Diggers speak out on East Timor oil deal
Just one day after we honored our nation’s fallen veterans on Anzac Day, a former world war two commander from East Timor led a rally calling on our government to honor our veteran’s debt to East Timor as talks on the division of oil in the East Timor Sea resumed today. Around one million dollars of revenue per day are at stake in this David and Goliath battle between Australia and East Timor, one of the poorest countries in our region. The Australian Government claims it should own oil and gas reserves located as close as 80 kilometres off the coast of East Timor, but East Timor has thus far failed to endorse Australia’s sovereignty in this area. World War Two veteran Paddy Keneally told The Wire’s Christine Baker about his experiences in East Timor.