Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão found out about the bugging, and in December 2012 told Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard that he knew of the operation and wanted the treaty invalidated as a breach of "good faith" had occurred during the treaty negotiations. And finally, if you're able to eavesdrop you'll know about the divisions within the East Timor delegation and there certainly were divisions, different advice being given, so you might be able to lean on one way or another in the course of the negotiations." There's another thing that gives you an advantage, you know what the instructions the prime minister has given to the lead negotiator. "What would be the most valuable thing for Australia to learn is what our bottom line is, what we were prepared to settle for. Lead negotiator for East Timor, Peter Galbraith, laid out the motives behind the espionage by ASIS: The treaty was superseded by the signing of the Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMATS) which restricted further sea claims by East Timor until 2057. "Witness K", a former senior ASIS intelligence officer who led the bugging operation, confidentially noted in 2012 the Australian Government had accessed top-secret high-level discussions in Dili and exploited this during negotiations of the Timor Sea Treaty. ![]() "I think they've made a very big mistake thinking that the best way to handle this negotiation is trying to shame Australia, is mounting abuse on our country.accusing us of being bullying and rich and so on, when you consider all we've done for East Timor." Timor-Leste cannot be deprived of its rights or territory because of a crime." Īustralian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer responded: "Timor-Leste loses $1 million a day due to Australia's unlawful exploitation of resources in the disputed area. The first Prime Minister of East Timor, Mari Alkatiri, bluntly accused the Howard government of plundering the oil and gas in the Timor Sea, stating: Even though the East Timor government was unaware of the espionage operation undertaken by Australia, negotiations were hostile. The Australia–East Timor spying scandal began in 2004 when the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) clandestinely planted covert listening devices in a room adjacent to the East Timor (Timor-Leste) Prime Minister's Office at Dili, to obtain information in order to ensure Australia held the upper hand in negotiations with East Timor over the rich oil and gas fields in the Timor Gap. The Timor Sea (blue) is a rich source of oil and natural gas
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