PM Transcripts

FOR PRE~ SS PM. No. 31/ 1972
TERRITORIAL SEA AND CONTINENTAL SHELF BILL 1970
Statement by the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon.
William M~ cMahon, CH, MP
The Territorial Sea and Continental Shelf Bill
1970 was discussed at the normal weekly meeting of the joint
Government Parties. Three aspects of the Bill were discus-sed:
The progress made between the Commonwealth and the
States relating to the matters to be discussed
at the United Nations Law of the Sea Conference,
possibly in 1973.
The report of the Senate Select Committee on
Offshore Petroleum Resources. Some of the
conclusions of the Select Committee dealing
solely with the petroleum legislation were
discussed. These have been referred to the
Standing Committee of the Australian Minerals
Council and will be on the agenda for the
Council's next meeting.
The Constitutional aspects which were raised in the
Senate Committee report. These will be referred
to the next meeting of the Standing Committee of
Attorneys-General by the Commonwealth Attorney-
General. The Prime minister has written to State Premiers
on the Senate Select Committee report and the U~ N Conference on
the Law of the C'ea. He indicated arrangements which were in
hand or available for full discussion and consultation on these
matters. After lengthy discussion in which varying views were
expressed, the parties agreed it was important to proceed on
these lines of consultation with the States in an endeavour to
resolve the Constitutional problems as early as practicable.
In the meantime, no action will be taken on the Bill.
There was a general desire to ensure that the problem
of Constitutional jurisdiction be resolved, particularly in view
of its wide-ranging implications and the many matters which arise
in this field, but it was also the general desire that this should
be resolved by conzu2I. tation and co-operation.
CANBERRA,
29 March 1972