David Fawcett (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the 173rd report of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties: Consular functions in Macau—China; Montreal Protocol Ozone LayerAmendment. I seek leave to incorporate the tabling statement.

Leave granted.

The statement read as follows—

Mr President, today I rise to make a statement concerning the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties' Report 173.

Mr President, Report 173 contains the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties' review of two treaty actions:

Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer

Mr President, the purpose of the amendments to our consular arrangements with China and Macau is to bring the Macau Special Administrative Region, the SAR, under the auspices of the China Agreement. We have a strong commercial presence in Macau and around 1 000 Australians living in the SAR as well as over two and a half thousand people of Macanese descent living in Australia.

We have a range of bilateral agreements directly with Macau but since it came under the People's Republic of China in 1999, we also have an agreement with China on consular relations. Mr President, in 2013 and 2014 there were procedural issues in relation to a number of arrest notifications between Australia and Macau. In consequent negotiations to improve the notification process it was agreed to amend the China agreement to include the SAR.

The treaty action will provide procedural clarity for managing consular cases in Macau and enable improved consular access to Australians detained in the SAR. For example, Mr President, consular officials will be informed within three days if an Australian national is arrested or committed to prison or custody pending trial in the SAR. A consular visit to the detainee must be permitted within two days. These timelines are not currently mandated in the Macau agreement.

Although Macau is now included within the scope of the China agreement, the Committee notes that China has requested that the Macau agreement remain in place. We commend DFAT in its efforts to improve Australia's global consular services.

Mr President, the Committee supports ratification of this treaty action.

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer mandates the phase-out of scheduled ozone depleting substances. This amendment will mandate the global phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons or HFCs. Although HFCs are not ozone depleting, they are considered to have high global warming potential.

Mr President, Australia has already introduced legislation to phase down the import of HFCs from January 2018 in order to meet existing climate change emission reduction commitments. That legislation will facilitate implementation of commitments under this amendment to the Montreal Protocol.

Mr President, the Committee acknowledges the success of the Montreal Protocol and its role in assisting Australia to reach its climate change emissions reduction targets. Australia has supported all six previous amendments to the Protocol and the Committee has recommended that it support this one.

Finally Mr President, the report also contains the Committee's review of two minor treaty actions relating to the OECD G20 Conventions addressing tax evasion by individuals and large multinationals.

Mr President, on behalf of the Committee, I commend the Report to the Senate.