DARWIN PORT CORPORATION AMENDMENT BILL 2004 Second Reading Speech

Northern Territory Second Reading Speeches

DARWIN PORT CORPORATION AMENDMENT BILL 2004

(This an uncorrected proof of the daily report. It is made available under the condition that it is recognised as such.)

Bill presented and read a first time.

Dr BURNS (Transport and Infrastructure): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.

The Darwin Port Corporation Amendment Bill has three purposes. First, it removes conflicts in the existing governance structure of the Port Corporation and more appropriately clarifies the relationship between the Chief Executive Officer of the Port Corporation, the minister, and the board. The amendments establish a governance framework whereby the Chief Executive Officer, or CEO, is appointed by the Administrator under the Public Sector Employment and Management Act, subject to the Financial Management Act, accountable to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure for the administration of the agency and subject to the direction of the minister.

This will introduce a corporate governance and accountability structure that is consistent with that for other government agencies in place of the current governance arrangement which sees the CEO appointed by the minister but subject to the direction of the Darwin Port Corporation Board. The amendments will remove the current position of conflict which faces the CEO and more appropriately allocate functions and responsibilities between the CEO, the minister, and the board.

The Darwin Port Corporation Board ceases to be a governing and management board and will be an advisory board with a focus on trade development. The approach of an advisory board is consistent with that adopted for other government agencies such as the Land Development Corporation and the Northern Territory Treasury Corporation. The maximum number of board members has been increased from five to seven to provide additional skills on the board if necessary.

The second purpose of the bill is to remove superseded references to the Assistant Harbour Master, pilots, port officers and to merge references to the port superintendent with that of the Harbour Master. The amendments expand the role of the Harbourmaster to reflect the actual operational roles that have been in place for a number of years. The enhanced role of the Harbour Master is consistent with similar roles in other commercial ports throughout Australia. The position of Assistant Harbour Master will be removed on the basis that is no longer required. Under the current arrangements, in the absence of the Harbour Master, an Acting Harbour Master is appointed.

Provision for formal appointments of port officers are also not required and will be removed. Provision for formal appointment of pilots is also not required. Removal of these provisions does not affect pilots who are appointed by the Darwin Port Corporation under the Marine Pilotage Regulations.

Third, the bill converts the current dollar penalties contained in the Darwin Port Corporation Act into penalty units. This change to penalty units is consistent with amendments made to other legislation. There is an obligation on government to ensure that penalties in legislation remain current; that is, that they retain an appropriate deterrent effect. Penalties expressed in legislation are intended to be the penalty that should be imposed by a court for the worst possible breach of any particular offence. In this case, the worse case breaches would involve a large internationally owned ship breaching the various harbour rules and directions. Such rules and directions are designed to protect the health and safety of people in the port and to protect the environment. In order for the threat of prosecution to have some impact on the commercial operations of such potential offenders, the maximum penalties must be appropriate. With the conversion to penalty units, the penalties themselves have also been revised to ensure that they are appropriate to act as a deterrent to potential breaches of the legislation. Conversion to the penalty unit regime and increase in penalty units is considered long overdue, as most of the penalties have not changed since the enactment of the Darwin Port Corporation Act in 1983.

Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members.

Debate adjourned.

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