David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) 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—

AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET AMENDMENT (GAS LEGISLATION) BILL 2006

Under the oversight of the Ministerial Council on Energy (MCE), Australia has made substantial progress towards an efficient and effective national energy market over recent years.

The bill I am introducing today represents a significant legislative step forward towards a truly national regime for the regulation of gas pipeline infrastructure, complete with national regulatory and national rule-making bodies.

The Australian Energy Market Amendment (Gas Legislation) Bill 2006 sees the Commonwealth take the lead in establishing the Ministerial Council on Energy’s cooperative legislative regime for regulating access to gas pipelines. This regime, once established, will ensure that the regulatory framework governing our energy sector is sound. This is crucial to Australia’s future energy security and economic growth.

MCE’s cooperative legislative regime involves the development of the National Gas Law and National Gas Rules, which will be applied in all participating jurisdictions to create a harmonised national gas access regime. The Ministerial Council on Energy has committed to establish this regime by 30 June 2007.

The new gas access regime will be underpinned by lead legislation enacted in the South Australian Parliament. Early next year, South Australian Parliament will enact the National Gas (South Australia) Act 2007, and the National Gas Law will be the Schedule to that Act.

The introduction of this bill does not affect the making of the National Gas Law. A draft of the National Gas Law was released for consultation on 7 November 2006. All MCE Ministers will consider the outcome of that consultation process before agreeing to a final version.

The Commonwealth, and all the States and Territories (with the exception of Western Australia), have agreed to introduce legislation, known as Application Acts, to apply the National Gas Law as law in their own jurisdictions. WA will pass “mirror” legislation with content similar to the NGL, rather than applying the NGL established by South Australian law.

This bill amends the Australian Energy Market Act 2004 to make it the Commonwealth’s Application Act for the new gas access regime. The Australian Energy Market Act, once amended, will apply the National Gas Law in the Commonwealth’s jurisdiction, ensuring that the new gas access regime applies throughout Australia, including the offshore area and external territories.

Under the current gas access regime nine different regulators make decisions and determinations, leading to uncertainty and inconsistency in the application of regulation. Under the new National Gas Law, the regulation of all gas transmission and distribution pipelines (except in Western Australia) will be undertaken by the Commonwealth Australian Energy Regulator (AER). This crucial reform will lead to more efficient and consistent regulatory decision-making.

It is vital that Commonwealth Parliament take a legislative lead in establishing this regime by enacting legislative amendments that will appropriately empower the AER, and two other Commonwealth bodies – the National Competition Council (NCC) and the Australian Competition Tribunal (ACT) – to take on crucial functions within the new gas access regime.

To this end, this bill amends the Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPA) to explicitly allow the National Gas Law, when applied as a law of a state or territory, to confer functions and powers, and impose duties, on these three Commonwealth bodies.

The involvement of these Commonwealth bodies is an essential part of this cooperative scheme, and the Commonwealth must take the lead by legislating to provide for these functions and powers to be exercised. South Australian Parliament, and indeed parliaments in all participating jurisdictions, must see that the Commonwealth is committed to this cooperative scheme.

The AER, NCC and ACT will have important roles in overseeing and reviewing the proper operation of this legislative scheme to ensure economically efficient, competitive outcomes in the gas market that protect the long-term interests of consumers of gas.

For example, important decisions made under the new gas access regime, including those made under Western Australian law, will be reviewable by the Australian Competition Tribunal. This will achieve greater accountability and consistency in decision-making, and better protect the interests of both consumers and investors in the gas sector.

This bill has the crucial function of allowing the greenfields pipelines incentives contained in the current gas access regime to continue to operate in the new gas access regime. These incentives were agreed by the Ministerial Council on Energy and allowed to operate by amendments to the TPA under the Energy Legislation Amendment Act 2006, passed in the winter sitting. The greenfields incentives support new investment in pipeline infrastructure within Australia, and crossing our territorial waters to other countries, increasing Australia’s energy security and benefiting Australian gas consumers.

Further, by applying the National Gas Law in Commonwealth law, this bill will help to lessen the regulatory burden on pipeline owners where they are subject to competition in providing natural gas services.

The NGL will also introduce a new light-handed form of regulation that allows pipelines subject to competition to negotiate commercial outcomes with access seekers, without the burden of direct involvement by the regulator. Only where negotiations fail will the Australian Energy Regulator become involved, offering a binding arbitration to resolve the access dispute. This form of regulation allows gas market participants to negotiate economically efficient outcomes, whilst creating a fair and effective access regime.

In summary, the amendments I am introducing today represent a significant legislative step towards a truly national gas access regime under a national regulator and national rule-making body. This cooperative scheme will ensure that Australia enjoys the benefits of a competitive and efficient gas market, whilst minimising the regulatory burden on industry. This bill has the full support of my State and Territory colleagues on the Ministerial Council on Energy.

SCHOOLS ASSISTANCE (LEARNING TOGETHER—ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH CHOICE AND OPPORTUNITY) AMENDMENT BILL 2007

The purpose of the Bill is to amend the Schools Assistance (Learning Together – Achievement Through Choice and Opportunity) Act 2004, which provides funding to States and Territories for government schools and funding for non-government schools for the 2005-2008 funding quadrennium. 

The Australian Government will provide a record estimated $33 billion in funding for Australian schools over the four years, for 2005-2008.  This is the largest ever commitment by an Australian Government to schooling in Australia.  The additional funding being provided in this Bill demonstrates this Government’s ongoing commitment to high quality schooling in Australia.

The Act provides for a significant investment in school infrastructure, including $1 billion of Australian Government funding for the Investing in Our Schools Programme (IOSP).  This Bill will provide an additional $181 million investment in Australian schools through this successful programme.  The total funding available for schools under the IOSP will increase to $1.181 billion.  An additional $127 million will be provided for state-owned government schools and an additional $54 million will be available to non-government schools. 

For state government schools, this programme is delivering a range of often overlooked, but still important, smaller infrastructure projects.  Importantly, these projects are identified by individual school communities and are often projects that never make it to the priority list of the States and Territories. 

Through this programme the Australian Government is responding to the need to restore and build school buildings and grounds by injecting much needed additional funding into schools. The standard of school infrastructure can have a marked bearing on teaching and learning. The Australian Government contributes significantly to school infrastructure funding in both state-owned government schools and in non-government schools as a means of improving educational outcomes for all Australian children.

There has been an enthusiastic response from schools for funding under the IOSP. The Australian government has so far approved over 15,000 projects from government schools and over 2,000 projects from non-government schools.  The additional IOSP funding will be targeted towards schools that have received little or no funding to date, followed by those that have received less than $100,000 for government schools and $75,000 for non-government schools. 

Under the Capital Grants Programme an estimated $1.7 billion is also being provided by this Government over 2005-2008 to assist the building, maintenance and updating of schools throughout Australia.  The Act currently provides an estimated $1.2 billion in capital grant funding for State and Territory government schools and an estimated $489 million for Catholic and independent schools.

The Bill will appropriate $11.7 million for capital funding for non-government schools for 2008 to maintain the existing funding level.  Without this amendment capital funding for non-government schools for 2008 will decrease.

The final measure in this Bill is to provide $9.445 million for the National Projects element of the Literacy, Numeracy and Special Learning Needs Programme for 2008.  This is to ensure continued funding to the end of the quadrennium.  This programme supports strategic national research projects and initiatives aimed at improving the learning outcomes of educationally disadvantaged students. 

This Bill maintains the Australian Government’s commitment to a strong school sector through assisting government and non-government schools with important building projects and improvements in literacy and numeracy, which will support improved educational outcomes for all Australia students. 

I commend the Bill to the Senate.

TOURISM AUSTRALIA AMENDMENT BILL 2007

The Tourism Australia Amendment Bill 2007 amends the Tourism Australia Act 2004 by making changes to governance arrangements for the organisation. The changes introduced in this Bill form part of the implementation of the government's response to the Review of Corporate Governance of Statutory Authorities and Office Holders that was conducted by Mr John Uhrig.

Tourism Australia is the Federal Government statutory authority responsible for international and domestic tourism marketing as well as the delivery of research and forecasts for the sector. Tourism Australia was established on 1 July 2004, bringing together the collective skills and knowledge of four separate organisations: the Australian Tourist Commission; See Australia; the Bureau of Tourism Research and Tourism Forecasting Council.

Tourism Australia has emerged as one of the world's leading national tourism organisations. It works to influence those outside Australia to visit the many regions of Australia, whether for personal, recreational, professional or business reasons. It works to persuade Australians to travel throughout their own country. It works to foster a sustainable Australian tourism industry. And it works to increase the economic benefits to Australia from tourism. These economic benefits include export income and jobs, especially in regional Australia.

The Government has assessed Tourism Australia's existing governance structure against the recommendations and principles of the Uhrig review and have identified that the board template is best suited to Tourism Australia's role as the government's tourism marketing agency. This bill amends the Tourism Australia Act 2004 by making minor improvements to the governance and accountability arrangements for Tourism Australia.

These amendments will bring the existing governance arrangements more closely in line with best practice under the board template as identified in Uhrig, and provide increased accountability to the Parliament commensurate with the high levels of public funding for the organisation's activities.

The Government has confirmed that the existing structure of a statutory authority operating under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 with governance by a Board is consistent with the Uhrig recommendations. This recognises the need for Tourism Australia to operate flexibly in a commercial environment.

These arrangements are strongly supported by Australia's tourism industry. The minor improvements proposed in the bill seek to balance increased independence for the Board, principally through removal of the Government member, with improved accountability appropriate to an organisation that receives over 80% of its income through appropriation and whose work involves considerable public scrutiny, here and overseas.

On behalf of the Government I would like to thank those who contributed to the assessment. The views and interests of Australia's tourism industry will continue to inform the Government's tourism promotion activities.

Ordered that the resumption of the debate be made an order of the day for a later hour.

Ordered that the bills be listed on the Notice Paper as separate orders of the day.