I understand that there has not been any adjudication under international law with regard to the Laminaria oil field referred to in the Deputy's question. Timor Leste, or East Timor as it was formerly known, and Australia make overlapping claims to parts of the continental shelf in the Timor Sea, an area understood to contain large reserves of oil and gas.
Under the terms of a bilateral Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea, signed by the Foreign Ministers of Australia and Timor Leste in January of this year, the two sides agreed to set aside their maritime boundary negotiations for fifty years and to share the resources of what is referred to as the Greater Sunrise field (formerly known as the Sunrise and Troubadour fields which had also been previously claimed by both countries) on a 50:50 basis. The agreement, which has yet to be ratified by the Parliaments in both countries, would also allow Australia to continue to conduct activities in relation to petroleum or other resources of the seabed and subsoil in respect of Laminaria and other remaining contested oil fields.
Prior to this agreement, Australia and Timor Leste concluded the Timor Sea Treaty in May 2002, which accords to Timor Leste 90% of the revenue from a "joint development area" in the Timor Sea. I understand that the Laminaria field, together with the Buffalo and Corallina fields, lie to the west of the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA) as defined under the Timor Sea Treaty. This Treaty came into force on 2 April 2003.
It would not be appropriate for this issue to be raised with the Australian Prime Minister or Foreign Minister in the terms suggested by the question. However, Timor Leste was on the agenda for the official talks I held yesterday with Prime Minister Howard during his visit to Ireland. We had an exchange of views on the situation in Timor Leste during which I referred to Ireland's long-standing commitment to the country's political and socio-economic development.