weekly hansard - Queensland Parliament - Queensland Government

23 Aug 2005 Transport Legislation Amendment Bill 2579
The Bill also inserts a new definition of an ‘authorised busway user’. This amendment clarifies that a maintenance vehicle or bus
providing a public passenger service may be authorised to operate on a busway as well as another person authorised by the chief
executive.
Minor administrative amendments will introduce consistency in references to the terms "busway" and "busway transport
infrastructure".
Miscellaneous transport infrastructure
The definition of "miscellaneous transport infrastructure" in the Transport Infrastructure Act 1994 will be amended by this Bill. The
Transport Infrastructure Regulation 1995 is due to expire on 1 September 2006. As part of the review of that regulation, the
definition of "miscellaneous transport infrastructure" will be moved from the regulation to the Transport Infrastructure Act 1994.
This is in line with current best drafting practice.
Non-rail corridor land
In relation to "non-rail corridor land", there is currently a definition of that term in the Transport Infrastructure Act 1994. The
definition will be extended to include land that was part of a rail corridor where the lease of the land has been surrendered by a
railway manager. This will enable the chief executive to retain the land in the perpetual lease for future use as part of a transport
corridor, on the same status as for existing non-rail corridor land.
Transport Operations (Marine Pollution) Act 1995
The Bill also amends the Transport Operations (Marine Pollution) Act 1995.
The purpose of this Act is to implement at a state level the international convention for the prevention of pollution from ships which
protects Queensland’s marine and coastal environment by minimising deliberate and negligent discharges of ship sourced
pollutants into coastal waters.
Queensland has a proactive approach to the protection of the marine environment through its maritime pollution legislation and
the state maintains a recognised role in developing world’s best practice in this area.
The protection of our marine environment is of paramount importance to the state, for tourism, the economy and the enviable
waterway activities that all Queenslanders can enjoy.
There are four amendments to this Act, dealing with the issues of shipboard waste management plans, monitoring transfer
operations, the position of Marine Pollution Controller and the powers of Maritime Safety Queensland to deal with "potential" as
opposed to "imminent" dangers.
Shipboard waste management plans
Existing legislation requires shipboard waste management plans to be carried on all ships with a measurement of at least 400
gross tons.
This requirement has proved impractical and difficult to enforce because many owners and masters do not know the gross
tonnage of their ship. The amendment will refer to a ship’s length overall rather than gross tonnage. A vessel with an overall length
of at least 35 metres or designed to sleep at least 15 persons will be required to have a shipboard waste management plan.
Monitoring transfer operations
Mr Speaker, the Bill introduces an obligation on a ship’s crew to monitor transfer operations. Transfer operations include things
such as filling the ship’s tank with fuel. Ships’ crews are not currently required to monitor transfer operations. This has resulted in
spills in Queensland coastal waters from overfilled tanks. Similarly there have been spills from burst hoses or loose couplings.
These could have been prevented at a very early stage if proper monitoring had been in place.
For example in 2000, substantial spills in the Brisbane River, and again in 2003 at Thursday Island resulted from poorly
maintained fuel couplings on commercial vessels. These incidents would not have happened if the fittings had been regularly
maintained and a crew member had been actively monitoring the couplings for overfilling and leaks.
Marine Pollution Controller
This Bill introduces a statutory basis for the position of the "Marine Pollution Controller". Maritime Safety Queensland is the lead
agency for responses to oil spills from ships. The position of the Marine Pollution Controller is recognised and acknowledged
tacitly across agencies. The position is established under the National Plan for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil and
Other Noxious Hazardous Substances. Given the increasing importance of the role, as was seen during the groundings of the
Bunga Teratai Satu in 2000 and the MV Karma in 2003, the position needs to be formalised. The amendments will establish the
role of the Marine Pollution Controller and its functions, thereby providing certainty and direction during major responses to ship
sourced pollution within Queensland waters.
Powers of MSQ to deal with "potential" as opposed to "imminent" dangers
The Transport Operations (Marine Pollution) Act 1995 will also be amended to give Maritime Safety Queensland greater ability to
act if a ship presents a "potential" danger to the Queensland coastal and marine environment. This will ensure that Maritime
Safety Queensland can take action to prevent an incident at an earlier stage than is currently possible.
The grounding of the MV Karma demonstrated clearly the need for the State to be able to intervene before the currently "grave
and imminent" danger threshold is reached. With this amendment, as soon as a potentially serious threat is presented, the full
powers of the State to intervene to prevent and minimise a discharge will be activated.
Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994
I will now address the proposed amendments to the Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994. That Act achieves an
appropriate balance between regulating the maritime industry to ensure marine safety and developing the effectiveness and
efficiency of the Queensland maritime industry. The changes proposed by this Bill include identifying the legal owner of a vessel,
the temporary closure of pilotage areas, the creation of exclusion zones around ships, the sharing of fishing vessel data, the
recovery of costs incurred by the State in salvage operations and allowing criminal history checks for marine licence examiners
and training providers.
These changes, and the amendments to the Transport Operations (Marine Pollution) Act 1995, are in direct response to a number
of issues identified as a result of recent marine safety and ship sourced pollution incidents. These amendments are the first stage
of a larger program being undertaken by this government to strengthen our legislative scheme to prevent the loss of life and
minimise harm to the marine environment.