If rhetoric is a guide, Australia has descended from the rank of best friend to big bully in its dealings with East Timor. The immediate issue is where to fix a permanent boundary in the Timor Sea that separates the two countries.
The seabed contains valuable oil and gas fields that are being exploited or explored by Australian and foreign companies, and may well contain even greater petroleum riches. So the position of the boundary will determine how much of the royalties and taxes from development of these fields goes to Australia and how much to East Timor.
But the bigger issue is what kind of relationship Australia, one of the world's richest societies, should have with East Timor, one of the world's poorest nations. Australia played a major role in the United Nations operation in 1999 that helped protect and revive East Timor after its vote for independence from Indonesia triggered mayhem. And since then, Australia has been generous with aid and other assistance to its northern neighbour.
However, East Timor's leaders argue that the key to their plans to shift the economy from heavy dependence on foreign aid to self-reliance and rising living standards is an assured stream of future oil and gas revenue from the Timor Sea. They want a maritime boundary to be fixed halfway between their southern coastline and Australia's Northern Territory, and have accused Canberra of bad faith and stealing resources that rightfully belong to them.
'How can we prevent poverty if we don't have the money?' asked President Xanana Gusmao. 'How can we reduce disease, how can we stabilise the country, how can we strengthen the democratic process, how can we strengthen tolerance?'
Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said that East Timor was making 'a very big mistake thinking that the best way to handle this negotiation is trying to shame Australia ... accusing us of bullying, when you consider all we've done for East Timor'.