Dr Ramos-Horta says a pipeline to East Timor and gas processing there would catapult the country's tiny economy to durable prosperity. (AAP: Alan Porritt)By Linda Mottram- ABC News
East Timor's president Jose Ramos-Horta is on a five-day state visit to Australia and has held talks with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
As well as the usual ceremonies and dinners attached to state visits, Dr Ramos-Horta also raised issues surrounding the Greater Sunrise gas deposit.
The single biggest issue from Dili's perspective is the question of where to process gas from the deposit, which promises to be a bonanza.
Last night, ahead of a speech at the Australian National University, Dr Ramos-Horta issued this appeal:
"If I were the Prime Minister of Australia and if I were the top oil executives and others, I would look at the region as a whole," he said.
"I wouldn't look only at my narrow economic, commercial interests.
"I would... look at that peace, stability, prosperity in the wider Pacific-Asia region [being] of utmost importance to Australia."
While the Greater Sunrise consortium says a floating processing facility is the most financially viable option, Dr Ramos-Horta says he does not believe their figures.
He is citing Indonesian figures showing that a pipeline to East Timor would cost $5 billion less than the consortium's estimate.
Dr Ramos-Horta says a pipeline to East Timor and gas processing there would catapult the country's tiny economy to durable prosperity.
But speaking to reporters alongside Mr Rudd after their talks, Dr Ramos-Horta said his support for the pipeline option was not absolute.
"I want to see also the costs of it both in terms of environmental impact as well as the financial, commercial costs of bringing a pipeline to Timor Leste," he said.
But Mr Rudd maintains that the issue has nothing to do with his Government.
"This is a matter to be resolved between the government of Timor Leste and the company concerned," he said.
'Commercial decision'
Dr Clinton Fernandes from the University of New South Wales at ADFA says the gas consortium's decision will be a financial one.
"The personal sentiments that appeal to the heart of the prime minister or anybody else have nothing to do with the decision on where the pipeline goes," he said.
"It's a commercial decision made by Woodside and that's what both Timor Leste and Australia have agreed to when they ratified the treaty on certain maritime arrangements in the Timor Sea."
He says Dr Ramos Horta is trying to keep the gas issue on the agenda.
"If there's no decision made by 2013, then the treaty will lapse and a new treaty will have to be signed," he said.
"He may be preparing the ground in advance for that eventuality."
Earlier this month in an interview with Radio Australia, East Timor's minister for natural resources, Alfredo Pires, did more than just allude to that possibility.
"Our policies have been very clear that if it's not piped to Timor Leste, then yes we would be prepared to leave it as a deposit for future generations," he said.
Aid gripes
As well as the Greater Sunrise issue there have been running gripes about the effectiveness of Australian aid to East Timor.
Dr Ramos-Horta says he is now happy with the direction of Australian aid, but still he levelled public accusations about poor spending decisions by Australia.
There was East Timor's decision to buy Chinese patrol boats instead of joining the Australian Pacific Patrol Boat scheme.
Observers say East Timor saw Australia's control over that scheme as excessive, particularly when it came to intelligence access.
And there have been incidents involving Australian troops on the ground in East Timor that have created an impression of a lack of care by Australia.
Dr Ramos-Horta says the relationship is in good shape and suffers only the usual difficulties of any relationship.
After today's talks with Mr Rudd though he was deeply complimentary of the Australian leader.
"I commend you for your exceptional vision, leadership on the global stage," he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Rudd has announced new areas of cooperation between the two nations, with climate change on the agenda.
"I welcome also the leadership shown by president Ramos-Horta in partnership with president Narsi of the Maldives in seeking to bring about a conference of countries of the Asian region on climate change, to build momentum towards a strong outcome in Mexico at the end of this year," he said.
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