritime boundary negotiations between Australia and East Timor resume in Dili.

Supported by a range of Unions, Church groups, and NGOs, the rallies called by the Timor Sea Justice Campaign, will protest against the Australian Government's attempt to short change East Timor out of billions of dollars worth of gas and oil royalties.

The negotiations should focus on the placement of permanent maritime boundaries which will determine which country receives a predicted $40 billion dollars of government royalties from the Greater Sunrise field.

With an annual budget of $100 million, East Timor could potentially escape poverty and develop a viable economy with increased income from gas and oil fields that it's legally entitled to under current International Law.

"The Australian Government is bullying East Timor into a corner, forcing it to concede sovereignty in exchange for a completely inadequate one off hand out that does not even remotely reflect the value of East Timor's petroleum resources," Vannessa Hearman, a spokesperson for the campaign, said.

"With children dying from preventable diseases and with wide spread hunger, the East Timorese are in desperate need of revenue and can't afford for the Australian Government to follow through with it's threat of dragging these negotiations out for decades. Today, Australians will simply be asking that our Government plays by the rules and gives East Timor a fair go," Vannessa Hearman said.

The protests in the CBDs of the three cities will begin at 12 noon and will assemble at, or march to, offices of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Details:

Rally for A FAIR GO FOR EAST TIMOR! 12noon, April 26, 2005.
Melbourne:
DFAT - 2 Lonsdale St.
Sydney:
Meet at Martin Plaza & Pitt St and march to DFAT
Adelaide:
Commonwealth Parliament Offices, 100 King William St.

For further info, please contact: Tom Clarke, 0422 545 763.

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