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

I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

NAVIGATION BILL 2012

This year, the 100th year since the sinking of the RMS Titanic, is also the 100th anniversary of the Navigation Act 1912.

For those 100 years the Navigation Act has been Australia's primary legislation regulating ship and seafarer safety, shipboard aspects of protection of the marine environment and protection of the rights and conditions of seafarers.

The original Navigation Bill was in the process of development when the Titanic sank on 15 April 1912.

As a result, the draft legislation was amended before it had even commenced to incorporate the safety recommendations that were internationally agreed following the disaster.

This vital piece of legislation has been the key legislative vehicle to give domestic effect to Australia's international port state control responsibilities and a range of international conventions.

But the Act is 100 years old.

On 5 June 2009, I announced that the Gillard Labor Government would rewrite the Navigation Act 1912.

After approximately three years of planning, public and whole of Government consultation, extensive drafting, and through the commitment and cooperation demonstrated by all stakeholders, it is with great pride that I introduce the Navigation Bill 2012 to the Australian Parliament.

We are in the middle of a once-in-a-generation resources boom.

Each year almost 4,000 ships transport goods to and from Australia, carrying ninety-nine per cent by volume of Australia's imports and exports.

This constitutes the world's fifth largest shipping task.

The increase in demand for Australia's exports and new resource developments means Australia's sea freight task is expected to double by 2025.

The safety and efficiency of the shipping industry is therefore critical to Australia's economic prosperity, maritime environment and security.

Australia's re-election last year to the Council of the International Maritime Organisation served to reinforce Australia's long standing tradition as an active participant, in a cooperative multilateral approach to the regulation of maritime safety and marine pollution prevention.

This Bill supports that approach.

This Navigation Bill 2012 is a comprehensive rewrite of the Navigation Act 1912.

The Bill is written in plain language, reflects contemporary maritime industry practice and provides clarity to domestic and international seafarers, vessel owners and operators on their regulatory responsibilities.

Gone are the archaic and redundant provisions that peppered the Navigation Act 1912.

Many of the 1912 Acts original provisions were taken from the British Merchant Shipping Act of 1894 which included laws that had been around since the 18th century.

You will be reassured to know that it is no longer an offence to take a lunatic to sea without telling the master.

Not only is the Navigation Bill clearer and more accessible to the reader it is more flexible allowing the regulatory framework to keep pace with changes in the domestic and global maritime sector today and in the future.

The Bill introduces a civil penalty regime which expands the range of regulatory options available to the regulator for breaches of the legislation.

The Bill also allows for the development of an infringement notice scheme in regulations.

Of primary importance, the Navigation Bill gives effect to our international obligations under various conventions to which Australia is a signatory, covering matters such as the safety of life at sea; training and certification of seafarers; prevention of collisions at sea; watertight integrity and reserve buoyancy of ships; pollution prevention standards for ships; safety of containers; salvage and regulations to determine gross and net tonnage of ships.

The Bill will also ensure Australia's compliance with the International Labour Organization's Maritime Labour Convention – which Australia has ratified and which will soon come into force internationally.

I have previously introduced legislation to establish an Australian International Shipping Register.

The employment provisions contained in the Navigation Bill will be a key part of the legislative framework that protects the rights of seafarers working on those vessels.

The Navigation Bill applies to Australian commercial vessels undertaking overseas voyages and where it is consistent with international law, to all foreign flagged vessels in Australian waters regardless of the voyage.

As such it provides a legislative framework within which the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) can exercise its port state control responsibilities.

AMSA has an enviable reputation as the regulatory authority with responsibility for 'big' ships.

The Navigation Bill complements the Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law Bill, which I introduced today, that establishes AMSA as Australia's single national maritime regulator.

The Navigation Bill also incorporates the provisions of the Lighthouses Act 1911, one of the oldest laws on the Statute book and one that predates even the Navigation Act 1912.

Like the Navigation Act the Lighthouse Act has struggled to keep pace with changes to maritime industry practice and rapid technological change.

The recast provisions relating to aids to navigation have been modernised and are now sufficiently flexible to encompass a world where satellites and global positioning systems operate in company with traditional beacons and lights.

It is appropriate that the provisions of the Lighthouse Act are incorporated in the Navigation Bill as it will ensure that aids to navigation, which are so essential to safe navigation, are an integral element of Australia's primary maritime safety legislation.

The Lighthouse Act 1911 will be repealed once the Navigation Bill is enacted.

As the Transport Minister I have had the privilege to undertake the most comprehensive reform of the maritime sector in Australia's history.

This Bill, the shipping reform Bills and the National Maritime Regulator Bill position Australia to make the most of its future as a shipping nation while ensuring that safety of vessels and those who sail upon them as well as the protection of our treasured marine environment is paramount.

NAVIGATION (CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS) BILL 2012

I introduce to the House, the Navigation (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2012.

This Consequential Amendments Bill contains a number of amendments to existing Acts that are required to ensure the existing regulatory framework interacts properly.

The Bill makes those consequential changes to 29 other pieces of legislation and forms a part of the most comprehensive maritime reform in Australia’s history.

This number gives an idea of the complexity of the task that has been undertaken in the past three years.

MARINE SAFETY (DOMESTIC COMMERCIAL VESSEL) NATIONAL LAW BILL 2012

Today I introduced legislation which represents some of the biggest maritime reforms in Australia's history.

The Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law Bill 2012 creates a single national maritime regulator and a national safety system for domestic commercial vessels.

This legislation replaces eight existing federal, state and territory regulators with one National Marine Safety Regulator; the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).

This Bill will replace 50 pieces of legislation in seven jurisdictions with a single national law, providing clarity and consistency for Australia's seafarers and commercial vessel owners.

In 2009 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to a national approach in regulating the safety of domestic commercial vessels in Australia.

Three years of hard work, by all jurisdictions and industry stakeholders has delivered this Bill.

This Bill establishes AMSA as the National Maritime Regulator, with responsibility not only for the large commercial vessels that undertake overseas voyages, but now also for the domestic commercial vessels that work around our coast.

Importantly, this Bill establishes one single national system for marine safety regulation.

The impact of this in practical terms is that marine safety standards will be consistent and consistently applied across the country.

This means that people who rely on domestic commercial vessels for their livelihoods or as a means of transport can be confident that every commercial vessel, wherever it is in Australian waters, will be required to meet the same nationally agreed safety standards.

It means that people who design and build commercial vessels in one jurisdiction do not have to have that vessel re-certified each time they sail into a different jurisdiction's water.

This also means that companies who operate national businesses and have vessels in more than one state will not have to grapple with different regulatory and administrative requirements to manage their fleet and their crew.

There are no borders on the water – there is no reason our regulatory system needs to create artificial boundaries.

Fundamental to this reform and the benefits that it offers is that it is a cooperative reform.

All states and territories have actively participated in developing the legislation.

In the future, existing State and Territory regulators will deliver National Law functions under the delegation of AMSA.

The benefits of this approach are many.

The National Regulator will be able to draw on the extensive knowledge and experience that is housed in the state regulatory authorities; stakeholders will not lose the contacts they have come to rely on; there will be an opportunity to share knowledge and approaches across state and territory boundaries - but at the same time stakeholders will reap the benefits of national consistency and transparency.

National reform is not easy and this reform has been no different.

I would also like to thank the many parties who have given generously of their time, their knowledge and their experience.

Stakeholder support for this reform is very strong.

This is no surprise - the benefits it will offer to the Australian economy and to Australians who own, run, work or travel on domestic commercial vessels are undeniable.

As the Transport Minister I have had the privilege to undertake the most comprehensive reform of the maritime sector in Australia's history.

This Bill, the shipping reform Bills and the Navigation Bill position Australia to make the most of its future as a shipping nation while ensuring that safety of vessels and those who sail upon them as well as the protection of our treasured marine environment is paramount.

MARINE SAFETY (DOMESTIC COMMERCIAL VESSEL) NATIONAL LAW (CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENT) BILL 2012

I introduce to the Senate the Marine Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law (Consequential Amendment) Bill of 2012.

This Bill was agreed at the Standing Council on Infrastructure and Transport Meeting of 18 May 2012.

This Bill complements the marine safety national law now before you and gives effect to agreements reached with the States and the Northern Territory on the national marine safety regulatory reform.

The Bill provides that the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) Board will include a member with knowledge and experience in the construction or operation of domestic commercial vessels.

This is important to make certain that in the future AMSA, as the National Maritime Regulator, has available to it the necessary knowledge to inform and guide decision making.

This Bill amends the Australian Maritime Safety Authority Act 1990 to give this effect.

Jurisdictions have also agreed that the offences and penalties attached to the general safety provisions in the National Law should align with those in the Model Work Health and Safety legislation.

Some jurisdictions are yet to enact the Model Work Health and Safety legislation.

This alignment will therefore occur as a consequential amendment when all States and Territories have enacted work health and safety legislation which corresponds substantially with the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.

Debate adjourned.