House debates

Monday, 22 November 2010

Fisheries Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2010

Consideration of Senate Message

Consideration resumed.

Senate amendments—(1)          Clause 2, page 2 (table item 2), omit the table item, substitute:

(1)   Clause 2, page 2 (table item 2), omit the table item, substitute:

2. Schedules 1 and 2

The 28th day after this Act receives the Royal Assent.

(2)    Clause 2, page 2 (at the end of the table), add:

3. Schedule 3, Parts 1 and 2

The 28th day after this Act receives the Royal Assent.

4. Schedule 3, Part 3

The later of:

(a) the 28th day after this Act receives the Royal Assent; and

(b) the day the Agreement on Cooperative Enforcement of Fisheries Laws between the Government of Australia and the Government of the French Republic in the Maritime Areas Adjacent to the French Southern and Antarctic Territories, Heard Island and the McDonald Islands that was done at Paris on 8 January 2007 comes into force.

However, the provision(s) do not commence at all if the event mentioned in paragraph (b) does not occur before 30 June 2011.

The Minister must announce by notice in the Gazette the day the Agreement comes into force for Australia.

(3)    Schedule 3, page 6 (after line 2), after the Schedule heading, insert:

        Part 1—Co-management arrangements and other regulatory reforms

(4)    Schedule 3, page 9 (after line 11), at the end of the Schedule, add:

        Part 2—Illegal transiting of Australian fishing zone

12  Paragraph 101(1)(d)

Repeal the paragraph, substitute:

             (d)    the boat’s fishing equipment is stowed and the boat is travelling, by the shortest practicable route, through the AFZ from a point beyond the outer limits of the AFZ to another such point; or

13  Paragraph 101A(4)(d)

Repeal the paragraph, substitute:

             (d)    the boat’s fishing equipment is stowed and the boat is travelling, by the shortest practicable route, through the AFZ from a point beyond the outer limits of the AFZ to another such point; or

14  Paragraph 101AA(2)(d)

Repeal the paragraph, substitute:

             (d)    the boat’s fishing equipment is stowed and the boat is travelling, by the shortest practicable route, through the AFZ from a point beyond the outer limits of the AFZ to another such point; or

(5)    Schedule 3, page 9 (after line 11), at the end of the Schedule (after proposed Part 2), add:

        Part 3—Cooperative Enforcement Agreement

15  Subsection 4(1)

Insert:

cooperative enforcement has the meaning given by section 84B.

16  Subsection 4(1)

Insert:

Cooperative Enforcement Agreement has the meaning given by section 84B.

17  Subsection 4(1)

Insert:

international officer has the meaning given by section 84B.

18  After section 84AA

Insert:

        84B Cooperative Enforcement Agreement

Purpose

        (1)    The purpose of this section is to implement the Agreement on Cooperative Enforcement of Fisheries Laws between the Government of Australia and the Government of the French Republic in the Maritime Areas Adjacent to the French Southern and Antarctic Territories, Heard Island and the McDonald Islands that was done at Paris on 8 January 2007 (the Cooperative Enforcement Agreement).

Note 1:  In 2010, the text of the Agreement was accessible through the Australian Treaties Library on the AustLII website (www.austlii.edu.au).

Note 2:  The Agreement should be read together with the Treaty between the Government of Australia and the Government of the French Republic on cooperation in the Maritime Areas Adjacent to the French Southern and Antarctic Territories (TAAF), Heard Island and the McDonald Islands, that was done at Canberra on 24 November 2003. The text of the Treaty is set out in Australian Treaty Series 2005 No. 6 ([2005] ATS 6). In 2010, the text of a treaty in the Australian Treaty Series was accessible through the Australian Treaties Library on the AustLII website (www.austlii.edu.au).

International officers

        (2)    An international officer may, for the purposes of conducting cooperative enforcement, exercise any of the powers of an officer in this Division. In doing so, the international officer is taken for the purposes of this Act to have exercised the power as an officer.

        (3)    The regulations may prescribe conditions for the exercise of a power by an international officer.

        (4)    Subsections 84(4) and (6) apply in relation to the exercise of a power by an international officer as if references in those subsections to the officer’s identity card were references to a document:

             (a)    issued by an officer; and

             (b)    identifying the international officer as an international officer authorised to conduct cooperative enforcement.

        (5)    An international officer is not liable to any civil or criminal proceedings in respect of anything done or omitted to be done in good faith in the exercise or purported exercise of a power conferred on an international officer by subsection (3).

Officers

        (6)    An officer may, for the purposes of conducting cooperative enforcement, exercise any powers conferred by the Government of the French Republic on officers in order to give effect to the Cooperative Enforcement Agreement.

        (7)    An officer is not liable to any civil or criminal proceedings in respect of anything done or omitted to be done in good faith in the exercise or purported exercise of a power referred to in subsection (6).

Definitions

        (8)    In this Act:

cooperative enforcement means cooperative enforcement, as defined in the Cooperative Enforcement Agreement, that is conducted in accordance with that Agreement.

international officer means a person who is authorised to conduct cooperative enforcement by a competent authority of the Government of the French Republic.

19  Subsection 87(1)

Omit “but not within the territorial sea of another country”.

20  After subsection 87(1)

Insert:

  (1AA)    Subsection (1) does not apply to a place within the territorial sea of another country, unless the other country has given written permission for the power to be exercised in the other country’s territorial sea (including permission given in a treaty, for example).

3:54 pm

Photo of Mike KellyMike Kelly (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | | Hansard source

I move:

That the amendments be agreed to.

The amendments to the Fisheries Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2010 provide strengthened arrangements to combat illegal fishing both in our remote sub-Antarctic territories and closer to home. The first set of amendments will address a technical issue that currently permits foreign fishers to traverse the Australian fishing zone to fish illegally in state and Northern Territory coastal waters. The second set of amendments will implement an international agreement with France, allowing cooperative fisheries law enforcement activities in our respective Southern Ocean maritime zones. Both amendments are to the Fisheries Management Act 1991 and will strengthen Australia’s fishing and maritime security.

The first set of amendments to the bill will address a technical legal issue in fisheries management legislation which currently allows foreign fishers to traverse the Australian fishing zone to illegally fish in coastal state and Northern Territory waters. It is important that this matter is rectified quickly lest foreign fishers take advantage of this situation and change their methods of operation to avoid prosecution. The second set of amendments will address illegal fishing in Australia’s remote southern maritime territories.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is a concern for the Australian government. Illegal fishing on the high seas is a highly organised, mobile and elusive activity undermining the efforts of responsible countries to sustainably manage their fish resources. International cooperation is vital to effectively enforce Australia’s national laws in our remote and expansive maritime territories. In 2007, the government of Australia and the government of the French Republic signed a cooperative enforcement agreement that provides for joint enforcement activities in the territorial seas and exclusive economic zones of Australian and French territories in the Southern Ocean. The cooperative enforcement activities will greatly improve Australian and French efforts to prevent illegal fishing activities. Enforcement activities may include the boarding, inspection, hot pursuit, apprehension, seizure and investigation of fishing vessels believed to have violated applicable fisheries laws. In practice, cooperative enforcement will occur when, for example, a French vessel under the control of an Australian officer undertakes patrols in Australia’s maritime zones around Heard Island and the McDonald Islands. If a vessel is sighted and is suspected of undertaking illegal fishing, the Australian officer will enforce Australian fisheries laws and will have the assistance of French officers. A reciprocal arrangement will be in place for an Australian vessel patrolling France’s maritime zones around Kerguelen Islands, Crozet Islands, Saint-Paul Island and Amsterdam Island, with a French fisheries officer on board.

The amendments to the bill will also grant French officers civil and criminal immunity from the jurisdiction of Australian courts, in accordance with the provisions in the enforcement agreement for acts performed in the course of carrying out cooperative enforcement activities. Similarly, Australian officers acting consistently with the enforcement agreement are indemnified under French law. Together, these amendments to the bill will strengthen border security and help deter illegal fishing in Australia.

Question agreed to.