2020 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release - nominated areas for comment

• The proposed release areas of AC20-1, AC20-2, AC20-3, are even closer to the Indonesian coastline than existing acreage sites, and closer to the Indonesian coastline than the Australian coastline;

• The proposed release area of AC20-6 is proximate to Ashmore Reef, which was a traditional fishing site for fishermen from Nusa Tenggara Timur for centuries prior to the expansion of Australia’s fishing zone. It is also proximate to the ‘MOU Box’, an area designated by the Australia-Indonesia Memorandum of Understanding regarding the Operations of Indonesian Traditional Fishermen in Areas of the Australian Fishing Zone and Continental Shelf – 1974, in which traditional Indonesian fishermen are permitted to ‘continue their customary practices and target species such as trepang, trochus, abalone and sponges’ , and ‘access resources within the MoU Box and at Ashmore Reef Marine Park for fresh water, visit grave sites and shelter in the Recreational Use Zone’.

• The proposed release areas of AC20-1, AC20-2, AC20-3, are also proximate to Indonesian fishing grounds located within Indonesian waters, that are the source of livelihood for thousands of fishermen from NTT.

We note that the potential acreage release areas of AC20-1, AC20-2 and AC20-3 are located within approximately 150 kilometres of the Indonesian coast, specifically the coastlines of Rote Island and West Timor, within the Indonesian province of Nusa Tenggara Timur (East Nusa Tenggara). These acreage release areas are also located approximately more than 250 kilometres from the Australian coast. They are closer to Indonesia than Australia.

These release areas are therefore closer to the Indonesian coast than the Montara wellhead, which is located approximately 250 kilometres from the coast of Rote. The Montara wellhead was the site of the worst transboundary marine oil disaster to ever devastate Indonesian communities.

Located at approximately 150 kilometres from the Indonesian coastline, these potential acreage sites are almost half the distance of the Montara wellhead from Indonesian shores. In the event of a maritime disaster, it is highly possible that oil will reach Indonesian shores within a shorter time-frame, due to the closer distance to the Indonesian coast.

In terms of the response to a maritime disaster, this means that:
• there will be even less time available for oil to weather before reaching the Indonesian coast;
• depending on the proximity of acreage sites to the Australian boundary, there may be less opportunity to monitor and control the oil’s reach within Australian waters, necessitating transboundary monitoring and response operations to be commenced quickly.

Given the strength and direction of currents in the Timor Sea, especially in the period between August and December, we are concerned that if any future oil spill were to occur that emanated from these sites, that the coastlines of Rote and West Timor would again face environmental, social and economic devastation.

We are concerned that the release of further acreage sites, especially in the absence of adequate transboundary arrangements, means that the communities of Nusa Tenggara Timur are not adequately protected from the threat of future harm in the event of an oil spill.

Transboundary measures affecting the Australia – Indonesian border have still, to our knowledge, not been adequately reviewed, or implemented.

While the Montara oil spill has featured in academic articles, papers, conferences around the world, there has not been an appropriate review of the adequacy of transboundary measures in Australia.

An appendix to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA)’s National Plan, reviewed in 2017, is titled, Coordination of International Incidents: Notification Arrangements Guidance. However, this document is only 1 ½ pages long. It also does not adequately address the processes, communication with Indonesian parties, and plans to document transboundary damage and transboundary assessment of an oil spill’s trajectory.

AMSA’s 10 year outlook, Looking ahead: AMSA’s Operating Environment 2017 – 2027, provides only two references to transboundary incidents.

It is the view of both the West Timor Care Foundation and Jubilee Australia Research Centre that no mechanism currently exists to adequately protect the rights and interests of Indonesian citizens living within Nusa Tenggara Timur.

Proceedings for the $200 million class action representing more than 15,000 seaweed farmers is currently before the Federal Court of Australia and awaiting judgment. It is one of the largest class actions in Australian history.

Yet while the issue of economic loss and environmental damage in Nusa Tenggara Timur is clearly an issue of significant magnitude, the Australian government has continued to evade Indonesian requests for assistance regarding the Montara oil disaster.

To date, eleven years on from the largest disaster in the history of the Australian offshore petroleum industry, the Australian government has not funded any investigation in Indonesian territory assessing environmental damage in Nusa Tenggara Timur.

In December 2019, West Timor Care Foundation filed a formal complaint on behalf of 13 districts in Nusa Tenggara Timur to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment; United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty; United Nations Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes; and the UN Working Group on business and human rights, represented by public international lawyer Monica Feria-Tinta.

We believe that given that Australia’s response to the Montara oil disaster remains incomplete, it would be inappropriate for further acreages to be released that carry such a disproportionate risk to the citizens of Nusa Tenggara Timur.

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We recommend that any decision to release further acreage sites that carry such a significant risk of transboundary damage to Indonesian coastal communities should be postponed indefinitely until:

• appropriate consultation regarding the proposed release of acreages with Indonesia has occurred; and
• appropriate and clear transboundary arrangements and processes have been established with AMSA, DFAT and Indonesian Government agencies; and
• the Australian government commits to appropriately working with the Indonesian government to appropriately fund investigations into ongoing reports of damage in Nusa Tenggara Timur as a result of the Montara oil disaster.