U S>; AUALLL
PRIME MINM3TER
FOR MEDIA FRIDAY, 4 FEBRUARY 1983
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE OFFSHORE CONSTITUTIONAL SETTLEMEN4T
The Commonwealth, after extensive consultation with the States,
has completed implementation of measures which achieve a
significant adjustment of powers and responsibilities in the
offshore area.
The remaining key elements of the Offshore Constitutional
Settlement reached at the Premiers' Conference in June 1979
have been proclaimed to come into effect on Monday
14 February 1983. From that date, the re-ordering of powers
and responsibilities in the offshore area, as agreed by the
Commonwealth and the States, will be fully operative.
The measures to commence on 14 February 1983' are:
-the Coastal Waters ( State Title) Act 1980,
-the Coastal Waters ( Northern Territory Title) Act 1980,
-the Petroleum ( Submerged Lands) Amendment Act 1980 and
associated Acts,
-the Fisheries Amendment Act 1980, and
-new baselines from which the breadth of Australia's
territorial sea is to be measured.
These measures are additional to the Coastal Waters ( State
Powers) Act 1980, the Coastal Waters ( Northern Territory Powers)
Act 1980 and the Seas and Submerged Lands Amendment Act 1980
which came into force on 1 January last year.
The Settlement represents the completion of a most successful
exercise in co-operative federalism.
The High Court's decision in the Seas and Submerged Lands Case
in 1975 meant that the Commonwealth could have exercised legal
dominance in the offshore area, denying to the States any say
in the resources of the offshore area and in the regulation of
activities that take place in that area. The Government,
however, adopted a course of consultation and co-operation
consistent with its belief that the territorial sea is an area
which has traditionally been a State responsibility and is
best left for local jurisdiction except on matters of over-riding
national or international significance. 2
2.
The Settlement will enable us all effectively to exercise our
rights'and responsibilities with regard to offshore Australia
and will be of benefit to all governments and to the people
of Australia.
My colleagues the Attorney-General, and the Ministers for
National Development and Energy and for Primary Industry, will
be issuing separate statements on the details.
000---
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s
PR AM A ND4YJUT OR TH MINISTERFO
PRIMARY INDUSTR1Y
MEDRI IEEAS~ ~. CANBERRA
PI 83/ 15. 4 February 1983.
OFFSHORE CONSTITUTIONAL SETTLEMENTFISHERIES
ASPECTS
The Prime Minister's announcement of the
commencement of the Offshore Constitutional Settlement
was a landmark in the history of Australia's fishing
industry, Mr Peter Nixon, the Minister for Primary
Industry, said today.
tMr Nixon said the Settlement offered a real
prospect of removing many of the Commonwealth/ State
jurisdictional divisions in Australian waters.
" The way is now clear for the Commonwe al th and
the States to work toward removing as many of the
jurisdiction lines as possible, using the new Part IVA
of Ithe Commonwealth Fisheries Act and the matching
provisions of State laws," INr Nixon said.
" Commonwealth and State fisheries officials have
already begun discussions aimed at formulating recommendations
about the application of a single law, Commonwealth or
State, for the management of particular fisheries from,
low-water mark to the outer edge of the 200 mile Australian
fishing zone and the exercise of executive functions
under that law."
M r Nixon said the outcome of these discussions
would be expressed in formal legal arrangements between
the Commona: ealth and the States.
/ 2. " It will take some months to complete the
discussions, including consultation with the fishing
industry." Mr Nixon said that while there were some fisheries
which were best managed by the States, the Government
saw a continuing role-for the Commonwealth in the
management of fisheries.
He said the only immediate change to fisheries
jurisdiction would result from the proclamation of
straight baselines under the Seas and Submerged Lands
number of areas of waters that were formerly under
Commonwealth jurisdiction. In all other cases, until
a Commonwealth/ State arrangement comes into force,
the status quo, of State fisheries laws applying in
* e i s. s tt aa t: bm. ha1 s. e. ate ar. k he. r
no straight baseline has been proclaimed) and
Commonwealth laws applying in proclaimed waters beyond
coastal waters, will continue.
Mr Nixon said the new fisheries provisions
were an important element of the offshore settlement,
establishing a framework for future Commonwealth and
State co-operation in the management of an important
primary industry. In 1981/ 82, the fishery-based industries
contributed more than SA 300 million to national export
earnings, as well as providing an important component
of domestic food supplies.
PRESS RELEASE BY THE ATTORN EY-GENERAL
AUSTRALIA i OxHOFR ArFFS EUE : ECu AC i r E7J~ MINT
The Attorney-General, Senator Peter Durack, O. C. 9
said that-thp final steps announced tocay to implement the
ro: a inin key elements of the Offsho--e Constitutional
Settlement completed a unique achivement in the history of
r ederal/ State relations.
The Offsh6re Settlement brourht an end to a longterm
dispujte between the Commonwealt!-and the States.
Cc'ip!. l cxand contentious iSSUe. S; a. SSOC. iattcd with
th. e-orffsore area had bedevilled Cornonwealth/ State relations
in 1tr l ia for cver a decade. The basic constitutional
iszu! es w; cro ro sol ed by the High Court in the Seas and
Lands Case in 1975 in favour of tihe Commonwealth.
t-e o t ion elther to assert to the full its legal dominance
. n th-2 offshore area, or' to adlopt a courstj of , o-operation and
restraint tihat would lead to an ap. procpriate allocation of
r'c-r's and resconsi bil i ties an: og all Govern: 71ent s in-
A. 3stralia. Tihe second course Cnosase r, culminating in the
Ci) ffSnc cLn sr: Z o n a1 et t1 e a r e edo at thc re;: 1i 1, s
e, . r e ne 1 79
re Standi Corm!: ni. ttee C' t. tcrncy's-Cen e,-a3 I p Y f
enral role in dovisingF inMoiv-ive resures to carry out
the areed arrangements.
f. mc-nwealth legislation to erfsure that he Sts
n 1re J ern T errn toy-yoss'Pc O ec c':: E: stidj tuir. a' itt
:-.: cfshore a ra c amc in o f'orce on 1 J ara r: T sT
d C. a S a -a L Si's a 0 E. r S c t I=~ 7~
z r'rn r c. P c:: t! z r Act 8# C and
t' fuP fi s e:
/ legislation and thO suc* c--?~ f ul compl eti on of further
consultations on i-plement-a'ion with ' Ln State-, and thle
Northern Territory, r." de possi ble the steps tha_ t were
being announced : cday.
The s-, eps announced by the Prime ~ i: s: rtoday
consisted of the proclamation of the commencement from
Monday, 14i February 1993, 9of the following Commonwealth Acts:
Coastal Waters ( State Title) Act 1930
Coastal Waters ( Northern Territory Title) Act 1980
Petroleumn ( Submerged Lands) Amendment Act. 1980 and
associated Acts
Fl~ geri( s Amendrinnt. Act .1 98..
A mst s i cn i fic related step that *: sannounc-ed
Act 1073 oCr. now la n es : om . hich Le' b r c Pdt ft he
; territorial sea of Australia is to be measured. This
Aroclamation woild also comre into force * on Nc> ndrya 1F6uaY.
Adoption of these baselines, whichhd been prepared In
consultation with the States as p) art of the O f fsh o re
Cons titutional Settlement would mean a * signif icant enlargemer. t
of the areas which com~ e directly under Plustralian -, ovcrei--n y
The Government believed that the self -governin~ g
status that the Northern Territory ac hieved in 1973 made it
appropriate that the Northern Territory also should share in
the benefits of the Settlement. It therefore shares in thle
measures the commrencement of which is announced today.
Commencement of the Commonwealth Acts would trigger.
* the commen cemen' o f t he c-, 7 DI me n. a ry I eg is' at ior, pa. s seb
all1 th e .3 a tes an d -he NoI-r,-e rn Ter!-tory con c e ri n~ of0f sho -e
pe trol eurm min ing an fs hc. r ie. Th is efgi slat ion and the
Commonwealth peltroleui-and f ti;* t ~ ervsinf:
the : cstabliishment and coeration-o" j: Ltto r, i as a s ae
L u nd er ,. he. f ~ hrlr " 1 " 4 ilet
Ar Title Acts
I: The Title Acts will vest in each of the States
and the Northern Territory proprietary ri. ghts and title in
respect of the sedbed of the adjacent territorial sea. This
measure, by conferring rights of ownership, will support the
grant already made of legislative powers, and provide an
assurance to the States that the Offshore Settlement will
have permanency and stability.
The Commonwealth's international obligations in
the offshore area will not be affected. The seabed owned
or used by the Commonwealth or an authority of the Commonwealth
for any. specific Commonwealth purpose is not included in the
9f2TCtAPI' t L. 2 41 * mmO-I'" a. C" I I 5 h t. to.-Ats. 6 t -C-*
I
s'eabed -fdr naticnal purpos& s,-Sdieth-. as de n e' oiria. v. igati.-Ynai
I. t 11a -b en expi.-ss-. rav. vce& that.
the right and title convoded b the Stateic} bj'eCt-' ti
to the operation of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975.
Nle\ Bas'eiines For the purpose of the Title Acts and for other
purposes, the baselines from which the territorial sea is
now to be draw.. n will be the new baselines the proclamation of
which is to come into force on Monday, 14 February. Up till
now, our territorial sea of 3 miles has been mainly drawn from
low water, normally understood as mean low water. The new
baselines adopt instead the low water datum known as Lowest
Astronomical Tide ( LAT), which is the lowest level which can
be predicted to occur under average meteorological conditions.
The choice of LAT, rather than mean low water, means that
significantly greater areas will come under Australian
sovereignty, particularly along the northern coastline of our
continent where the tidal fluctuations are miost marked.
In accordance with international legal principles,
straight baselines have also been drawn where the coastline
is 30e] 1y indented or there is a frinoc of islands or a bay
. is not more than 24 miles wide. The waters involved include
J such large areas as Spencer Gulf, Gulf St. Vincent and
K? Investigator Strait adjacent to the coast of South Australia,
Shark Bay and the Bonaparte Archipeligo adjacent to the coast
of Western Australia, the waters of or connected with the
Van Dieman Gulf off the Northern Territory coast, and large
areas off the coast of Queensland.
Some of the waters enclosed by the straight baselines
are or may already be part of Australia as historic
bays or waters over which Australia already has sovereignty.
The new baselines will serve to underline the status of such
waters as part of our national territory. Consideration is
bei-g -' given to the"' sta-tu-s of-. cer. tain . wate: r. s o. ff, . Su. t. h.. Aus. tr. ali. a.
. the Seas and Su-. me. rged Lands Act 1" 973 as b. eing historic . bays
. or waters . and the. present.. proclamation should not be taken in
any atse h* co" o . a . a o n; 1
more than it could or should be taken to prejudice future clain: s
thdim ayi -I i t : ie b o
, that ay .' ld''' a-by. Austral ia in fh rgit; dee. i
the international law of the sea.: " The South Australian iwaters.'.
are to be considered by a group consisting of the Commonwealth
Solicitor-General and Mr P. Brazil, Deputy Secretary of the
Attorney-General's Department, and of the South Australian
Solicitor-General and a person to be nominated by South
Australia. This group is to be asked to report to Attorneys-
SGeneral within 6 months from the commencement of its examination.
The steps announced today in relation to baselines
are major and significant, and are designed to advance the
interests of Australia as a whole, and with that the interests
of the States and the Northern Territory.
In view of the provisions of the Torres Strait
Treaty, the Commonwealth has prepared a separate Proclamation
under the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 declaring the outer
limits of the territorial sea around certain islands in the
Torres Strait to be the limits provided in respect of those
island by the terms of the Treaty. That in itself is a
significant step towards implementing the Torres Strait
Treaty as soon as possible.
In the implementation of the Offshore Constitutional
Settlement the Commonwealth and the States have shown what
can be achieved, through negotiation, in practical sharing
of power between Governments. The Settlement achieves a
significant adjustment of powers and responsibilities between
the' O6-m; oiweal. th.. and-.. t. he StateI. does t.) his, within the
or other formal action to alter our donstitutional sti'ucture
itself. The Commnonwealth and the States, by their
S co-oparatidn," * Hve brougnt V'b'd t":' a" c. mOre'en . si." e t. tle.. t.
of problems that have caused difficulties in Commonwealth/ State
relatiio ns b" fr . dell ' b1-ve. ' decade.. The. Settement . will:. provide.
' benefits to all Governments and the people Qf Ast. r'ali. it':
will enable us all to exercise effectively our rights to the
resources of offshore Australia as w. ell as our right and
responsibility to preserve and protect our marine environment.
CANBERRA
4 FEBRUARY 1983
14/ 83
PPR 1E, f" S S STAT EAIENT T 83/ 8
PROCLAMATION OF PET-COLEUM ( SUBMEURGED LANDS) AMEND1MENT ACT
1980 AND ASSOCIATED ACTS
The Minister for National Development and Energy;* Senator Sir
John Carrick, today gave further details of amendm. ents of the
Petroleum ( Submerged Lands) Act 1967 and associated legislation
introduced as part of the Offshore Constitutional Settlement.
The Prime Minister announced earlier toda-, y that the legislation
will come into force on 14 February 1983.
amendinei ts passed i1il8~ and 1981, viil-Togut-rhe
pelt-roleuin actilv: itios on Australia's continental shelf in areas
t. v 4 djacci eCti ia~: tie4oTteernrpr itory Ieod h
three mi le territor: ial sea and in arei urio n~
Commonwealth Trritories of Ashinore and Cartier Islands, the
Coral Sea, * leard and M cDonald Islands an~ d . Norfclk Island. New,
State and Northern Territory legislation, wiih will come iThto
force on the samr~ e dahy as the Co-nnc, eallth legislation, will
regulate offshore petroleum activities within their respective
three mile territorial seas.
The two sets of legislation contain a commnon minirg code which
will govern all aspects of exploration for and p--, duction of
petroleum, such as the grant and renewal of titles, the work
obligations of explorers and safety requirements. This means
that explorers for petroleum will be subject to the same rules
in all the offshore areas of Australia. The mining code is
substantially the same as that contained in the 1967 legislation
* but the opportunity has been taken to amend sompe provisions
shown by experience to be defective or inadequate in so-ne ,, ay.
The opportunity has also been taken to increase the fees and
penalties which had.. not be changed since 1967.
The amendments not affect the1shari4ng of royalties from offshore
Petroleum opEraltiorls which~ will continue to be on the same
basis as under the 1967 legislation.
I,. 4. Administration of the legislation will continue to be the
responsibility of the State and Northern Territory Ministers,
x a t n u. an.
a-as DAna-ted. underrA ththriieti esl egislation, ana. heir
Departments will continue to handle day-to-day matters and to
supervise. offshore operations. . Matter's requiring decisions
by a -Joint Authority \ il. . be: r. efrred. by: . the State't the\
Commonwealth. Amendments to the Act also extend the legislati6n to Offshore"
areas not presently covered by the legislation. These areas
are the Coral Sea and areas adjacent to Norfolk Island and to
Heard and McDonald Islands. All petroleum activities in areas
adjacent to the Territories of Heard and McDonald Islands and
Norfolk Island will be administered by the Commonwealth. Early
steps will be taken to release these areas for petroleum
exploration to assess their potential.
Senator Carrick stressed that special care has been taken to
ensure continuity in the administration of offshore areas.
Transitional provisions under the Commonwealth and the State
and Northern Territory legislation will ensure that there is no
disruption to ongoing projects and that the rights of the
existing permittees and licensees are fully protected. Existing
title holders whose title areas straddle the three mile
territorial sea boundary line will be able to continue operations
on conditions not less favourable than the existing ones for the
remaining title period. The rights of title holders on renewal
2.
The Commonwealth legislation establishes Joint Authorities for
each State and the Northern Territory adjacent areas consisting
of the Commonwealth Minister for National Development and Energy
and the relevant State or Northern Territory Minister. The
Joint Authorities will decide important questions of title under
the legislation, including the grant, renewal and transfer of
exploration permits and production licences and safety issues.
Decisions in matters within the responsibility of the Joint
Authorities will rest fina'lly with the Commonwealth Minister
ensuring that the Commonwealth will exercise its proper
Constitutional responsibilities.
2
.7 3.
of existing titles to be carried out under the provisions of
the relevant Commonwealth, State and Northern Territory Acts
are similarly protected.
Senator Carrick said that existing or prospective title holders
wishing to clarify aspects of the legislation should approach
the relevant Commonwealth, State or Northern Territory
Department. CANBERRA Enquiries: J. Starkey
4 February 1983 ( 062) 453216 ( Te)
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