Water and Soil, Blood and Oil: Demarcating the Frontiers of Australia, Indonesia and Timor-Leste

Abstract

This chapter explores frontiers as political and economic constructs, focusing on the contested borders and boundaries of Timor-Leste. It considers the politics and economics of drawing borders and extracting resources in the Timor Sea, and the ethics of relations between a small, poor, undeveloped country and a large, rich developed country. In the long dispute between Timor-Leste and Australia over hydrocarbon resources in the Timor Sea, Australian governments portrayed themselves as friendly patrons of Timor-Leste. This paper exposes a rather different relationship, in which bullying and selfishness by Australian governments contrasts sharply with popular Australian support for Timor-Leste. Throughout the dispute, Australia has prioritized its relationship with Indonesia, not least during the quarter of a century after 1975 when Indonesia invaded the sovereign country of Timor-Leste. The rest of the world looked away as some 200, 000 people died in years of brutal repression. The chapter traces the international legal negotiations and treaties between Australia, Timor-Leste and Indonesia up to the 2018 Australia-Timor Leste Treaty delineating a marine boundary and redistributing access to resources. Timor-Leste’s economic security and political stability depend heavily on how, when and who by the arrangements agreed in 2018 will be implemented.