George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Regulatory Levies Legislation Amendment (2011 Measures No. 1) Bill 2011 amends the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Storage (Safety Levies) Act 2003 to impose cost recovery levies on holders of offshore petroleum titles in respect of wells and well related activities in those titleholders' title areas.

The levies will recover the costs of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority, NOPSA, in undertaking its assessment, monitoring and enforcement functions in relation to the structural integrity of wells and well operations over the life of the well. The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Regulatory Levies (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011 contains amendments to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006. These amendments will enable NOPSA, which is funded on a cost recovery basis with levies raised from the offshore petroleum industry, to collect levies to recover costs associated with undertaking its augmented integrity and well-related regulatory functions. As NOPSA is funded on a cost recovery basis, levies imposed by the Safety Levies Act are required for NOPSA to carry out its functions and responsibilities. Current levies imposed by the Safety Levies Act are not appropriate in terms of both their purpose and the entity from which they are collectable. These bills will ensure that NOPSA is able to collect levies relating to its augmented well-related functions from the correct entity, which in this case is the title holder.

We in the coalition support the gov­ernment's bills. It is important to collect levies to ensure the complete operation of NOPSA and to ensure that those levies are collected right across the board in terms of the title holders of the wells as well as the company operating the drilling platforms.

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Brandis for his contribution to the debate on the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Regulatory Levies Legislation Amendment (2011 Measures No. 1) Bill 2011 and the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Regulatory Levies (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011. I commend the bills to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bills read a second time.