Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda

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AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET AMENDMENT (MINOR AMENDMENTS) BILL 2008

                              2008




    THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF
                  AUSTRALIA




               HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES




 AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET AMENDMENT (MINOR
             AMENDMENTS) BILL 2008




              EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM




(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Resources and Energy,
                  the Hon Martin Ferguson MP)
                                                2



           AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET AMENDMENT (MINOR
                       AMENDMENTS) BILL 2008


GENERAL OUTLINE

The purpose of this Bill is to amend the Australian Energy Market Act 2004, the
Australian Energy Market (Gas Legislation) Act 2007, the Administrative Appeals
(Judicial Review) Act 1977 (ADJR Act) and the Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPA) to
correct the year of enactment of South Australian and Western Australian legislation
from 2007 to 2008.

The National Gas Law

The National Gas Law (NGL) will form the basis of a new regime for the regulation
of access to natural gas pipelines (the "gas access regime").

The new gas access regime will be implemented through a cooperative legislative
regime, underpinned by lead legislation enacted in the South Australian Parliament.
This year the South Australian Parliament will enact the National Gas (South
Australia) Act 2008, and the National Gas Law will be a Schedule to that Act.

Application Legislation

The Commonwealth, and all the States and Territories (with the exception of Western
Australia), have agreed to introduce legislation, known as Application Acts, to apply
the National Gas Law as law in their own jurisdictions. WA will pass complementary
legislation to give effect to the NGL, rather than applying the NGL established by
South Australian law as in force from time to time.

The Commonwealth's Application Act is the Australian Energy Market Act 2004 (the
AEM Act). It was amended in 20071 to apply, among other things, the National Gas
Law in the Commonwealth's offshore jurisdiction through reference to the anticipated
South Australian and Western Australian legislation. The South Australian lead
legislation implementing the NGL and WA complementary legislation will be passed
in 2008 rather than 2007.

Accordingly, references in the AEM Act, the ADJR Act and the TPA to the South
Australian and Western Australian legislation need to be amended to reference the
anticipated 2008 legislation to be passed in those jurisdictions. A minor amendment
is also required to the Australian Energy Market (Gas Legislation) Act 2007.

Amendments to other Commonwealth Acts

The 2007 Commonwealth Act amending the AEM Act also amended the TPA to
empower several Commonwealth bodies (the Australian Energy Regulator, National
Competition Council and Australian Competition Tribunal) to perform key functions
under the National Gas (South Australia) Act 2007. Accordingly, the reference in the
TPA amendments to the South Australian legislation needs to be updated to correct its
year of enactment to 2008 rather than 2007.
1
    Australian Energy Market Amendment (Gas Legislation) Act 2007
                                           3



The 2007 Commonwealth Act amending the AEM Act, also specified the National
Gas (South Australia) Act 2007 as an Act under which decisions are subject to
judicial review under the Administrative Appeals (Judicial Review) Act 1977 (the
ADJR Act). Accordingly, the reference in the ADJR Act amendments needs to be
updated to correctly reference the anticipated 2008 legislation to be passed in South
Australia and Western Australia.

Financial Impact Statement

This Bill will have no financial impact.
                                            4



NOTES ON CLAUSES

Preliminary

Clause 1: Short title

Clause 1 is a formal provision specifying the short title of the Bill. The Act will be
called the Australian Energy Market Amendment (Minor Amendments) Act 2008.

Clause 2: Commencement

This clause provides that sections 1 to 3 of this Act will commence on the day the Act
receives Royal Assent. It also provides that the amendments to the Administrative
Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977, Australian Energy Market Act 2004 and Trade
Practices Act 1974 contained in Schedules 1 and 2 will commence immediately after
the commencement of the equivalent provisions of the Australian Energy Market
Amendment (Gas Legislation) Act 2007.

Clause 3: Schedule(s)

This clause provides that, subject to the commencement provisions above, each Act
specified in Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 of this Bill, is amended as set out in the
Schedules.


Schedule 1 - Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977

Items 1 and 2 - Paragraphs 2(d) and 2(daa) of Schedule 3

These items correct references in the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act
1977 to the South Australian lead legislation to refer to its year of enactment as 2008
rather than 2007: the National Gas (South Australia) Act 2008.

Item 3 - Paragraph 2(dab) of Schedule 3

This item corrects the reference in the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act
1977 to the WA Application Act. The amended clause will refer to the year of
enactment of the WA Application Act as 2008 rather than 2007: National Gas Access
(Western Australia) Act 2008.

The item also picks up the definition of "National Gas Access (Western Australia)
Law)" used in the Western Australian Act to refer to the NGL as it is implemented in
Western Australia.


Schedule 2 - Australian Energy Market Act 2004

Items 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 , 9, 12 and 13
                                           5



These items correct references in the Australian Energy Market Act 2004 to the South
Australian lead legislation to refer to its year of enactment as 2008 rather than 2007:
the National Gas (South Australia) Act 2008.

Items 2, 7, 8, 10 and 11

These items correct the reference in the Australian Energy Market Act 2004 to the
WA Application Act. The amended clause will refer to the year of enactment as 2008
rather than 2007: National Gas Access (Western Australia) Act 2008.

The items also picks up the definition of "National Gas Access (Western Australia)
Law)" used in the Western Australian Act to refer to the NGL as it is implemented in
Western Australia.


Schedule 3 - Australian Energy Market Amendment (Gas Legislation) Act 2007

This Schedule makes a technical amendment to correct a reference to a subsection in
the Australian Energy Market Amendment (Gas Legislation) Act 2007.

Schedule 4 - Trade Practices Act 1974

Items 1 and 3

These items correct references in the Trade Practices Act 1974 to the South
Australian lead legislation to refer to the year of enactment as 2008 rather than 2007:
National Gas (South Australia) Act 2008.

Items 2 and 4

These items correct the reference in the Trade Practices Act 1974 to the WA
Application Act. The amended clause will refer to the year of enactment as 2008
rather than 2007: National Gas Access (Western Australia) Act 2008.

The items also pick up the definition of "National Gas Access (Western Australia)
Law)" used in the Western Australian Act to refer to the NGL as it is implemented in
Western Australia.