Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources) Share this | Hansard source

In responding to the ministerial statement on the Montara Commission of Inquiry report, I shall not be taking the full 26 minutes as in this issue the Minister for Resources and Energy has kept both me and my office fully abreast of the developments from the day that this very unfortunate incident occurred. From the start, the opposition chose not to politicise this issue, and I hope that that is the case for all political parties who are part of this parliament. Simply nothing would be gained from trying to score cheap political points from an issue of this magnitude.

As the minister said, the offshore oil and gas industry in Australia has a long and very proud record in the areas of both safety and environmental protection, but in this case the processes that have been put in place have obviously broken down. Rather than try to make this issue a political one and shake public confidence in the process that this nation has undertaken to ensure the safety of the workers, the people of Australia and, most importantly, the environment, we should be using this opportunity to reinforce it. We should do everything we can and leave no stone unturned to establish the cause of this incident.

I only received the report this morning but I have had a briefing on it. Thank you to the Minister for Resources and Energy for that. Having had that briefing, certainly at first cut we are impressed by the depth of the report and by most of its recommendations. It needs to be understood that the reasons have been clearly outlined and there has been a breakdown in process, but knee-jerk solutions will not solve the issue. The most important thing that will come out of this report is a building of the internationalisation of knowledge and an ability to react to these incidents.

Of course, we saw another incident of far greater magnitude and potentially far greater devastation than the case of Montara with the BP escape in the Gulf of Mexico. From both those incidents we will learn a lot. We need to learn a lot for two reasons. Firstly, this exploration cannot stop. The world demand for oil needs to be met because of the impact that it has on both convenience and standard of living for all inhabitants of the world. This industry must continue. But, secondly, it must operate at a higher level of safety than it has in recent times. This report and the outcome of BP’s experiences in the Gulf of Mexico will mean that will happen if everyone is sensible and practical about dealing with this.

I hope this does not come back to haunt me, but I congratulate the minister on the way he has handled this issue, on the report that he has presented to this House and, more particularly, on his response to the report. There is now, as he says, an opportunity for public comment through until 24 February. There were some 105 recommendations, of which the government has accepted 92, noted 10 and not accepted three. As I say, at first blush we concur with that response by the government.

It is important in the process as we go forward that if new issues are raised then the department and the government respond to them. I think the minister has an unfair advantage in this situation because he has backing him up one of the best departments, if not the best department, in Australia and is supported by the division within that department of Geoscience Australia, whose work is internationally recognised in a whole range of fields. Again, they have excelled in this instance.

How the government deals with the issue of PTTEP AA’s licence to operate is also important. Companies that have come to Australia to explore for oil and gas have been in the main, with the exception of Woodside and Santos—and now Beach perhaps—the mainstay of Australia’s development of the oil and gas industry. We should treat each of them individually and where they have erred or, as in this case, had a major incident we should examine them extremely closely. But, again, if you look at the global operation of PTTEP, they have a very good record. So the process that the minister has put in place in regard to having an independent review run by Noetic Solutions is the right step to take. I have confidence that this organisation has the experience and competence to undertake the role. In fact, I understand one of its principals was a person I appointed to the original NOPSA board when I set it up.

As we go forward from here, there are some issues though that we will need to deal with in our own back yard in terms of government and of the operation of authorities and bodies set up by the government. I certainly listened very carefully to and took on board the minister’s comments in relation to NOPSA, NOPSEMA and NOPTA and will be having further discussions both with him and with the state ministers involved, including the minister from Western Australia, Norman Moore, who I will hopefully meet with next week.

I do support in principle the objective of what we are trying to do with the national authority. I hasten to point out to my state ministerial colleagues that this is a national body. It is not a federal body; it is a national body. A federal body run and owned by the Commonwealth is not the solution. But a national body where each state has the ability to be involved, to supply personnel and to provide input into its operations through its state departments is the right way to go. That fact has been backed up by the failings of some state departments. The minister has been through those failings in detail. They are the single biggest reason, apart from efficiency and effectiveness, that we should be pursuing national bodies. That is not a process that is a fait accompli. I restate that I will have consultations with the states on their views on that. But it is important that these recommendations, particularly in relation to these national bodies, not be ignored. So the coalition will continue to have discussions with states as well as discussions with the minister.

I say to this House and the people of Australia that the coalition in opposition view this matter extremely seriously. We want to make sure that this does not happen again. We want to make sure that all of Australia’s petroleum industries and all of the global petroleum industries learn from this incident, that some good comes out of something that has been quite terrible and that we make sure that going forward the industry is safer than it has ever been.

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