Andrew Nikolic (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Defence Legislation Amendment (Woomera Prohibited Area) Bill 2013. Like the member for Lingiari, I have personal and practical experience with this area. I know the Woomera defence range facilities and the surrounding region very well. As the member for Lingiari quite rightly points out, Woomera offers a world-class live range facility, particularly for rockets and associated large propellant weapons. But it is equally and increasingly attractive to a range of diverse stakeholders. For obvious reasons, this means that the legislation, rules and protocols that delineate its use must be made lawful, clear and relevant to changing circumstances, particularly for the protection of competing and multiple users.

This amendment bill gives effect to the recommendations of the 2011 Hawke review of the Woomera Prohibited Area. Regrettably, this was followed by two years of inaction, no bill was produced and I think it is fair to say there was less than adequate consultation. So this bill is very welcome indeed and is about finding a sensible middle ground in relation to the current and future use of Woomera by both military and non-military users. Achieving this will improve the management of the Woomera Prohibited Area in a way that meets Defence's equipment testing requirements while also giving greater certainty of access, particularly for the resources sector.

Accordingly, the purpose of this bill is to amend the Defence Act to establish a framework which allows access to the Woomera Prohibited Area by non-defence users on a controlled, conditional basis. The general purpose of the bill can be reduced to four key objectives: first, to provide for the making of the Woomera Prohibited Area rules by the minister which will include, amongst other things, zones that are demarcated within the area; second, to create a permit system by which non-Defence users can access the WPA; third, the introduction of offences and penalties for entering the WPA without permission and for failing to comply with the conditions of permit; and, fourth, to provide compensation for an acquisition of property for a person otherwise than on just terms that results from the operation of the amended Defence Act 1903.

The lineage of this bill includes two previous versions. The first was introduced by the former Labor government on 30 May 2013 and that bill lapsed when the 43rd Parliament was prorogued on 5 August 2013. The second version, effectively an equivalent mirror iteration of the first, was introduced by ALP Senator Don Farrell as a private senator's bill on 12 December 2013 and that second version of the bill does not appear to be proceeding. This current bill differs from those earlier versions, most particularly in proposing and elaborating in detail on the Commonwealth's intended adoption and regulation of a coexistence model of intended future use.

For those who are unfamiliar with Woomera, I would like to briefly provide some key background and links to the provisions in this bill. The 127,000 kilometre expanse of northern South Australia which is known as the Woomera Prohibited Area is the world's largest overland long-range weapons testing facility and has been operating since 1947. However, since the 1980s, areas have been made increasingly available to non-defence users, including the resources sector. Local Indigenous groups and pastoral lease holders also have an enduring presence across much of the WPA, and clearly this competition between diverse and legitimate interest groups for land at Woomera could not continue unchecked. To this end, on 17 May 2010, the then Minister for Defence, Senator John Faulkner, called for a review to 'make recommendations about the best use of the WPA in the national interest'.

This brings us to the present day and this amendment bill: the latest iteration of an extensive process of consultation and review which is aimed ultimately at providing fair access to Commonwealth land at Woomera by diverse parties for disparate purposes, both civil and military alike. In short, Woomera is big, but so is business at Woomera, both civil and military, and this amendment bill seeks to make it more productive, efficient and safer.

In particular, three additional issues warrant the chamber's attention. They are, first, the actual review process itself and its outcomes leading up to this bill; second, future administrative arrangements that complement these outcomes; and, third, the financial implications of proposed action, including compensation for the acquisition of private land by the government. I will talk first about the review process. As the member for Lingiari said, the most recent review was lead by Dr Allan Hawk who, as a former secretary of the Department of Defence, was eminently placed to do so. His report, The review of the Woomera Prohibited Area—final report, was published on 4 February 2011, made 65 recommendations, including perhaps most importantly the common sense and practical benefits of moving to a model of coexistence, whereby Defence continues to retain primacy of the WPA but non-Defence users are provided greater clarity regarding access.

Dr Hawk's work proposed the division of the WPA into three zones: a red zone, which is for exclusive Defence use only, an amber zone for regular Defence use, and a green zone for occasional Defence use. By effectively implementing a zonal time share arrangement, Defence is allocated exclusive windows throughout the year, thereby limiting the non-Defence use of the WPA. Let me reiterate that the new framework maintains the primacy of the Woomera Prohibited Area as a national security and Defence asset.

Access by non-Defence users would be allowed in a number of ways. For new non-Defence users, total exclusion within the red zone, to up to 56 exclusion days in the green zone, pending appropriate notice. The excluded red zone comprises only about eight per cent of the WPA, while the vast majority, some 75 per cent, is in fact designated as the most accessible green zone. Importantly, the Hawk review further recommended that 'existing mining operations, environmental organisations, Indigenous groups and pastoralists with an extant presence on the WPA should continue to operate under their current access arrangements unless they choose to be administered under the proposed coexistence model'.

This bill also protects existing Woomera Prohibited Area users, including Indigenous groups, pastoralists, the Tarcoola-Darwin railway operators and owners, and existing mining operations. The practical administrative arrangement proposed to complement stakeholder coexistence is equally sensible and straightforward. This bill creates a system for the administration of access via a permit system for the different types of non-Defence users and this will require increased management and coordination by Defence. Furthermore, the bill provides that the Woomera Prohibited Area rules may provide for the introduction of a cost recovery model at some point in the future so that Defence can recover costs incurred in managing non-Defence access to the WPA. In at least the short term, the estimated $5 million annual cost associated with the new administrative arrangements will continue to be borne by Defence.

Finally, when the issue of compensation is concerned under proposed section 72TK of the Defence Act, the Commonwealth is liable to pay a reasonable amount of compensation in the event of an acquisition of property other than on just terms. This is consistent with section 51 of the Constitution. In addition, proposed section 72TL of the Defence Act provides that the rules may limit amounts payable by the Commonwealth for loss or damage in the WPA which may arise from a breach of duty of care in or during the testing of war materiel at this location. These proposed compensation stipulations are reasonable and sensible and are in keeping with longstanding Commonwealth convention and precedent. To conclude, Woomera is, and will remain, an important location that is unique in Australia—not least because of its long-standing contribution to national and regional security and stability—but Woomera is increasingly under threat by overuse by competing interest groups. This amendment bill seeks to make such access and use—and the rules, regulations and policy which underpin it—in equal parts fair, transparent and clear. Doing so will make a strong contribution to deconflicting the future use of Woomera, and make the conduct of diverse activities there inherently more productive, efficient and, above all, safe for all parties and stakeholders. On this note, I commend the Defence Legislation Amendment (Woomera Prohibited Area) Bill 2014 to this chamber.

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