Mr TRUSS (Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) (9:37 AM) —I move:

The Protection of the Sea (Civil Liability) Amendment Bill 2000 will amend the Protection of the Sea (Civil Liability) Act 1981 (Civil Liability Act) to strengthen Australia's existing legislation governing the protection of the marine environment.

The most important amendment in this bill is the insertion of a new part IIIA into the Civil Liability Act to require all ships entering or leaving an Australian port and which carry oil either as cargo or as fuel to be insured to cover the cost of any pollution damage from the ships. The amendment will only apply to ships of 400 tonnes or over. This is the size of ship to which international conventions on marine pollution generally apply.

The amendment will not apply to oil tankers carrying more than 2,000 tonnes of oil as cargo. The Civil Liability Act already requires those ships to have an insurance policy to cover the cost of the clean-up following a spillage of oil. This is in accordance with the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage.

The amendment will give effect to recommendations contained in the 1992 Ships of shame report and the 1998 Ship safe report. It is also consistent with the government's ongoing commitment in this area as set out in Australia's ocean policy, which was released by the government in 1998.

Shipowners already have an obligation to meet any pollution liabilities they incur in Australia. This legislation will merely require shipowners to have insurance to cover those existing liabilities. There is a risk in the case of a major spill that an uninsured shipowner would not be able to meet his or her liabilities to contribute to the cost of the clean-up. A shipowner does not have unlimited liabilities in the case of an oil spill. However, existing liability limits are high enough to meet the total cost of the clean-up following the majority of spillages. The requirement for insurance will ensure that the cost of the clean-up does not have to be met by governments and the community. The amendment has the full support of the shipping industry.

Customs officers will check every ship that enters an Australian port to determine if the ship has appropriate insurance cover. As this check will be part of the routine check of documentation that already occurs for all ships, it will not place an administrative burden on either the crew of ships or on Customs. Any ships that do not have adequate insurance may be detained until the requirements of the legislation are met. While the master and owner of an uninsured ship will be liable on conviction of a penalty of up to 500 penalty units the possible detention for failure to be insured is a greater incentive for a shipowner to arrange insurance.

In the international context, Australia, as a member of the International Maritime Organisation, has been a key advocate for an international regime of compulsory insurance to cover the cost of pollution damage following a spill of bunker fuel. A draft text for a new international instrument has been developed and is expected to be concluded in early 2001, although it is expected to be some years before any new convention comes into effect internationally.

These amendments to the Civil Liability Act are being introduced now, rather than waiting for the conclusion of an international convention, because of the importance placed on the protection of the Australian marine environment by the government. A number of other countries, such as Canada and the United States, have similar domestic legislation in place.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is empowered by the Protection of the Sea (Powers of Intervention) Act 1981 to take `intervention action' to prevent or reduce pollution where oil or some other noxious substance has escaped from a ship or is likely to escape from a ship. The intervention action may range from moving the ship to another place to, in an extreme case, sinking the ship. The cost to AMSA of such intervention action may be recovered from the shipowner. The shipowner's liability is limited by section 20 of the Civil Liability Act. There is currently some uncertainty about the liability limits that apply, due in part to the use of obsolete terminology. Part 2 of the bill amends section 20 to remove the uncertainty by specifying that the limit will be the limit that applies under any international conventions in force in Australia that apply to the ship.

The Civil Liability Act allows AMSA to recover any costs it incurs in performing its function under its enabling legislation to combat pollution in the marine environment where the pollution is caused by a discharge or disposal from a ship. The Civil Liability Act is quite explicit in stating that AMSA may recover its costs where there has been an actual discharge or disposal from a ship. But there is some doubt about AMSA's ability to recover its costs where there has been a threat but no actual discharge or disposal, for example, where a ship has gone aground. The amendment contained in part 3 of the bill will remove this doubt.

Finally, in accordance with modern drafting practice, part 4 of the bill will convert all penalties in the act to penalty units.

I present the explanatory memorandom to the bill.

Debate (on motion by Mr Horne) adjourned.