Australia’s Administrative Review Tribunal will open part of former senator Rex Patrick’s records case to public scrutiny, The Guardian reported, in a dispute rooted in negotiations over Timor Sea resources.
The Guardian said Commonwealth lawyers had sought to close unclassified sessions and proposed providing a transcript after review by the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS). Tribunal Deputy President Peter Britten-Jones rejected that proposal, according to the newspaper, which quoted him as calling the risk of accidental disclosure “negligible.” The reported ruling covers access to unclassified proceedings; it does not decide whether records exist or should be released.
Patrick’s request dates to Jan. 1, 2025, when he sought records concerning ASIS activities and maritime-boundary negotiations, Sydney Criminal Lawyers reported, citing his account. The outlet said the National Archives of Australia (NAA) declined to confirm or deny whether relevant records existed, citing possible harm to security, defense or international relations.
The NAA’s overview of selected 2004 Cabinet papers says none of those released papers concerns the alleged operation. It describes an allegation that listening devices were placed in a room adjacent to Timor-Leste’s prime minister’s office in Dili to obtain information favorable to Australia in oil and gas negotiations. In dissenting comments published with a Senate committee report, Patrick asserted that Australia covertly spied on Timor-Leste’s negotiating team. The Guardian reported that neither the Australian government nor ASIS has confirmed the alleged operation or the existence of related files.
The resource stakes are reflected in two treaties. A 2006 agreement provided for equal sharing of upstream government revenues from the Greater Sunrise fields, according to an Australian parliamentary report. Under the 2018 treaty, Timor-Leste was allocated 70% of upstream revenue if the project used a pipeline to Timor-Leste, or 80% if it used a pipeline to Australia; Australia would receive the remainder, according to the treaty text. The Permanent Court of Arbitration records that Timor-Leste began compulsory conciliation with Australia in 2016 and that the proceedings concluded in 2018.
The Guardian also reported that Patrick criticized taxpayers bearing the government’s legal costs in the disclosure dispute. The newspaper reported that ASIS Deputy Director-General Ewan McMillan and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Deputy Secretary Michelle Chan are scheduled to testify at the three-day hearing expected in late November.
