Members say bill ‘flawed’
The committee which has been examining a proposed Liberal-backed bill to stop off-shore drilling has recommended the bill be voted down.
Liberal Pittwater MP Rory Amon introduced the Minerals Legislation Amendment (Offshore Drilling and Associated Infrastructure Prohibition) Bill to parliament in June. The legislative assembly sent the bill to committee for further examination.
PEP-11 is an off-shore gas exploration licence which was held by Advent Energy, and extended off the beaches of Manly up to the Central Coast. In evidence to the committee, Advent Energy said if it was granted an extension of the licence, it would only explore coastal waters off the Lower Hunter.
In its report, the committee – with a Labor majority of three – recommended the bill be voted down as ‘key aspects of the bill may be constitutionally invalid or have unintended consequences’. There was much discussion during submissions about the bill being strong enough to actually stop off-shore drilling in Commonwealth waters off the coast of NSW. A joint Commonwealth/state authority currently regulates these waters, and Warringah MP Zali Steggall already proposed a bill federally to effectively quash PEP-11. It has never been voted on in Federal Parliament.
Committee chair, Labor’s Clayton Barr, said that the bill ‘jeopardises’ the off-shore Commonwealth-state settlement agreement. “It is for these reasons that the committee has recommended that the Bill should not be supported.”
Mr Amon said the committee’s move was a ‘betrayal’ of coastal communities. “This move by the Minns Labor Government is effectively a green-light for offshore gas and oil rigs off Pittwater. Together with our coastal communities we will continue to fight this.”
Mr Barr added in the committee’s report that while he agreed with widespread community concern about the environmental impacts of PEP-11, ‘it was not the role of this committee to drive personal beliefs or opinions’.
“Rather, it was our responsibility to explore the facts underpinning the bill and to offer our best advice to the NSW Parliament.”
Surfers for Climate (SFC), who gave evidence to the committee, is continuing its campaign against off-shore mining. In its mail out to members, SFC says that the Environmental Defenders Office and ‘other expert lawyers’ gave evidence to the committee that the potential legal risks of the bill were ‘very low and could be overcome’.
The committee found that while the bill could be amended to reduce the risk of constitutional invalidity, ‘the amendments would undermine a core purpose of the bill’.
