THE CONSENSUS I74 I FRACTURING BIPARTISAN convergedon the crucial issueof self-determination.

Students at the University of East Timor organized free speech forums nearly every day during the first weeksin June 1998.34They discussedrefonnasiand demanded the release t'uvo of political prisoners and a referendum on self-determination. Protests in Dili were accompanied by protests in the Indonesian heartland of Java,in particular the capital Jakarta,where thousands of EastTimorese university students picketed the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Indonesian military leadership, already unsettled by the mass mobilizations, was further stunned by a helicopter crash which killed high-ranking military officers from the military command areathat included EastTimor: the commander, Major General Yudomo Sastrosuhardio,and the commander of the forces inside East Timor itself Colonel SalametSidabutar.J5 Under intense pressurer President Habibie made East Timor an offer of 'special status,'provided it remained part of the Republic of Indonesia.While the Howard government signalled its approval, Brereton argued that the offer fell weli short of what was required for a lasting solution. He reminded journalists of Labor's new policy', which expressedthe 'considered view that no lasting solution to the conflict in EastTimor is likely in the absenceof a process of negotiation through which the people of EastTimor can exercisetheir right of self-determination.'16

The CNRT Statement of 2l July 1998

Brereton's efforts were greatly suengthened at this time by the National Council ofTimorese Resistance(CNRT), which issued a statementon 21 July 1998 to coincide with the first production of oil from the Elang-Kakatua field in the Timor Gap by joint venture partners BHP, Santos, Petroz and Inpex Sahul.The timing of this media release,one day after BHP had issued its own press release on this milestone event) took the Australian government by Its surprise.3T professionallanguagedemonstratedto both the government and the Opposition that the EastTimorese resistancewere well-informed about the commercial and legal realities of petroleum exploration and international commerce. The statementmoved beyond moralising, reassuringthe Australian government and the oil companies that 'their commercial interests will not be adversely affected by East Timorese self-determination.' It supported 'the rights of the existing Timor Gap contractors and those of the Australian Government to jointly develop E,astTimor's offshore oil reservesin cooperation with the people of East Timor.' It warned them that 'with the demise of the Suharto regime and the collapse of the Indonesian economy, the previous political balance has changed.' Accordingly', if 'oil companies [wished] to lrlreratein a secure and predictable environment, for the benefit of all stake:rlders,'they would need to 'review their past assumptions and face current
': .- " tq -,l11eS.

I :e CNRT

statement, which u'as signed by Jose Ramos-Horta, Mari

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THE 176 | FRACTURTNGBtpARTtSAN CONSENSUS challenge was how to do this while not antagonizing the oil companies, who had considerablepower at their disposal. McKee came acrossa 1995 talk by international lar,vexpert professor Ivan Shearer,who had concluded by saying, almost as a throw-away line: 'Even if East Timor should obtain complete independence,it is by no means improbable that the new state would choose to step into Indonesia's shoesin relation to the Treaty.'46Mcl{ee realized that 'stepping into Indonesia's shoes' would be the best formulation to show how an independent East Timor would be financially viable without attracting the hostititl- of powerful corporations. once that goai had been achieved,it r.vouldbe possibleto'move the goalposts' incrementally to achievemore ad.,-ances further dou'n the track. Members of the policl'researchcomminee met BHp on 14July 199g.They '\\'ere soon concluded that t-heexecutir-es totalll- afraid about discussing East Timor'u'ith them.l- Thel' realized that a sratementabout the oil had to come from the leadersof the EastTimoreseresistance, from directors of the oil not companiesthcr hoped to intluence.JlcKee and Federer drafted the GNRT pressrelease. and then it q'assignedbv Ramos-Horta,Alkatiri and Carrascalao on behali.ri the c\RT. The die had been cast.McNaughtan then flew to East Tim.rr as a rourist. After meetings with students and other members of the clandestine resistance, had an'accidental'meeting at the HotelTourismo in he Dili u'ith Peter cockcroft, BHP's senior petroleum representativein Indonesia. cockcroft had been visiting Dili every month for the previous two years.4sThe meeting was arranged by an intermediary, Lansell rhudevin, who was managing a water project in Dili funded by Australia's overseasaid agency. Taudevin had been discreetly corresponding with McKee for the past year. cockcroft accepted McNaughtan's suggestion that he should meet Xanana Gusmao in prison. The meeting took place after Juan Federer, who had travelled to Jakarta to facilitate the possiblemeeting, had arranged for the cipinang prison guards to be paid the necessarybribes. cockcroft met Xanana Gusmao in the presence of Federer and Kirsty Sword, who would later marry Gusmao. cockcroft was unable to speakPortuguese,in which Gusmao was fluent, and Gusmao could not communicate adequately in English and declined to speak Indonesian, in which cockcroft was fluent. Federer, who was fluent in English, porruguese and Indonesian (and other languages as well), acted as interpreter. Gusmao gave cockcroft a prepared letter, assuringhim that'an independent EastTimor would honour - during an interim period - the rights awarded to mining companies under the 1989 Timor Gap Treaty.'4e A high-profile East Timorese leader with considerable media skills then leakedthe news of the secretmeeting to journalist DavidJenkins of the sydney Morning Herald.The result was a sensational story entitled BHp ratks to Jailed Guerrilla lzader.sOJenkinsreported Gusmao's assurances cockcroft.5f Th. to Indonesian government was infuriated, and threatened to expel cockcroft from Indonesia. BHP claimed that the meeting'had not been sanctioned by BHP', that it was only 'an informal discussion' with Gusmao, whom he

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