Under the title "Resources and Independence : parallels between East Timor and Western Sahara" a seminar was held on 19 August 2004 at the Institute of Postcolonial Studies in Melbourne, Australia.

Kamal Fadel, Polisario Front representative in Australia, opened the seminar with a discussion of the similarities between the two countries which both had Iberian colonisers followed by territorial claims by neighbouring countries. Both local colonisers signed illegal oil deals. The most important difference is that East Timor has achieved independence, while Western Sahara still awaits decolonisation. Another difference is the role the catholic church was able to play in East Timor, with Bishop Belo sharing the Nobel Peace Prize with Jose Ramos Horta which raised the profile of their struggle internationally.

Kwame Mfodwo, an international lawyer from Monash University, said that the one good thing about being the last colony is that you learn from the experience of others. Oil companies are aware that the people of a region have sovereignty over resources and that they could seek compensation if these resources are exploited. He thinks that, prompted by US law, oil companies working in these conditions, would be putting a proportion of their profit into a trust fund for against this eventuality.

Alex Tilman, representing Fretilin commented that in East Timor, people were following local liberation struggles in Aceh and West Papua, but knew little of Western Sahara. He asked what they could do and suggested building links between student groups to develop knowledge of each other's countries.

Helen Hill, chair of Australia-East Timor Association attributed the success of the East Timor struggle to three factors: the armed forces, the diplomatic effort and the clandestine front. She said that over the years there were times when few people in the solidarity movement really believed it would happen. It was thought that Western Sahara would become independent before East Timor and she regretted having to note that the Polisario Front is still engaged in its struggle for independence.

Questions were taken from the capacity audience.

Melbourne, 21.08.04