Where in the world aren’t we? T


hose of us who did our schooling in the fifties will remember the geography teacher pointing out Britain’s dominance of the


world by all the pink bits on the map. Your correspondent recalls one test at primary school was to colour in on a blank world map with a pink pencil, all the regions representing British rule; we had to learn and remember the greatness of the British Empire. Well, this was an era dominated by Pig Iron Bob.... “I did but see her passing by etc etc ....”


Colour coding on a map for political or any other reason to define an area was a very effective teaching tool.


Fast forward to the 1990s and a tri- partite group called the National Oil & Gas Safety Advisory Committee (NOGSAC) of which the writer was a founding member and served on that committee until the Howard government disbanded it.


water line seaward out to the edge of the EEZ.


There were going to be many meetings with State and Territory Authorities to convince them to hand over their powers to Canberra. This would be certain to be a contentious topic, states’ rights and so on, so it might have been useful to know which law applied in which jurisdiction. A colour


not Oz not Oz


Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) it’s a one horse race; NOPSEMA win hands down, AMSA were left at the starting gate when the jockey fell off!


But just in case you might be starting to think that the Navigation Act re- write along with other reforms might deliver some clarity to this situation you will be disappointed.


Members will be well aware of the issue of foreign seafarers working on the Australian Coast both in the offshore oil and gas sector and the coasting trade. So we ask ourselves what is Australia?


not Oz not Oz


not Oz undecided dont know this bit


definitely Oz, & this bit


who knows? who cares? too hard


not sure not Oz


not Oz uncertian


If you have a look at this map http://www. ga.gov.au/image_cache/ GA3746.pdf you will see a yellow line called the territorial sea baseline (TSB) which pretty much reflects the coastal low water line. Now stand with your toes on the yellow line, do a 180°, take half a dozen steps and I don’t think there is much doubt


not Oz but some bits are


One of the major tasks NOGSAC played a role in was the formation of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA). This was designed to bring together the administration of the offshore oil and gas sector, to do away with multiple pieces of legislation and make NOPSA the National Regulator.


During the early days of this debate in NOGSAC your correspondent asked the NOGSAC Secretariat (the Federal Government) if the Solicitor General’s Department could draw up a map of Australia, including the Exclusive Economic Zone. Using colour coding, indicate on the map, which maritime, safety & OH&S laws applied and where, from the low


On Watch March 2012 page 24


coded map seemed an appropriate way to educate NOGSAC about this issue.


After a bit of toing and froing the Solicitor General simply said it was too hard and couldn’t be done; I suspect they didn’t have enough coloured pencils in their pencil box!


When one compares the jurisdiction and apparent ability of NOPSA – now the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority, NOPSEMA – to enforce safety legislation to that of the other regulator in the offshore oil and gas industry, the Australian


you’re here; Australia? You’re standing in it.


But venture forth in the opposite direction, that is put to sea for a few nautical miles, and there is anything but certainty whether or not you are still in Oz or maybe, as I proffered in a previous On Watch, you are now entering Middle Earth.


Refer to the map again and you will see a blue zone, which is the 3 nm coastal waters, a pink zone, representing the 12nm territorial sea, then a green zone at 24nm which is called a contiguous zone, and then the ochre zone which is the exclusive economic zone.


All of these zones in one way or another come under Australia’s jurisdiction as areas where Australia


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