Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This b ill makes a consequential amendment to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) Act 2003 (Levies Act) that is made necessary by amendments contained in the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Miscellaneous Matters) Bill 2015. That b ill implements new arrangements in the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 to provide for the automatic grant of an equivalent Commonwealth title over affected blocks to the existing holder(s) of a s tate or Northern Territory title at the time at which the s tate or Northern Territory title ceases to be in force as the result of a coastal water boundary change. This automatic grant of title is provided with a specific name when it is an exploration permit to both reflect how it is brought into existence in Commonwealth waters and to distinguish it from other types of existing exploration permits.

The National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator ( NOPTA) operates on a fully cost recovered basis through levies payable by the offshore petroleum industry. The levies act at present facilitates NOPTA ' s cost recovery by imposing annual titles administration levies in relation to Commonwealth titles. To this end, the cross-boundary exploration permit title must be added to the definition of Commonwealth title in order to ensure NOPTA is able to cost recover for its oversight of these titles.

I commend the bill to the house.

Debate adjourned.