Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the amendment be agreed to.

This legislation establishes a new regime for regulating petroleum activities in Commonwealth waters. In particular it increases the responsibilities and changes the name of NOPSA to the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority—NOPSEMA. The amendment passed by the Senate will increase the number of NOPSEMA board members and would allow environmental expertise to be added to the board. The government has supported this amendment and commends the bill to the House. I would also take this opportunity to advise the House that the Minister for Resources and Energy, the Hon. Martin Ferguson, and the Western Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum, the Hon. Norman Moore, have recently finalised their negotiations and have now executed a memorandum of understanding on cooperative working arrangements between the proposed Commonwealth regulators and the Western Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum. The ministers have also exchanged correspondence outlining their agreement on how the new regulatory arrangements will proceed. These agreements have removed the Western Australian government's opposition to the national regulator bills. The government commends Minister Moore for his constructive contribution to the development of these arrangements. I seek leave of the House to table this memorandum of understanding and related correspondence. I also take this opportunity on behalf of the government, and the minister in particular, to thank all members of the Ministerial Council on Mining and Petroleum Resources and all members of the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism that have worked on this process.

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