East Timor launches spying case in the Hague

A landmark case has begun in the Hague, looking into a multi-billion dollar oil agreement between Australia and East Timor. The case has sparked allegations of spying, office raids, broken promises and unfair advantages.

hague_flag_sbs.jpg

(SBS)

It's all behind closed doors in the Hague, Canberra's legal team is preparing for a case that's now about spies, international politics and a fight over billions of dollars in royalties.

Overnight, Timor's prime minister demanded to know why Australia was no longer a close friend.

"I think reviewing that decision would be a good thing for the Australian government to do but it is not enough for Attorney-General Brandis to say it is a national security matter," Greens leader Christine Milne says.

The case in the Hague centres around a 2006 agreement between the two governments.

Watch: Interview with Deakin University professor Damien Kingsbury



The treaty ensured equal profits from a shared oil field in the East Timor Sea.

The gas piped to mainland Australia, a pipeline that's transformed Darwin economically.

But it hasn't had the same affect in Dili.

"The certainty that has to be established is the boundary issue," East Timor's Ambassador to Australia, Abel Guterres says.

"So investors can go into the area know where exactly where the boundries are, which jurdistrictions are of other side."

These latest allegations of spying have surfaced at a time when Australia is trying to repair its fractured diplomatic ties with Indonesia.

Now the sensitive and supposedly secret work of our intelligence agencies is being discussed on the world stage.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

By Brett Mason

Source: SBS



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world