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2000
THE
PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
PETROLEUM (SUBMERGED LANDS) LEGISLATION
AMENDMENT
BILL (No.2) 2000
EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by authority of the Minister for
Industry, Science and Resources
the Hon Senator Nick Minchin)
ISBN: 0642 437076
OUTLINE
This Bill proposes the repeal of section 130 of the
Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967.
Section 130 makes specific
and detailed provision as to the amount that the Commonwealth is to pay the
State of Western Australia in respect of each financial year to which it
applies. It was introduced in 1985 to allow the payment of $117.1 million in
1984/85 dollars to Western Australia through an annual schedule of payments to
2004-2005. This money was derived from the Commonwealth’s share of the
royalty from domestic gas sales from the North West Shelf project offshore from
Western Australia.
Under the provisions of section 130, monthly
payments are made to Western Australia based on a detailed and comprehensive
schedule to 2004-2005. Provision does not exist for “one-off”
prepayment of all of the remaining liability at any stage.
The
Commonwealth and the State of Western Australia have agreed that subject to the
necessary legislative authorisation, the Commonwealth will, before 30 June 2000,
make a one-off payment to that State in discharge of all the
Commonwealth’s future obligations under section 130. It is proposed that
the Advance to the Minister for Finance mechanism be employed for this purpose.
As section 130 does not authorise the Commonwealth to make a payment of
this nature, the repeal of section 130 would be necessary prior to the making of
the payment, as the section contains an exclusive regime for the making of
payments of money of the kind with which it is concerned. The executive power
of the Commonwealth is therefore abrogated by the section, in respect of the
expenditure of money for the section’s purpose. Repeal of section 130 is
necessary to remove the statutory abridgement of executive power, thus enabling
a one off payment of the kind proposed to be made in exercise of that
power.
The proposed repeal of section 130 would allow for the prepayment
of the remaining Commonwealth liability to Western Australia before the end of
the 1999-2000 financial year, while also removing the statutory obligation to
make continuing payments to Western Australia in accordance with the section.
Financial impact statement
The agreed payment of $79,118,990 will
be funded by the Advance to the Minister for Finance mechanism in 1999-2000 and
will result in estimated saving from future years' payments of $93.9
million.
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1: Short Title
1. This Clause is a formal provision
specifying the citation of the short title of the Bill.
Clause 2: Commencement
2. This clause proposes that the Bill will
commence on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Clause 3: Schedule 1
3. This clause proposes that each Act specified in a Schedule to the proposed Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other items in a Schedule to the proposed Act has effect according to its terms.
Item 1: Section 130
4. This item proposes the repeal of section 130.