There! Hearing the words
Tim-Tim
, used by an Australian official for the first time shook Coleman. Was it possible that his own country's leadership had always intended the disputed territory to fall under Indonesian control?
“Was it all just a sham?” he asked, knowing that whatever answer he was given there would be another lie buried somewhere behind, and perhaps another behind that as well, waiting to be brought forward whenever the argument demanded.
“Without being overly philosophical, Stephen, you, more than any of us, should understand that we are not masters of our own destiny.”
He looked at Coleman for a while before continuing, as if gauging his mood, and also measuring just how far he could go in convincing his former agent that whatever they had done, the Service had provided nothing but the best for its members and, of course, its country.
“It was never a sham, Stephen. We couldn't just jump in, even when the threat was more real than even we indicated to the world. It is a fact that this country was threatened with the very real possibility of East Timor becoming a Soviet satellite. It is also true that the Americans were concerned with the Soviet's ever increasing influence in the region. But, at the end of the day, what it was really all about was Australia's final emergence as a regional power competing both economically and politically against the enormous changes that were taking place in our own hemisphere.”
“The people of this country have never really been able to understand what would happen to Australia once Japan had proven its vulnerability - not by military power but by economic warfare.”
“Our nation has retreated from being one of the most advanced societies with a living standard almost second to none, to become what one of our erstwhile leaders proclaimed as a Banana Republic. The sad fact is, he was correct.”
“You will probably remember when you could visit say, Singapore, and change your Australian dollars into ringgits or straits' dollars and receive almost four of theirs for each of ours. Or, in Tokyo at about the same time, again one of our dollars could be changed for about four hundred of their yen.”
“I don't need to give you a lecture on what has happened to our exchange rates; it's just that even our currency's deflated value is indicative of the country's inability to motivate the young, the business sector, or even the government.”
“The country has always been an agrarian state, or was, up until our resources were finally exploited by the thousands of mining and oil companies which flooded into this land to develop whatever they found. But it wasn't and won't be enough for Australia to survive in the long term. We need to maintain our position along with every other developed nation in terms of accessing, then controlling the vital resources so desperately needed by industry, and much more so, as we move into the next economic cycle. We do not have sufficient reserves to guarantee this country's economic independence when it comes to fossil fuels, Stephen.”
“In short, we need control over the Timor Basin.”
For the second time that day, Stephen was speechless.
Anderson
had ceased talking and Coleman knew he was expected to respond. He had no idea that the Intelligence Chief would drop such a bombshell. He was suddenly very concerned and almost afraid of the man who sat there with him, quietly discussing these most delicate and sensitive political issues that had obviously been the subject of extensive debate at the highest levels.
“This is why we need you.”
The words hung in the air, and Coleman suddenly imagined himself standing in front of one of those recruitment posters that had flooded the United States during the first Great War. The one with the moustachioed soldier pointing directly at the observer with the slogan
Uncle Sam Needs You!
blazoned all over the lower section. He looked sideways, quickly, to see if Anderson had really lost his marbles or was just testing him. Like Seda had.
He could see from the other man's countenance that he had been deadly serious and earnest in his display of nationalism. Was it really just that? Stephen wondered, thinking that the Director may just be a little senile. He shuddered involuntarily. Whatever the truth may be, he knew that somehow he was not going to enjoy the rest of these discussions.
Only moments had elapsed but they felt like minutes. He knew he must say something, respond, or he would appear to not be in
concert with the older man.
“The Timor Basin?” he asked, almost lamely.
The elderly Director paused before responding.
“The country's majors, or multinationals, have already moved to secure their positions through negotiation. Most of the fields have been assigned under agreements which the Indonesians are fond of referring to as production sharing agreements.”
“These have been finalized after some considerable effort and many years of determining exactly where their territory begins and ours finishes. One of their arguments has always been that international territorial limits should apply. Their whole goddamn country is just a mass of piss-fart little coral atolls which they have the audacity to use to enforce their extended territorial claims over the shelf which, geologically speaking, really belong to us!”
“No sooner had our companies spent the many millions necessary to prove up the fields when suddenly our neighbours decided that the formal agreements already in place delineating boundaries, and crossover areas determined under the accord, to be no longer valid. Even the joint production contracts which specify bonus payments to the Indonesians based on volume extracted are in contention.”
Coleman had no real idea where the harangue was heading.
“But that's not all. In fact, its just the tip of the iceberg,” Anderson continued, having taken a small sip of the mineral water. “They have deliberately caused tremendous anti-Australian feelings to erupt in their major cities as part of their typical bullying tactics. Australian investment has reached an all time high in the country and, apart from the long-term considerations in the event we lose these substantial oil and gas fields, the immediate future for almost eighty thousand of our citizens is, to say the least, bleak.”
“We believe that the fields which extend from Timor across towards Darwin will produce more than this country requires for the next fifty years in terms of oil, not to mention the gas reserves.”
His throat dry, Anderson then paused to take another mouthful of mineral water. He coughed lightly and then finished the remainder of the contents before continuing.
Coleman was now impressed with Anderson's argument about resources. He had not really paid much attention to what had been happening in those fields and was surprised that the area had attracted so much interest. Volatile interest, too, so it seemed.
“When the Soviet Empire fell apart you may have read that Russia and some of the other larger former states went on a selling spree, off-loading military equipment on a scale not seen since the Americans financed the British against the Germans earlier in this century. Most of the Black Sea fleet was sold, intact, to the Indonesians. Stephen, we're talking about some thirty five to forty naval vessels that were fully operational at the time.”
Coleman sat quietly, listening attentively, still not sure where the conversation was going. When the other man had mentioned the ships he thought he had read somewhere about the sale but paid little attention to this also at the time as he was no longer interested in the world of armaments.
“They needed it, John. Their navy never really regained the strength it enjoyed before the attempted takeover in Sixty-five,” he said.
“These ships were supposed to travel via India for their refit but the contract was slipped off to another group where major modifications were undertaken. It was quite a surprise to all of us that the Indonesians suddenly acquired such a massive fleet of ships. Sort of an instant navy, so to speak.
“I want you to think about the following. Without the total production of the areas now under dispute, the Republic will be obliged to start importing oil again in less than ten years. Maybe even five. They know that they can hold onto the areas now in contention and perhaps even broaden the scope of their claims to include some of the other disputed properties between Vietnam and the Philippines. The Chinese and Malaysians also consider these island groups to belong to them and have positioned gun boats to support their intentions.
“Indonesia's economy has grown dramatically as you are, no doubt, aware. This boom has created an enormous appetite and the consumers have pushed their country at incredible speed to fill their demands. Although they are the world's largest exporter of natural gas and have access to thermal power as well, all of this will not be sufficient for the giant economy to survive should it become dependent on imported fuels. It is a very complicated scenario Stephen. I am not trying to patronize you but I don't think you have paid too much interest over the last few years and I am only now trying to present you with the problem as an overview to help you understand where we are at. Okay?”
“Sure. It's okay. Under different circumstances I would probably even be enjoying it.” Coleman couldn't resist the inference at his cramped accommodations, moving his head from side to side as he looked around the small quarters.
“None of us are able to look into a crystal ball and just come up with an accurate scenario of what will occur in the future but we do have the ability to predict with a certain amount of accuracy what might happen given the right set of circumstances. And that is what this government has had to do to protect its own national interests. You can safely assume that the Americans, Japanese and other nations involved directly in the region will be doing precisely the same and, in fact, we believe that the United States considers what we have forecast to be reasonably accurate.
“There are many regional issues which can affect these long term projections. For instance, India has the second largest navy in the world! The average man on the street has no perception of what that means to us but I can assure you Stephen, they could be a threat to our regional stability. Their country's population explosion has put their numbers ahead of China's. Did you know that they are faced with an even more serious problem with imports than the Indonesians?”
Coleman did not answer, assuming that the question was merely rhetorical.
“Do you?” he was asked again.
“No, John. Sorry,” he answered tersely.
“Difficult as it may be to believe, India with its more than one billion people, will become a net importer of food within the same period as the Indonesians may be forced into a similar position with fuel. Interesting, eh?”
“John. Please. What does any of this have to do with my being here?”
Anderson
sat quietly, thinking, before he responded.
“It all has something to do with the reason for your being here, Stephen, directly and indirectly, just about all of it!
“The Indonesians are becoming militant and appear to be preparing themselves for the possibility of regional instability. That they are responsible themselves for this instability doesn't seem to enter into their thinking as many of their leaders are old and have become irrational over the issues which directly affect Australia. They are not very generous when you consider that we have supported their annexation of Timor and, even as far back as the annexation of Irian we also supported them. Now they seem hell bent on challenging us over our oil and gas reserves and other issues most of which are just a smoke screen to disrupt negotiations to settle the issues peacefully.
“Our intelligence sources, supported by the Americans confirm that there have been covert activities aimed at a possible pre-emptive move against us somewhere, even, perhaps in New Guinea. In short, it appears that Indonesia wishes to expand its territorial sovereignty to include other potential resource areas to eliminate the future possibility of domestic fuel shortages. We didn't object when they just took East Timor, neither did we block their move when they took half of the island of New Guinea, which is also one of their more lucrative provinces. There are those who are foolish enough to believe that we would also acquiesce should they push across into New Guinea because Australia doesn't have the military resources to prevent such military action.
“The bottom line is, Stephen, we can't defend ourselves and can no longer count on the Americans to run to our assistance as they have done in the past because they too need allies like the Indonesians. I wouldn't like to put money on Australia if the Yanks were forced to take sides in any conflict. Ever since the ANZUS Treaty was virtually compromised by the Kiwis refusing American nuclear ships access to their harbours there has been a significant shift in how the Americans now perceive the old alliances. It's probably because were just too bloody British and expect too much from the old relationships.”
Coleman listened intently, feeling that the punchline to this one-sided conversation was about to be revealed. Anderson's next statement rocked him.
“Your old friend Seda will, within the following year, become the next Vice President of Indonesia.”
He let the statement sink in while watching the other man slowly shake his head, smiling, and then finally holding the palms of his hands up as if in surrender.