John Madigan (Victoria, Democratic Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Brandis. On 20 May 2002 Timor-Leste officially became an independent nation. On the same date they signed the Timor Sea treaty with Australia. Some argued Timor-Leste may not have realised the true implications of signing the treaty during their final hours of duress and, as such, this has culminated in the current situation we are in with the CMATS dispute before arbitration at The Hague. Can the minister outline specific attempts over the past 12 months that Australia has made to engage Timor-Leste to resolve these disputes locally, and explain why we were prepared to negotiate a median line with New Zealand in 2004 but have not been able to do the same with Timor-Leste?