Constitutional Powers (Coastal Waters) Act 1979

This Act may be cited as the Constitutional Powers (Coastal Waters) Act 1979.

The Parliament requests the enactment by the Parliament of the Commonwealth of an Act in, or substantially in, the terms set out in the Schedule.

This Act may be cited as the Coastal Waters (State Powers) Act 1979.

This Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by Proclamation.

3—Interpretation

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;

coastal waters of the State means, in relation to each State—

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

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.

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.

4—Extent of territorial sea and coastal waters

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.

If at any time the breadth of the territorial sea of Australia is determined or declared to be greater than 3 international 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 international nautical miles.

5—Legislative powers of States

The legislative powers exercisable from time to time under the constitution of each State extend to the making of—

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;

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 relation to the sea-bed and subsoil beneath, and the airspace above, the first-mentioned waters, being laws with respect to—

subterranean mining from land within the limits of the State; or

ports, harbours and other shipping facilities, including installations, and dredging and other works, relating thereto, and other coastal works; and

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.

6—International status of territorial sea

Nothing in this Act affects the status of the territorial sea of Australia under international law or the rights and duties of the Commonwealth in relation to ensuring the observance of international law, including the provisions of international agreements binding on the Commonwealth 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.

7—Savings

Nothing in this Act shall be taken to—

extend the limits of any State;

derogate from any power existing, apart from this Act, to make laws of a State having extra-territorial effect; or

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.