Australia's foreign affairs department is expected to make a decision next week on whether to reissue a passport to a key witness in spy allegations concerning oil and gas treaty negotiations with East Timor.
East Timor has recommenced legal action against Australia in the UN's International Court of Justice in The Hague over claims that spies bugged their cabinet room in 2004 during talks over the reserves worth $40 billion.
"It's an issue of justice that Witness K provides the evidence so that everybody know whether or not the claim that Timor-Leste made was right," Prime Minister Rui Araujo told ABC TV.
Senator Nick Xenophon, who has been outspoken on the issue, said East Timor had one hand tied behind its back because Witness K could not appear before the arbitration.
"The fact that ... Witness K came forward as a whistleblower, his home was raided by ASIO and his passport has been confiscated and he can not travel to give evidence on this issue ... is an act of bastardry," he told reporters in Canberra.
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