Mr J. BULL (Sunbury) (18:48:46) — I am pleased to contribute to debate on the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment Bill 2017. As honourable members have mentioned this evening, the bill is fundamentally about the machinery in relation to the state and federal boundaries, which we know are not fixed. That therefore results in challenges about jurisdictional responsibility, functions and roles in such matters. Geoscience Australia regularly reviews these boundaries, and this legislation puts in place the machinery around how licences can operate under particular titles. Other members this evening have discussed that at length.

The primary purpose of the bill is to amend the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2010 to provide protections for the holders of offshore titles affected by possible future changes to the location of the boundary between Victorian coastal waters and commonwealth waters.

The amendments will ensure that a titleholder who is affected by a boundary change receives equivalent entitlements to those that they would have otherwise had were it not for the relevant boundary change, and this is where this boundary change becomes important, and it is the reason for the bill. By agreement, the commonwealth, states and the Northern Territory maintain, as far as practicable, common rules for the regulation of offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas activities. Consistent with that agreement, the bill provides reciprocal arrangements for the protection of commonwealth petroleum title rights in the event of a boundary change, as are already provided for in state petroleum titles under the commonwealth legislation, and a number of members have discussed that this evening.

The bill creates a framework, which will automatically grant or extend the coverage of commonwealth petroleum titles where part of a title moves from commonwealth to Victorian coastal waters as a result of a boundary change, while also providing arrangements for the valid granting of renewals of Victorian petroleum and greenhouse gas titles where part of that title has moved into commonwealth waters as a result of a boundary change.

The Andrews Labor government is committed to a renewable energy market that is modern and flexible, and of course we have introduced our renewable energy target. Let us remember, and I discussed this earlier today in a previous contribution, that the state is growing significantly. It is growing upwards of 100 000 new people calling Victoria home each year, and as this happens more and more pressure is put on all of our essential services, like roads, schools, hospitals and of course the energy market. That is why there is a need to bring on more energy through renewables — through wind, through solar and through other technologies. But equally we understand the practicality and the realities around doing that. First and foremost we are fundamentally committed to jobs.

What you need in these situations is transition over time, and we know that jurisdictions across the world are moving in that direction. There are significant challenges in the east coast gas market. We know there is not a supply issue; there is a demand issue. Victoria produces in fact 7.2 million households worth of supply, but only uses 3.6 million households worth. That is the equivalent of around 206 petajoules each and every year. Clearly we understand that there is far too much gas being exported, and a number of these factors have already been mentioned this evening by members.

To set the context, following the 1979 Offshore Constitutional Settlement, the commonwealth, states and the Northern Territory agreed to maintain, as far as practicable, common rules for the regulation of offshore activities. Geoscience Australia, as I have already mentioned, has an ongoing responsibility to define the limits of Australia’s maritime jurisdiction, and it is currently undertaking a review of the offshore coastal boundary in Victoria. This is where the critical element of the bill comes in — that is, around the review boundaries, in particular for this state. Any changes as a result of this review are expected to be announced in 2018.

The bill reflects some of the changes made in 2015 to the commonwealth legislation regulating offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas activities, and which ensured the security of offshore titles granted under the Victorian act. There are a number of key details that the bill deals with. In particular I would like to touch on the ability to amend existing provisions in the Victorian act to ensure that the effect of a boundary change is delayed with respect to a commonwealth petroleum or greenhouse gas title while that title remains in force. A number of members this evening have mentioned the complexities around achieving this balance. It certainly is not an easy balance to achieve.

Automatically granting or extending the coverage of the commonwealth petroleum titles, where part of the title moves from commonwealth to Victorian coastal waters as a result of these boundary changes, is another component or another provision that is incorporated in the mechanics of this bill.

The bill goes on further to provide for those arrangements for the valid granting of renewals of Victorian petroleum and greenhouse gas titles where part of those titles were moved into commonwealth waters as a result of the boundary change. Without necessarily knowing what those changes are going to be, there needs to be that creativity and flexibility within the framework to provide for those future changes, and that is certainly something that I think is an important point. I know that the member for Buninyong spoke at length on this, and I think it is something that is well noted. The bill will also provide those arrangements for any necessary variation to the conditions of a title affected by the boundary change, and I think that is something that needs to be incorporated given those points that we mentioned earlier.

If we look at how the bill specifically applies to Victorian offshore titles that are affected, we know that the commonwealth act provides an equivalent framework to ensure security of title in the converse scenario where part of a state, or the Northern Territory, becomes located in commonwealth waters due to that boundary shift. This is by way of the provision of the commonwealth act that acknowledges that the commonwealth act does not apply to the part of the title that has become located in the commonwealth waters while the transition remains in place. The provision operates in conjunction with the reciprocal provision in the Victorian act, which states that the Victorian act continues to apply to the relevant title area. Much of this can seem quite mundane and quite dry, but these are important provisions that go to the management of what is an ever-changing and quite dynamic market, and this is a bill that I certainly think is needed.

In the time that I have remaining I want to go back to those key provisions and requirements around an energy market being flexible and having the ability to transition through time. Certainly in my area, and I know in other honourable members’ areas, there is significant demand. We have ever-changing communities, communities that are experiencing significant growth and communities that five or 10 years ago did not exist; they were simply greenfield sites or vacant land. We know through this growth and through the ever-challenging fact of more and more people wanting to come into this great state that the Andrews Labor government is getting on with providing the key infrastructure, the key services, road, schools and hospitals to deliver for our growing communities, and of course we have a changing energy market.

This bill provides for the necessary framework around what is a dynamic market. As we have heard this afternoon it is a market that requires flexibility, specifically in relation to those boundary changes. With those comments I commend the bill to the house.