Dr LIM - 1999-08-12
As chairman of the Sessional Committee for the Environment, I will be attending a national conference of parliamentary committees on the environment in the middle of September. I am certain the issue of the oil spill in Sydney Harbour will be discussed at length. What procedures, if any, are in place to ensure a speedy response if such a disaster should ever occur in Darwin Harbour?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, coincidentally - not simply in light of the recent oil spill in Sydney - today I will be introducing into this parliament a Marine Pollution Bill. It is timely that I should be asked this question.
Responsibility for oil spills in Northern Territory waters falls to three authorities. Firstly, within the Port of Darwin the lead agency is the Darwin Port Authority. To the 3-mile limit it’s on a joint lead agency basis between the Darwin Port Authority and the marine branch of my Department of Transport and Works. Outside the 3-mile limit, the lead agency is the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
We do have contingency plans in place in the Northern Territory in the event of an oil spill. Those plans have been approved by a national committee and national planning committee. We take the implementation of those plans and our constant readiness very seriously.
Officers from the Port Authority and the marine branch attend courses at AMSA. They also attend the Marine Oil Spill Centre to undertake training courses there. The Port Authority, along with the marine branch and other agencies, regularly conducts exercises on Darwin Harbour. Members may recall that some years ago we dumped about 500 kg of oranges into the harbour to emulate an oil spill, to observe what drifts would occur under certain tidal conditions.
We maintain stockpiles of equipment in Darwin, Gove and at Groote Eylandt. It can be transported between those centres and to any other Territory locations at very short notice. By agreement with the states and also with Singapore and the United Kingdom, we can call on equipment from those places and the expertise they have in dealing with oil spills. I am advised that equipment from England can be made available at 24 hours’ notice, and the equipment from Singapore at somewhat shorter notice.
The pilots employed by the Darwin Port Authority are well trained in marine matters and obviously in the matter of safety. They pilot all tankers into the harbour. Also, they are charged with constantly monitoring tanker operations within Darwin Harbour, especially the discharge operations from those tankers, to ensure that accidents such as happened in Sydney do not happen here.
We do have a very lengthy coastline, and oil spills at sea are of some concern. We have large tidal movements in the western part of the Northern Territory and, once again, they in themselves pose particular problems in containing oil spills. However, we do have the expertise available, not only within the Northern Territory but quickly available from interstate. We do have equipment available, not only in the Northern Territory but quickly available from interstate and overseas. I am confident that, in most instances, we can contain oil spills or at least we can minimise the damage that they may present.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, coincidentally - not simply in light of the recent oil spill in Sydney - today I will be introducing into this parliament a Marine Pollution Bill. It is timely that I should be asked this question.
Responsibility for oil spills in Northern Territory waters falls to three authorities. Firstly, within the Port of Darwin the lead agency is the Darwin Port Authority. To the 3-mile limit it’s on a joint lead agency basis between the Darwin Port Authority and the marine branch of my Department of Transport and Works. Outside the 3-mile limit, the lead agency is the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
We do have contingency plans in place in the Northern Territory in the event of an oil spill. Those plans have been approved by a national committee and national planning committee. We take the implementation of those plans and our constant readiness very seriously.
Officers from the Port Authority and the marine branch attend courses at AMSA. They also attend the Marine Oil Spill Centre to undertake training courses there. The Port Authority, along with the marine branch and other agencies, regularly conducts exercises on Darwin Harbour. Members may recall that some years ago we dumped about 500 kg of oranges into the harbour to emulate an oil spill, to observe what drifts would occur under certain tidal conditions.
We maintain stockpiles of equipment in Darwin, Gove and at Groote Eylandt. It can be transported between those centres and to any other Territory locations at very short notice. By agreement with the states and also with Singapore and the United Kingdom, we can call on equipment from those places and the expertise they have in dealing with oil spills. I am advised that equipment from England can be made available at 24 hours’ notice, and the equipment from Singapore at somewhat shorter notice.
The pilots employed by the Darwin Port Authority are well trained in marine matters and obviously in the matter of safety. They pilot all tankers into the harbour. Also, they are charged with constantly monitoring tanker operations within Darwin Harbour, especially the discharge operations from those tankers, to ensure that accidents such as happened in Sydney do not happen here.
We do have a very lengthy coastline, and oil spills at sea are of some concern. We have large tidal movements in the western part of the Northern Territory and, once again, they in themselves pose particular problems in containing oil spills. However, we do have the expertise available, not only within the Northern Territory but quickly available from interstate. We do have equipment available, not only in the Northern Territory but quickly available from interstate and overseas. I am confident that, in most instances, we can contain oil spills or at least we can minimise the damage that they may present.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016