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2000
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF
AUSTRALIA
PETROLEUM (SUBMERGED LANDS) (REGISTRATION FEES)
AMENDMENT BILL 2000
EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by the authority of the
Minister for
Industry, Science and Resources,
Senator the Hon Nick Minchin)
ISBN: 0642 45437X
PETROLEUM (SUBMERGED LANDS) (REGISTRATION FEES)
AMENDMENT BILL 2000
GENERAL OUTLINE
The proposed
amendments in this Bill to the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Registration
Fees) Act 1967 (Registration Fees Act) form part of a revision of the
Commonwealth-State/Northern Territory relationship in managing offshore
petroleum resources.
Under the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act
1967, with which the Registration Fees Act is incorporated, administration
of offshore petroleum resources is shared between the Commonwealth and the
States/Northern Territory. Major decisions are made by Joint Authorities
consisting of the Commonwealth Minister for Industry, Science and Resources and
the respective State or Northern Territory Minister responsible for petroleum.
On the other hand, day-to-day administration is carried out by the Designated
Authority (ie the State or Northern Territory Minister) on behalf of the
Commonwealth.
An evaluation of the role of the Commonwealth Government in
offshore petroleum exploration and development was completed in 1998. One of the
decisions emanating from the evaluation was an initiative to reform the joint
administrative arrangements, while retaining the basic administrative framework
put in place as part of the 1979 Offshore Constitutional Settlement. An element
of this is the transfer of certain powers under offshore petroleum legislation
from the Joint Authority to the Designated Authority.
Most of the powers
to be transferred exist under the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act. These
are presented in the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Legislation Amendment Bill
(No. 3) 2000. Under the Registration Fees Act, a fee is payable to the
Designated Authority in respect of the registration of the transfer of a title
or a dealing in a title under section 78 or 81 of the Petroleum (Submerged
Lands) Act. The rate of the fee depends, among other things, on whether or not
the Joint Authority has been able to satisfy itself of certain facts. By the
amendments set out below, this role of the Joint Authority is to be transferred
to the Designated Authority.
If the powers are transferred from the Joint Authorities to the
Designated Authorities as proposed in this Bill and in the Petroleum (Submerged
Lands) Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 3) 2000, there will be annual savings of
less than $0.1m to the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and
Resources in staff salary, on-costs and administrative expenses.
NOTES ON
INDIVIDUAL CLAUSES
Clause 1 - Short title
This clause
enables the Act that will come into effect if this Bill is passed to be called
the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Registration Fees) Amendment Act
2000.
Clause 2 - Commencement
This clause makes the
date of commencement of this Act the same as the date of commencement of Part 1
of Schedule 1 to the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Legislation Amendment Act
(No. 3) 2000. If that Act is passed, that Part commences on the
28th day after that Act receives Royal Assent.
Clause 3 -
Schedule(s)
This clause provides that the amendments to the
Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Registration Fees) Act 1967 are as set out
in the Schedule.
SCHEDULE 1 - AMENDMENT OF THE PETROLEUM (SUBMERGED
LANDS) (REGISTRATION FEES) ACT 1967
Item 1 - Subsections 4(4), (5) and
(6A)
Under this Act, a fee is payable to the Designated Authority in
respect of an entry in the Register of a memorandum of a transfer of, or dealing
in, a title under the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act. Depending on a number of
factors set out in section 4, the fee could be at the rate of 1.5% of the value
of the consideration for the transfer or dealing, 1.5% of the value of the title
transferred or 1.5% of the value of the interest, or the fee could be the
prescribed amount.
Subsection 4(4) provides that, where the parties to a
transfer of a title lodged for approval under section 78 of the Petroleum
(Submerged Lands) Act satisfy the Joint Authority of certain things, including
the fact that those parties are related corporations within the meaning of the
Companies Act 1981, then the fee payable is the prescribed
amount.
Subsection 4(5) provides that a fee is payable to the Designated
Authority in respect of an entry in the Register of the approval of a dealing
under section 81 of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act. How the fee is
calculated is dependent, among other things, on whether the Joint Authority is
satisfied that the dealing was not made pursuant to another dealing or
instrument, being a dealing or instrument that relates to that title and in
respect of which a fee has been paid under this Act.
Subsection 4(6A)
provides that, where the parties to a dealing in a title lodged for approval
under section 81 of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act satisfy the Joint
Authority of certain things, including the fact that those parties are related
corporations within the meaning of the Companies Act 1981, then the fee
payable is the prescribed amount.
This item transfers each of these
functions of the Joint Authority to the Designated Authority and also changes,
in subsection 4(5), a reference to the Joint Authority as the approver of a
dealing under section 81 of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act to
“Designated Authority”.
Item 2 - Subsection
4(6B)
Subsection 4(6B) provides for the value of exploration works to
be carried out under a title to be deducted from the value of the consideration
or from the value of the interest when the amount of fee to be imposed under
subsection 4(5) is calculated. The value of such works is to be determined by
the Designated Authority with the approval of the Joint Authority.
This
item gives the Designated Authority sole power to determine the value of such
works by deleting the reference to approval by the Joint
Authority.
Item 3 - Transitional - acts of the Joint Authority
to be attributed to the Designated Authority
This item refers to
involvement by the Joint Authority in determining how a fee is calculated, ie,
in findings by way of being satisfied about certain things as explained under
item 1. If such a finding has been made by the Joint Authority before the
amendments come into effect, this item deems the finding to be valid and to be a
finding of the Designated Authority.