You can tell we are in an election period when posters read and...

You can tell we are in an election period when posters read and support such articles as that of the left leaning Guardian. Anything to show the govt benches as dithering and incompetent. My view, particularly as the source of the article seems to be a former Victorian State Premier, Steve Bracks of Labor.

Timor Leste didn't even exist as a country when the original maritime border laws for continental shelfs was agreed in 1964. What was then a province known as east Timor, belonged to Portugal. In 1974 following a rebellion by the locals the Portuguese agreed to work towards independence for the province but in Nov 1975 Fretilin declared independence. The Indonesians moved immediately and invaded the following month claiming the territory actually belonged to them. It wasn't until Dec 1999 that a transitional administration was set up to transform the province into an independent country. In 2001 Aus and TL signed an agreement which meant that T/L would get 90% of any future oil/gas revenues from a joint development zone and was entered into force as the CMATS treaty in 2003. TL have been getting 90% of Bayu Undan since the field entered production in 2004. This notwithstanding that the field actually sits within the Australian continental shelf in geological terms.The trench that divides the two land masses is much closer to Timor than Australia. Again, geologically speaking.

I disagree with the Guardian argument that the new border confirmed that many former and current operational fields were in Timorese territory, despite decades of Australia profiting from them. Not least because TL didn't exist decades ago and geologically, they sit within our continental shelf, but also, in my view, because the new treaty confirms only that those fields and future fields will upon ratification, be transferred to total East Timorese jurisdiction.( a poignant difference)

Other emotional words used in the Guardian article, such as 'siphoning off " do the author no credit. Yes! 15 months does seem a long time to wait on ratification but there are many reasons which may account for that, not least because the parliamentary process of committee investigation (which would be the same for any party which holds government) takes time and did take most of the year. The drafting of the consequential amendments and the scrutiny of them also takes time and the process requires three readings. Like I previously posted, better to get it right the first time than mess it up. Also note that the original treaty with T/L stated above was signed in 2001 but did not enter force until 2003.

Anyway, who knows? the government may well have already decided that the 10% they are getting from Bayu Undan since the signing of the treaty will be given to TL, though I don't see a necessity for that since the treaty does not come into force until ratified.Given the penchant for pollies of all persuasion to big note themselves however, I wouldn't be surprised if they have already got it in mind. Forget about the poor Australians. IMO and DYOR.

Politics! Bah! Cheers!