Minister of State and of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and

Official Spokesperson for the Government of Timor-Leste

 Díli, July 26th, 2015

Timor-Leste welcomes the commitment of the Australian Labor Party to engage on the issue of Maritime Borders if elected to Government

The Government of Timor-Leste values its relationship with the Government of Australia and with all Australian political parties.

In this context the Government of Timor-Leste welcomes the commitment of the Australian Labor Party, if elected to Government, to “enter into structured engagement with Timor-Leste to negotiate the settlement of maritime boundaries.”

This commitment was part of a four-point motion, negotiated at the highest level of the party and endorsed by delegates at the ALP National Conference in Melbourne this weekend. The motion underlines the intent of the ALP to maintain a close and positive relationship with Timor-Leste, undertakes that an ALP Government would engage to negotiate maritime boundaries, affirms adherence to a rules based international system and confirms that an ALP Government would review Australia’s reservations to UNCLOS which currently restrict Timor-Leste’s access to a third party “umpire” for resolving boundary issues.

Timor-Leste appreciates the bipartisan affirmation in Australia of the value of the relationship with our close neighbor, along with bipartisan statements upholding the importance of the principles of international law.

Spokesperson for the Sixth Constitutional Government, Minister of State Agio Pereira, noted “the Government welcomes the resolution of the Australian Labor Party. Settling our maritime boundaries is an issue of national sovereignty and we continue to seek structured engagement with the Government of Australia to make progress on this issue within the context of our close relationship.”