Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1980

No. [75] of 1980

		

	

Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1980

No. [75] of 1980

										

	
	An Act to extend the legislative powers of the States in
and in relation to coastal waters

			5	5	Preamble
	whereas, in pursuance of paragraph (xxxviii) of section 51 of the
Constitution of the Commonwealth, the Parliaments of all the States
have requested the Parliament of the Commonwealth to enact an Act in,
or substantially in, the terms of this Act:
	
			10		be it therefore enacted by the Queen, and the Senate and
the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as
follows:

Short title
	1. This Act may be cited as the Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1980.
	
			15	Commencement
	2. This Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by
Proclamation.

2			Coastal Waters (State Powers)	No.		,1980

Interpretation
	3. (1)  In this Act—
	“adjacent area in respect of the State” means, in relation to each
State, the area the boundary of which is described under the
heading referring to that State in Schedule 2 to the Petroleum
(Submerged Lands) Act 1967 as in force immediately before the
commencement of this Act;		

	5
	
	“coastal waters of the State” means, in relation to each State—
		
		(a)  the part or parts of the territorial sea of Australia that is
or are within the adjacent area in respect of the State,
other than any part referred to in sub-section 4 (2); and	
	10	
(b)  any sea that is on the landward side of any part of the territorial sea of Australia and is within the adjacent area in respect of the State but is not within the limits of the State or of a Territory. 	

	15	
	(2)  The Acts Interpretation Act 1901, in the form in which it was in
force, as amended, immediately before the day on which this Act received
the Royal Assent, applies to the interpretation of this Act.
		
Extent of territorial sea and coastal waters
	4. (1)  For the purposes of this Act, the limits of the territorial sea of
Australia shall be the limits existing from time to time, ascertained
consistently with the Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 and instruments
under that Act and with any agreement (whether made before or after
the commencement of this Act) for the time being in force between
Australia and another country with respect to the outer limit of a
particular part of that territorial sea.

	(2)  If at any time the breadth of the territorial sea of Australia is
determined or declared to be greater than 3 nautical miles, references in
this Act to the coastal waters of the State do not include, in relation to
any State, any part of the territorial sea of Australia that would not be
within the limits of that territorial sea if the breadth of that territorial sea
had continued to be 3 nautical miles.
	
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	25

	30	
Legislative powers of States
	5.  The legislative powers exercisable from time to time under the
constitution of each State extend to the making of—	

	35	
	(a)  all such laws of the State as could be made by virtue of those
powers if the coastal waters of the State, as extending from time to
time, were within the limits of the State, including laws applying in
or in relation to the sea-bed and subsoil beneath, and the airspace
above, the coastal waters of the State;
	(b)  laws of the State having effect in or in relation to waters within the
adjacent area in respect of the State but beyond the outer limits of
the coastal waters of the State, including laws applying in or in

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			Coastal Waters (State Powers)	No.	,1980	3
	
			relation to the sea-bed and subsoil beneath, and the airspace
above, the first-mentioned waters, being laws with respect to—	

			5

				(i)  subterranean mining from land within the limits of the
State; or
			(ii)  ports, harbours and other shipping facilities, including
installations, and dredging and other works, relating
thereto, and other coastal works; and

			10		(c)  laws of the State with respect to fisheries in Australian waters
beyond the outer limits of the coastal waters of the State, being
laws applying to or in relation to those fisheries only to the
extent to which those fisheries are, under an arrangement to
which the Commonwealth and the State are parties, to be
managed in accordance with the laws of the State.

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			20	International status of territorial sea
	6.  Nothing in this Act affects the status of the territorial sea of
Australia under international law or the rights and duties of the Common-
wealth in relation to ensuring the observance of international law, in-
cluding the provisions of international agreements binding on the Com-
monwealth and, in particular, the provisions of the Convention on the
Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone relating to the right of innocent
passage of ships.
	
	Savings
	7.  Nothing in this Act shall be taken to—	
		(a)  extend the limits of any State;	
			25	(b)  derogate from any power existing, apart from this Act, to make
laws of a State having extra-territorial effect; or	

			30		(c)  give any force or effect to a provision of a law of a State to the
extent of any inconsistency with a law of the Commonwealth or
with the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia or the
Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act.

4			Coastal Waters (State Powers)	No.		,1980
			
I hereby certify that the above is a fair print of the Coastal Waters (State
Powers) Bill 1980 which originated in the House of Representatives and has
been finally passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives.

								[J. A. Pettifer]
						      Clerk of the House of Representatives
		
In the name of Her Majesty, I assent to this Act.		

								[Zelman Cowen]

								Governor-General

								[29 May] 1980

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