MICHAEL CROMMELIN: I think it is important to note that...

MICHAEL CROMMELIN: I think it is important to note that provision, that qualification, in the
Coastal Waters (State Title) Act at section 4 (2) (c). I broadly agree with what Professor Twomey has said. I will
just make a couple of additions to it. I can confirm, and it is certainly my view, that the current Commonwealth
legislation—both the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act and the Offshore Minerals Act—do
not purport to operate outside offshore areas. In other words, they do not apply their provisions to the coastal
waters of New South Wales. So at the moment there's not a problem.
If this bill were passed, and then the Commonwealth decided to amend its legislation or pass new
legislation to confer power on a Commonwealth Minister to grant a pipeline licence across the coastal waters,
then, in my view, that would very likely be valid. So, in effect, the attempt to prevent a pipeline by stopping the
New South Wales Minister from granting a licence in relation to coastal waters would simply be unsuccessful.