Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) For the purpose of
preventing the plunder, damage or disturbance of maritime archaeological
sites, and of the ships, relics or things vested in the Museum on behalf of
the Crown, the Governor may, by an instrument published in the Gazette ,
declare that an area is a maritime archaeological site and that a specified
area surrounding that site is a protected zone, and that zone may be declared
to include the waters lying above and the land or the bed of the sea below it.
(2) A declaration made
under subsection (1) shall be laid before each House of Parliament
within the 6 sitting days of such House next following the date of
publication and the provisions of section 36 of the Interpretation
Act 1918 6 , shall thereupon apply to that declaration as if it had been
a regulation so laid.
(3) Where the site is
or extends below low water mark the boundaries of that site shall be specified
and the boundaries of the protected zone below low water mark in relation to
that site shall not extend beyond 500 metres from the perimeter of that
site.
(4) The declaration of
a protected zone shall specify the boundaries of that zone in sufficient
detail to enable them to be established but it shall not be necessary that the
boundaries are surveyed or demarcated, and notwithstanding that the boundaries
are not demarcated a person may be convicted of an offence against this
Act in relation to a protected zone where the court is satisfied that the
location of that zone could have been established by a reasonable person by
reference to land marks, leading marks, a buoy or other position marker
specified in the declaration, but it shall be a defence to show that the
location could not have been so established.
(5) The Governor may
make regulations prohibiting, or imposing conditions or restrictions
upon —
(a) the
bringing into, or the use within, a protected zone of equipment constructed or
adapted for any purpose of diving, salvage or recovery operations, or any
explosives, instruments or tools likely adversely to affect a site, and the
entry into, or the remaining within, a protected zone of any vessel carrying
any such equipment or other such thing;
(b)
diving or other underwater activity; and
(c) the
mooring of vessels, or the use of those waters by vessels otherwise than for
the purpose of innocent passage, recreation, or commercial fishing of a kind
not likely adversely to affect a site,
in relation to
protected zones generally or in relation to any zone specified in the
regulations.
(6) A person who
contravenes any provision of a regulation made pursuant to subsection (5)
commits an offence against this Act, and where a vessel enters or remains
within a protected zone in contravention of any such regulation the person in
command or in charge of the vessel and, where he can be shown to have caused
or permitted the contravention, the owner or charterer of the vessel are each
guilty of an offence against this Act.
Penalty: $1 000 or imprisonment for
6 months or both the fine and imprisonment.