Mackey Moana: Crown Minerals (Permitting and Crown Land) Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMackey Moana: Crown Minerals (Permitting and Crown Land) Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 11 April 2013. Volume:689;Page:9308. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MOANA MACKEY (Labour): Part 3 deals with amendments to the Continental Shelf Act and of course this Act is part of the area where the Government has got itself into quite a bit of controversy over the Supplementary Order Papers that it dumped on the public on Easter Sunday and on this Committee belatedly. Currently any mining for minerals that is carried out on the continental shelf is carried out under the Continental Shelf Act 1964 and what this part does is amend the Continental Shelf Act so that once this piece of legislation comes into force it will now be the Crown Minerals Act that governs the mining of minerals and petroleum on the continental shelf.This is where we once again have got ourselves into difficulty. The previous Minister of Energy and Resources the Hon Phil Heatley might want to take a call and give us the benefit of his wisdom seeing as he was the drafter of this legislation initially. He was not the drafter of the dreadful Supplementary Order Paper that we have dealt with to ban protest vessels and I know that the Hon Phil Heatley would never ever have stood for that as Minister of Energy and Resources. He was an upholder of people’s rights not a destroyer of rights and that is of course how he will be remembered in terms of his legacy as the Minister of Energy and Resources. Unfortunately his legacy as Minister of Housing ain’t so flash. But never mind—one out of two ain’t bad.So coming back to Part 3 and the Continental Shelf Act this is the area that we have been discussing in the House and in the media over the last week or so since the Government announced that out on the high seas which is where we find the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf there will be limitations on the rights of people to legally protest against vessels and instalments that are on the continental shelf.The reason that we have an issue with it is that this is not about stopping illegal activity on the continental shelf at all. It is about making it as hard as possible for people to go out and voice their concerns and protest about what is occurring on the continental shelf and of course the exclusive economic zone. The reason that is the case is that the changes that the Government has made apply only to protest vessels and only to those who are protesting against oil and gas exploration. If this was about safety if this was about stopping illegal activity—activity that would be illegal in our territorial waters—then the law change would apply to everyone. But this is happening on the continental shelf for these activities.So what the Government has done by putting it into the Crown Minerals Act if it is in relation to a permit that is granted under the Crown Minerals Act—and currently those permits are granted under the Continental Shelf Act—is transferring that across to the Crown Minerals Act. I think petroleum always existed under the Crown Minerals Act. But what happens is when one of these permits which used to be granted under the Continental Shelf Act is now granted under the Crown Minerals Act anyone who protests against the activity that that permit is allowing and who gets in the way of or interferes with a vessel or a structure will now face significant penalties.The question we asked and the question that was never answered by any of the Government members or the Ministers who gave speeches was why would that not apply to everyone? Why is it only under those permits currently granted under the Continental Shelf Act that it is now covered? Because now what we are saying is that you have got within your territorial waters—[Interruption] it is a very important point Mr Chair—an activity that is illegal. But that very same activity that occurs on the continental shelf under a permit currently carried out under the Continental Shelf Act—that same activity that very same activity—will be allowed unless it is protesting against oil and gas exploration.So what I am saying is that this is focusing on the behaviour and on this particular permit that has been granted under this particular Act. It is not focusing on the dangerous behaviour which should apply to everyone and it should apply actually to those industry operators who have permits under the Continental Shelf Act. If they act dangerously or recklessly or in a way that would be illegal in our territorial waters then why should they not face the same penalties? Why is once again the playing field being skewed so incredibly towards the petroleum and mineral extraction industry but everyone else and every other industry that uses the continental shelf and that carries out activities there does not get the same protection under the law? And protesters who may be the target of some activity that would be illegal in our territorial waters do not get the protection of the law.It is simply not fair and it simply makes no sense to not have it apply to everyone and to only say: “Well if you’ve got a permit under the Continental Shelf Act and that has now been transferred to the Crown Minerals Act then we’ll protect you. But everyone else I’m sorry we are not interested. We’re not interested if people carry out dangerous and illegal behaviour against you.”