Petroz Action

The Action
In Brisbane, on the eve of the anniversary of the Dili massacre, 11 Nov 94,
four Christian peace activists made their way into the Petroz Oil Company
boardroom.  The four poured human blood on the boardroom table and Petroz
logos.  They carried out a rite of exorcism and also pasted the office walls
and exploration maps with photographs of slain and wounded Timorese.  They
then knelt in prayer.

Police arrived and ordered the group to vacate the office.  Jim Dowling and
Ciaron O'Reilly refused to move.  They were handcuffed behing their backs and
dragged by their wrists and necks from the building.  They were arrested and
charged with wilful damage and hindering police.

The Trial
The trials of Jim Dowling and Ciaron O'Rielly are set for 10 a.m. January
3rd, in the Brisbane Magstrate's Court.  Celebration and return to Petroz
will preceed the court appearance.  For more information contact the Catholic
Worker, 269 Boundary St, West End Qld 4101, or phone (07) 844 1369. 
Donations to cover mailings and expenses would be appreciated.


Statement
Today we come to the headquartersof the Petroz Oil Company located at 300
Queen Street, Brisbane.  We come in memory of the 200 Timorese slain in the
streets of Dili by Indonesian troops on November 12th, 1991.  We come in
memory of the 200,000 Timorese who have been slain since the Indonesian
invasion of December 1975.  We come with a sense of complicity that our
government - through what it has done and what it has failed to do - has
supported this genocide.

We some with the knowledge that Petroz Oil Company, through its oil interest
in the Timor Sea, profits from this most devastating act of armed robbery.

The killing fields of Timor are a short 400 kms from the Australian mainland.
They seem another world away from the suits, ties and boardrooms of Queen St.
That is why we feel it is important to bring our blood here and to pour it on
the boardroom tables of Petroz Oil Company.  Human blood is a very sacred
thing.  A lot of it has been spilt by the Timorese people for Petroz Oil
profits to flow.  We say NO to the continued murder of Timorese people, to
the training of Indonesian troops here in Queensland, to the profiteering of
Petroz oil Company and the Australian government from this bloody genocide.