East Timor's tribulations fuelled by Darwin's great LNG pipedream EAST Timor's bid to have its 2006 treaty with Australia declared void by the Permanent Court of Arbitration isn't really about The Hague, where the court is based, or about spying. It's about Darwin and pipelines and the phenomenal development that the country's leaders have witnessed in the space of just 10 years. Revenue from the gasfields in the Timor Sea has boosted the East Timorese budget 16-fold since 2006. Australia's substantial aid has also lifted the economy.