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| Madam Speaker, I move that the bill now be read a second time. The purpose of this bill is to make special provisions in connection with the Bonaparte Gas Pipeline Project. This project is a significant investment by the Power and Water Corporation and the Australian Pipeline Trust in the Northern Territory’s energy infrastructure and sustainable future. The Bonaparte Gas Pipeline Project involves the construction and operation of an underground gas pipeline and associated infrastructure. The pipeline is approximately 280 km in length and will transport gas from ENI’s onshore gas processing facility near Wadeye to a connection on the existing Amadeus Basin to Darwin pipeline on Ban Ban Springs Station. Major projects such as the Bonaparte Gas Pipeline Project are all expected to operate within the Territory’s existing laws. However, there are circumstances where it is necessary to modify the Territory’s laws to enable the project to be constructed and operated in the most practical way. Where this is required, the approach has been to identify and clearly set out in legislation the modifications to existing Territory law. Following consultation with the Power and Water Corporation, the Australian Pipeline Trust and their legal advisers, I am pleased to report that only a handful of modifications have been found necessary to support the project. The bill creates statutory rights in relation to road and waterways crossings; these rights are required to maintain continuity of the pipeline corridor. The rights are excisable with the relevant minister’s consent with conditions after which the Bonaparte Gas Pipeline may be constructed and operated. The grant of this right may be subject to conditions concerning matters such as safety and construction. The bill creates a mechanism to enable authority certificates issued under the Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act in connection with the Bonaparte Gas Pipeline to be relied upon the by the project participants including contractors subject to the same conditions, whether the project participants were the applicant or not. This mechanism allows future owners of the pipeline to have the benefit of and the obligations imposed by the authority certificate. The Power and Water Corporation and the Australian Pipeline Trust are negotiating with owners of land comprising the pipeline corridor. The tenure being negotiated on parts of the pipeline corridor contained within a pastoral lease is an easement. The bill makes it clear that an easement in gross may be granted over pastoral land. The easement, when granted, will be subject to the Law of Property Act. The Bonaparte Gas Pipeline Project is scheduled to commence construction in the Dry Season 2008. At that time the project participants will be seeking extractive minerals, that is sand, soil and gravel, to construct and maintain access routes during construction, as well as provide bedding material for the pipeline. The bill removes the advertising and objection periods for the granting of extracting mineral permit or licence under the Mining Act granted for the benefit of the Bonaparte Gas Pipeline. Where the project participants have the consent of the owner/occupier of the land proposed for the taking of extractors, the consent of any holder of any existing mining tenement or exploration licence over the land proposed for the taking of extractors and, where required, the proponents have complied with the requirements of the Native Title Act 1993 and if the land is Aboriginal land, the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 about taking of extractive minerals on the land. Finally, the bill provides that the pipeline corridor is exempt from subdivision requirements of the Planning Act. I commend this bill to honourable members and table the explanatory statement to accompany the bill. Debate adjourned. |