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Post by Olivia Girdwood on Mar 23, 2018 13:52:10 GMT
@maddy
I agree with you. Also, though, Australia will still be making a boat load of money if they keep the processes in their country and they aren't reconfigured to go through East Timor. I do not believe that East Timor will have their way, though. The only possible way they will get everything they want is if the become a part of Australia, like a colony. Then they will share the wealth (potentially) and not have anything to fight about, for awhile at least.
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Post by Laura Gutauskas on Mar 24, 2018 2:15:30 GMT
@makayla I thought what you said about Australia flip flopping who they sided with was interesting: “They wanted to support the people they thought would be in power after the Indonesians invaded.” While of course Timor couldn't have held power over Indonesia at the time since they had just gained independence, it seems to be a reoccuring theme in history that one nation will almost mooch off the actions of another currently strong nation that is in the process of getting even more powerful. I agree with your rhetoric that Australia almost had to make a “helpful” move now that the other big dogs were watching them.
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Post by Maya French on Mar 25, 2018 14:30:47 GMT
@maya Borland, I like your idea that East Timor has “nothing to lose but everything to gain”. This is a very interesting view to have when looking into the mindset of the people of East Timor. Being that they are one of the poorest countries in Asia it is easy to say that they have nothing to lose due to their failing financial state. On the contrary, they do hold ownership over some very valuable oil fields. This could be seen as their one treasure that they are at risk to losing in this conflict but the fact that they have limited use of these valuable oil fields suggests that they are willing to risk what little they had to gain much more in the end and give their country the support it needs.
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Post by Maya French on Mar 25, 2018 14:42:53 GMT
@maddy, I found it interesting that you stated, “It is quite odd that such a small country can make a big difference” and it makes a lot of sense considering the the way small countries typically have been treated in the past. If you, as a country, do not have something of use to other countries then you are likely to just get left behind and left out. Especially considering the fact that East Timor gained its independence so recently, no one would expect it to take such bold actions against another, larger country like Australia. It is even more surprising considering the fact that the dispute was brought up over oil rights because oil is highly valuable in today’s market and not something that is willingingly given up. It will be interesting to see where East Timor can take itself with this attitude in the future.
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Post by Barbie Cessar on Mar 25, 2018 22:55:59 GMT
brooke "This clearly shows that Australia is trying very hard to be on good terms with Timor, buy why? Is it because they actually want to do good and help their "good friends" out? Or is it simply because there is an underlying reason that we simply cannot see, and they will soon pull the rug out from East Timor before we know it." I think the reason for aiding Timor is much more than just being good friends. I believe that Australia wants to make up for what they didn't do during the invasion but I also have feeling there is a catch to their generous offer. It seems too good to be true to give Timor such a huge portion of the oil revenue so its just an amount of time before their true intentions show.
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Post by Laura Gutauskas on Mar 25, 2018 23:02:05 GMT
brooke I agree with you that Australia is only doing this to make themselves look good through helping out the “lesser” nation although the big 80% only looks pretty on paper. In reality, if they process the oil in Darwin, this 80% that is intended for Timor could be a much more measly percentage.
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Post by Meghan Miller on Mar 26, 2018 0:05:11 GMT
@olivia I agree with you that "There is something fishy about Australia, one of the biggest countries on the planet, agreeing to make a deal with one of the smallest countries, East Timor". Australia should have all the bargaining power with the situation with East Timor, they could strong arm the smaller county into another unfair agreement. It is very unlikely for governments to feel remorse for the previous deal with East Timor or its affiliation with the Philippians. As per out previous class discussions, we can never know anyone's true motives, we can only speculate on their actions. Australia may be working on their public image, by seeming benevolent with East Timor. This benevolence will enable them leverage in future negotiations with East Timor, such as: "I gave you this favor so you need to do this for me". Australia is being really fishy and it should worry East Timor.
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Post by Meghan Miller on Mar 26, 2018 0:24:25 GMT
@maya Borland You asked " if Timor pushes for two main demands on the oil field will Austria just take away their rights or just take over their country?". I believe that Australia would not take over East Timor, but they would just take their oil reserves. From the information in the sources it seems as though East Timor does not have much more to benefit other than oil. With the only pro with taking over East Timor being the marine oil fields I do not believe Australia would waste resources to take over the whole country, just the oil fields. Australia, however, seems to be acting benevolently towards East Timor in their negotiations. This benevolence may be fake but as of right now there does not seem too much of a threat of take over.
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Post by Brooke Gentile on Mar 26, 2018 1:27:18 GMT
@richard Mineo
To answer your question "Is Australia allowing Timor to have control of the oil because they are trying to make up for their failure to assist them when they needed it in the 1970's until 1999?" I would have to say that Australia is absolutely trying to make up for their lack of support in the past. I believe that Australia is trying to become close with Timor in order to benefit themselves in the long run. Australia has some ulterior motives that may end up even hurting Timor in the near future.
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Post by Brooke Gentile on Mar 26, 2018 1:37:41 GMT
@babz
I could not agree more with your statement"I think that giving East Timor the maritime border in the Timor Sea is Australia’s way of making up for not intervening in the invasion. Australia is in favor of this change because it benefits their foreign relations and it doesn't put their country in danger." I feel that we are all on the same page as to how we feel about Australia's true motives. Australia is willing to go the extra mile fro Timor if and only if it somehow benefits them and their image. Australia probably wants to be well known as the ones who "saved" Timor, or they are looking for people to think of them as the "heroes" in all of this. I for one feel that there is no way Australia is doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.
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Post by Makayla Rieder on Mar 26, 2018 1:54:09 GMT
brooke I completely agree with your statement “Australia might be only in this to make themselves look good, and to grant them economic and political gain.” Australia has changed their minds so much when it comes to Timor-Leste and it’s always in a way that will show themselves in a good light. I think they really do only care about themselves when it comes to this.
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Post by Makayla Rieder on Mar 26, 2018 1:54:45 GMT
@barbie I agree that Australia probably didn’t like what was going on in Timor-Leste, and they may only not have intervened because they would have lost a lot of resources and been seen as the “bad guy” by a country that they depend on, but i don’t believe that they are bending to the wishes of the Timorese because they feel bad about not intervening. As I said in my post, I think that Australia is only doing what Timor-Leste wants because they don’t really have a choice when pinned up against big countries that are backing Timor-Leste. They don’t want to become enemies with countries that they rely on over some oil.
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Post by Matt on Mar 26, 2018 13:25:21 GMT
brooke i agree with your statement saying that Austrailia is doing this to make themselves look good while Timor isnt getting any profit.
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Post by matt on Mar 26, 2018 13:46:22 GMT
@richard do you think that the Australians should have acted on the situation faster then they did?
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Post by Barbie Cessar on Mar 26, 2018 13:51:46 GMT
@maya
Timor "good friends and close neighbours” she was simply putting on a show for the media.
I completely agree with this statement. I believe that Australia is only interested in themselves. They may have helped Timor out by this is only to maintain good global relations. Being good friends and close neighbors is not the true reason why they aided Timor.
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