Tony Iltis, Melbourne
The Timor Sea Justice Campaign (TSJC) held a public information evening on June 23 at the Collingwood Town Hall to explain the current state of negotiations between Australia and East Timor. Hosted by Melbourne comedian Rod Quantock and featuring musical performances by David Bridie, Kavisha Mazzela and members of the Dili Allstars, the public meeting was attended by 150 people.
Speakers included Ian Melrose, the businessman who has funded television advertisements condemning the Australian government's theft of Timor's oil; Tomas Freitas from the Dili-based Movement against the Occupation of the Timor Sea; and solidarity activist Vannessa Hearman, representing the TSJC. In an address by "Alexander Downer" (comedian John Clarke), "Downer" promised to settle the dispute "really, really slowly".
Melrose outlined how he became involved in the campaign in September last year after reading about a 12-year-old Timorese girl choking to death on roundworms, when her death could have been prevented by a cheap tablet. "After reading this, I got up and walked around the house and thought, that this time I had to act." He reprinted a copy of the article and posted it out to his database of clients around Australia to highlight the situation in East Timor.
Melrose also attempted to lobby the Liberal Party about the issue, including through a meeting with Alexander Downer. Melrose said that Downer suggested he ought to give the money it cost to fund the ads to the Timorese health system. Melrose told the meeting, "The Timorese health system needs hundreds of millions of dollars to fix it, not one, two or three million dollars".
This year, Melrose has been working together with the TSJC to reach out further to the community, not only through TV ads, but also through grassroots organising and public events like rallies and stunts held around the time of negotiations between East Timor and Australia. He urged as many Australians as possible to make their views clear to the federal government on the issue.
Freitas praised Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's resolve in standing up to Australia's attempts to bury the issue of permanent maritime boundaries between the two countries by offering a higher percentage of revenue from the Greater Sunrise oil field. Freitas said that job creation and higher salaries for public servants were important issues in East Timor if the country was to "get going". The low salaries for public servants, set by the previous UN administration, have forced public servants to supplement their income elsewhere. "So the really important work to get the country going is going only slowly."
Hearman argued that the Australian government has been forced to make some concessions to the Timorese, such as the holding of more frequent meetings and the promise of a larger share of the Greater Sunrise oil field, from 18% to around 50% of revenue. However, she said public pressure in Australia needs to continue if the Australian government is to be forced to deal with the Timorese over the maritime boundary issue.
From Green Left Weekly, June 29, 2005.
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