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Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Page: 2049

Senator BRANDIS (Queensland—Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (13:06): The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Regulatory Levies Legislation Amendment (2011 Measures No. 1) Bill 2011 amends the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Storage (Safety Levies) Act 2003 to impose cost recovery levies on holders of offshore petroleum titles in respect of wells and well related activities in those titleholders' title areas.

The levies will recover the costs of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority, NOPSA, in undertaking its assessment, monitoring and enforcement functions in relation to the structural integrity of wells and well operations over the life of the well. The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Regulatory Levies (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011 contains amendments to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006. These amendments will enable NOPSA, which is funded on a cost recovery basis with levies raised from the offshore petroleum industry, to collect levies to recover costs associated with undertaking its augmented integrity and well-related regulatory functions. As NOPSA is funded on a cost recovery basis, levies imposed by the Safety Levies Act are required for NOPSA to carry out its functions and responsibilities. Current levies imposed by the Safety Levies Act are not appropriate in terms of both their purpose and the entity from which they are collectable. These bills will ensure that NOPSA is able to collect levies relating to its augmented well-related functions from the correct entity, which in this case is the title holder.

We in the coalition support the gov­ernment's bills. It is important to collect levies to ensure the complete operation of NOPSA and to ensure that those levies are collected right across the board in terms of the title holders of the wells as well as the company operating the drilling platforms.