Explanatory Memorandum
(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources, the Hon Ian Macfarlane, MP)Schedule 3-Other matters
Clause 1 - Offence against section 96 of the repealed Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967
The explanatory memorandum note to clause 300 of the Offshore Petroleum Bill explains that the maximum 100 unit penalty imposed by section 96 of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act on failure by a titleholder to commence to carry out works or operations within a certain timeframe is now considered inappropriate. This is because it is felt that sufficient administrative remedies, such as title cancellation, exist for failure to comply with the requirement. Clause 300, the equivalent provision in the Offshore Petroleum Bill, therefore carries no criminal penalty.
This Schedule is drafted to provide that section 96, when repealed in common with the rest of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act under this Bill, will be taken always to have had effect as if the penalty to that section had never been enacted. The effect of this deeming is that a breach of section 96 will be taken to never have been an offence (section 4D of the Crimes Act 1914 provides that a penalty at the foot of a section indicates that a breach of the section is an offence).
This Schedule is included so that any past breach of section 96 that could otherwise lead to a criminal conviction after the repeal of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act will not lead to a prosecution or a conviction. It will also relieve persons from any civil consequences that may otherwise have arisen from the existence or possible existence of an offence against section 96.