Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

SEAS AND SUBMERGED LANDS ACT 1973 - PREAMBLE

Preamble

WHEREAS a belt of sea adjacent to the coast of Australia, known as the territorial sea, and the airspace over the territorial sea and the bed and subsoil of the territorial sea, are within the sovereignty of Australia:

AND WHEREAS Australia as a coastal state has:

        (a)   sovereign rights in respect of the waters, the sea‑bed and the subsoil that constitute the exclusive economic zone of Australia for the purposes of:

           (i)  exploring the zone; and

          (ii)  exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources of the zone; and

        (b)   sovereign rights with regard to other activities for the economic exploitation and exploration of the exclusive economic zone of Australia, such as the production of energy from water, currents and winds; and

        (c)   jurisdiction in accordance with international law in relation to:

                (i)  the establishment and use of artificial islands, installations and structures in the exclusive economic zone; and

               (ii)  marine scientific research in the exclusive economic zone; and

              (iii)  the protection and preservation of the marine environment in the exclusive economic zone; and

        (d)   other rights and duties in relation to the exclusive economic zone provided for in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea:

AND WHEREAS Australia as a coastal state has sovereign rights in respect of the continental shelf (that is to say, the sea‑bed and subsoil of certain submarine areas adjacent to its coast but outside the area of the territorial sea) for the purpose of exploring it and exploiting its natural resources:

AND WHEREAS Australia as a coastal state has the right under international law to exercise control within a contiguous zone to:

        (a)   prevent infringements of customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws within Australia or the territorial sea of Australia;

        (b)   to punish infringements of those laws:

BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Queen, the Senate and the House of Representatives of Australia, as follows: