Timor Sea Maritime Boundaries Treaty Consequential Amendments Bill 2018
The Timor Sea Maritime Boundaries Treaty Consequential Amendments Bill 2018 was introduced and read a first time in the House of Representatives on 28 November 2018. According to the explanatory memorandum, the Bill ‘is the first tranche of legislation which amends Commonwealth legislation to partially implement the Treaty Between Australia and the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste Establishing Their Maritime Boundaries in the Timor Sea‘.
Part 9 of the Bill reads as follows:
Part 9—Amendment of the Migration Act 1958
32 Subsection 5(1) (definition of Australian seabed)
Omit “(other than the seabed within the Joint Petroleum Development Area)”.
33 Subsection 5(1) (definition of Joint Petroleum Development Area)
Repeal the definition.
The current definition of ‘Australian seabed’ under s 5(1) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) is as follows:
Australian seabed means so much of the seabed adjacent to Australia (other than the seabed within the Joint Petroleum Development Area) as is:
(a) within the area comprising:
(i) the areas described in Schedule 1 to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006; and
(ii) the Coral Sea area; and
(b) part of:
(i) the continental shelf of Australia;
(ii) the seabed beneath the territorial sea of Australia (including the territorial sea adjacent to any island forming part of Australia); or
(iii) the seabed beneath waters of the sea that are on the landward side of the territorial sea of Australia and are not within the limits of a State or Territory.
The explanatory memorandum explains the amendments as follows:
Part 9—Amendment of the Migration Act 1958
Migration Act 1958
Item 32: Subsection 5(1) (definition of Australian seabed)
52. This item omits from the definition of Australian seabed in subsection 5(1) of theMigration Act 1958 (the Migration Act) the reference to “other than the seabed within the Joint Petroleum Development Area [JPDA]”.
53. The effect of this amendment is to repeal redundant references to the JPDA.
Item 33: Subsection 5(1) (definition of Joint Petroleum Development Area)
54. This item repeals the definition of Joint Petroleum Development Area from subsection 5(1) of the Migration Act. As the JPDA will no longer exist, the definition is redundant and therefore repealed.
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Sergio Zanotti Stagliorio is a Registered Migration Agent (MARN 1461003). He is the owner of Target Migration in Sydney. He can be reached at sergio@targetmigration.com.au