Jim Lloyd (Robertson, Liberal Party, Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Cameron. In summing up the bill, in recent years industry and other stakeholders have pressed for changes in a number of areas of shipping regulations to address what they see as outdated safety and environmental protection legislation. This bill addresses some of those concerns. In amending four acts, the bill will strengthen the legislative regime surrounding shipping, safety and maritime environment protection and will modernise and enhance penalties for safety and environmental offences.

A number of the amendments were specifically referred to in the second reading speech and during the debate on this bill. The only amendments which I will mention now are the new subsections 386A(2) and (3) to be inserted into the Navigation Act. These subsections set out offences that are similar to dangerous driving offences. There will be an offence under the new subsections only under exceptional circumstances. Such an offence will occur if a seafarer is under the influence of alcohol or another drug or is in breach of his or her duty or if the seafarer operates a ship in a dangerous manner and, as a result, there is actual or likely death or injury to a person or damage to a ship. There are graduated maximum offences, depending on the consequences of the action, with the highest offence applying where a person dies.

The Australian government is committed to ensuring that Australian shippers have access to internationally competitive shipping. In providing shippers with access to competitive shipping, we are committed to enforcing the highest standards of safety, security and environmental protection. This bill continues the government’s efforts to set appropriate standards, and I commend the bill to the House.

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