South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts
An Act to extend the legislative powers of the States in and in relation to
coastal waters.
Preamble
WHEREAS, in pursuance of paragraph (xxxviii.) of section 51 of the
Constitution of the Commonwealth, the Parliaments of all the States have
requested the Parliament of the Commonwealth to enact an Act in, or
substantially in, the terms of this Act:
Be it therefore enacted by the Queen, and the Senate and House of
Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:
This Act may be cited as the Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1979 .
This Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by Proclamation.
(1) In this Act—
adjacent area in respect of the State means, in relation to each State, the
area the boundary of which is described under the heading referring to that
State in Schedule 2 to the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967 as in
force immediately before the commencement of this Act;
coastal waters of the State means, in relation to each State—
(a) the
part or parts of the territorial sea of Australia that is or are within the
adjacent area in respect of the State, other than any part referred to in
sub-section 4(2); and
(b) any
sea that is on the landward side of any part of the territorial sea of
Australia and is within the adjacent area in respect of the State but is not
within the limits of the State or of a Territory.
(2) The
Acts Interpretation Act 1901 , in the form in which it was in force, as
amended, immediately before the day on which this Act received the Royal
Assent, applies to the interpretation of this Act.
4—Extent of territorial sea and coastal waters
(1) For the purposes
of this Act, the limits of the territorial sea of Australia shall be the
limits existing from time to time, ascertained consistently with the
Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 and instruments under that Act and with
any agreement (whether made before or after the commencement of this Act) for
the time being in force between Australia and another country with respect to
the outer limit of a particular part of that territorial sea.
(2) If at any time the
breadth of the territorial sea of Australia is determined or declared to be
greater than 3 international nautical miles, references in this Act to the
coastal waters of the State do not include, in relation to any State, any part
of the territorial sea of Australia that would not be within the limits of
that territorial sea if the breadth of that territorial sea had continued to
be 3 international nautical miles.
5—Legislative powers of States
The legislative powers exercisable from time to time under the constitution of
each State extend to the making of—
(a) all
such laws of the State as could be made by virtue of those powers if the
coastal waters of the State, as extending from time to time, were within the
limits of the State, including laws applying in or in relation to the sea-bed
and subsoil beneath, and the airspace above, the coastal waters of the State;
(b) laws
of the State having effect in or in relation to waters within the adjacent
area in respect of the State but beyond the outer limits of the coastal waters
of the State, including laws applying in or in relation to the sea-bed and
subsoil beneath, and the airspace above, the first-mentioned waters, being
laws with respect to—
(i)
subterranean mining from land within the limits of the
State; or
(ii)
ports, harbours and other shipping facilities, including
installations, and dredging and other works, relating thereto, and other
coastal works; and
(c) laws
of the State with respect to fisheries in Australian waters beyond the outer
limits of the coastal waters of the State, being laws applying to or in
relation to those fisheries only to the extent to which those fisheries are,
under an arrangement to which the Commonwealth and the State are parties, to
be managed in accordance with the laws of the State.
6—International status of territorial sea
Nothing in this Act affects the status of the territorial sea of Australia
under international law or the rights and duties of the Commonwealth in
relation to ensuring the observance of international law, including the
provisions of international agreements binding on the Commonwealth and, in
particular, the provisions of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the
Contiguous Zone relating to the right of innocent passage of ships.
Nothing in this Act shall be taken to—
(a)
extend the limits of any State;
(b)
derogate from any power existing, apart from this Act, to make laws of a State
having extra-territorial effect; or
(c) give
any force or effect to a provision of a law of a State to the extent of any
inconsistency with a law of the Commonwealth or with the Constitution of the
Commonwealth of Australia or the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act.