Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment Bill 2020

Senator VAN (13:19):

I rise to speak on the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Cross-Boundary Greenhouse Gas Titles and Other Measures) Bill 2019, and the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2019.

These Bills amend the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) Act 2003 and the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006, to clarify the regions that the Acts apply to and related levies.

These bills also strengthen and clarify the powers of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority inspectors during oil pollution emergencies that originate in our waters.

These changes are an important for the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority.  As Australia’s regulator for health and safety, well integrity and environmental management for offshore oil and gas activities it is vital that there is clarity around the Authority’s responsibilities and jurisdiction.

As my Senate colleagues in the Economics Legislation Committee reported, the current powers of the Authority are not sufficient to ensure compliance by a titleholder with its environmental management obligations in the event of an oil pollution emergency in Commonwealth 

In particular, the Authority currently does not have power to inspect for or enforce compliance by the titleholder in areas of State/Territory jurisdiction, such as in coastal waters or onshore.

To be burdened with the bureaucratic need to obtain a warrant or consent from another jurisdiction can significantly impede compliance monitoring in emergency situations.

In an oil pollution emergency, the Authority’s inspectors will need regulatory intelligence in real time under dynamic situations, including monitoring and enforcing compliance across a number of locations within and outside offshore areas.

The Bill will amend the Act to enable Authority’s inspectors to enter premises used for implementation of oil spill response obligations without a warrant whether located in Commonwealth or State/Territory jurisdiction, in the event of such an emergency. 

The amendments will enable the Authority to monitor whether a titleholder is in compliance with its oil spill response obligations, and take enforcement action if the titleholder is failing to meet its obligations. 

The Bill will also amend the Act to extend the operation of “polluter-pays” obligations and the application of significant incident directions. This may be given by the Authority to areas of State and Territory jurisdiction.

There is another purpose for this Bill, and it is to enable the CarbonNet project and the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain Project. 

These projects are of great interest to me, and are also the conduit of more jobs in my home state of Victoria.

Our abundant natural resources mean we could be one of the first countries to create a hydrogen export industry, helping to generate a significant number of Australian jobs and lay the foundations for a new hydrogen industry.

The Government has invested 96 million dollars in the CarbonNet project which is investigating the potential for establishing a commercial-scale carbon capture and storage network in the Latrobe Valley.

Carbon capture and storage is where we capture carbon dioxide released by industrial processes and compressing it. We transport it to an injection site to be sequestered deep underground for safe, long term storage in suitable geological formations.

Carbon capture and storage is being investigated as part of a suite of solutions with the potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and help address climate change.

I’m proud to say that those on this side of the chamber are supportive of carbon capture and storage. Additionally, both the International Energy Agency and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change believe that carbon capture and storage can play an important role in helping to meet global emission reduction targets.

CarbonNet has commenced its Stage 3 work program. 

This includes – firstly – drilling an appraisal well in the Bass Strait to determine the suitability of its preferred CO2 storage site. This work is currently underway.

Secondly, the Project will obtain a Declaration of Storage and Injection Licence.

And thirdly, it will define a commercial structure and financial model to attract private sector investment, confirming interest in operating a carbon capture and storage service.

CarbonNet’s preferred storage site overlaps both Commonwealth and State greenhouse gas titles. As such, these Bills provide the mechanism to regulate the likely storage formation that straddles State and Commonwealth boundaries.

Commercial-scale hydrogen production from brown coal will require carbon capture and storage infrastructure such as those being investigated by CarbonNet.

The recently announced National Hydrogen Strategy highlights the economic opportunity the hydrogen export industry presents for Australia. It also aims to position our industry as a major player by 2030.

The CarbonNet project will facilitate the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain project, which aims to produce hydrogen from brown coal resources, and requires suitable carbon capture and storage resources. This is the cheapest way to produce clean hydrogen. 

The Government has invested 50 million dollars in the world’s first Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain Pilot Project, worth half a billion dollars in total. It is aimed at producing hydrogen from brown coal in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, and liquefying and transporting hydrogen to Japan. 

The Pilot Project is aimed to safely produce and transport clean hydrogen from Victoria to Japan. 

I’m pleased that this Pilot Project presents an opportunity for our nation to establish a new hydrogen export industry and develop its own domestic hydrogen supply by using the Latrobe Valley’s abundant coal reserves.

As well as supporting a cleaner future, the Pilot Project supports great potential for new jobs based on brown coal in the Latrobe Valley.

The Government is committed to protecting our marine environment, also seen through our recent announcement that over 24 tonnes of rubbish has been cleaned up from the Great Barrier Reef last year. I’d like to say congratulations to my colleagues Sussan Ley, Minister for the Environment, and Warren Entsch, Special Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef.

This Bill is consistent with this Government’s commitment to healthy and cleaner oceans.

I commend this Bill to the Senate.