EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
(Issued by Authority of the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources)
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
Proclamation to Revoke the Proclamation of the Kakadu Conservation Zone
Subsection 390J(5) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) provides for the Governor-General to make a Proclamation revoking or amending the Proclamation of a conservation zone established under the EPBC Act.
The purpose of this Proclamation is to revoke the Proclamation of the Kakadu Conservation Zone consequent upon a Proclamation which amends the Proclamation of the Kakadu National Park (Kakadu) to rectify the partial invalidity of the Proclamation as found by the High Court in 1997 in relation to a number of mining lease areas
Kakadu was established in 3 stages between 1979 and 1991 by a Proclamation under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975 (NPWC Act). Stage 3 of the Park was established by amendments to the Proclamation in 1987, 1989 and 1991. Stage 3 initially excluded an area declared as a conservation zone by Proclamation under section 8A of the NPWC Act (and commonly known as the Kakadu Conservation Zone). The Conservation Zone Proclamation was amended in 1989 to reduce the area of the conservation zone, and was then revoked in 1991. Corresponding Proclamations were made to amend the Kakadu Proclamation to add the areas to the Park.
In 1997 the High Court found the Kakadu Proclamation was invalid in relation to a number of mining leases in Stage 3 of the Park. Many of the lease areas had been in the Kakadu Conservation Zone prior to being included in the Park. The Government subsequently received legal advice that as a consequence of the High Court decision, the Kakadu Conservation Zone Proclamation remained in effect in relation to these areas, notwithstanding the fact that it had been revoked in 1991.
The NPWC Act was replaced by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) on 16 July 2000. In so far as it continues to apply, the Proclamation of the Kakadu Conservation Zone was continued in force by the Environmental Reform (Consequential Provisions) Act 1999 (Schedule 4, Item 8) as if it had been declared a conservation zone under the EPBC Act.
The Government has reached a settlement with the holder of the current leases (Newcrest Operations Ltd) and all affected areas have now been incorporated into Kakadu by a Proclamation under subsection 350(1) of the EPBC Act to amend the Kakadu Proclamation.
Subsection 390J(3) of the EPBC Act provides that an area ceases to be a conservation zone if the area becomes or is included in a Commonwealth reserve (Kakadu is a Commonwealth reserve under the Act). However subsection 390J(5) requires that the Governor-General must make a Proclamation revoking or amending the Proclamation of the conservation zone, to reflect that the area is no longer part of the conservation zone.
This Proclamation has been made under subsection 390J(5) of the EPBC Act to revoke the Proclamation of the Kakadu Conservation Zone consequent upon the making of the Proclamation that includes the mining lease areas that were previously included in the conservation zone in Kakadu.
The Proclamation is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
The Proclamation commenced on the day after it was registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.