RAILWAYS (OPERATIONS AND ACCESS)(ACCESS REGIME REVIEW) AMENDMENT BILL

Introduction and First Reading

Received from the House of Assembly and read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Public Sector Management, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for Gambling) (18:02): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading explanation inserted in Hansard without my reading it.

Leave granted.

In February 2006, COAG signed the Competition and Infrastructure Reform Agreement (CIRA) to provide a simpler and consistent national system of economic regulation for nationally significant infrastructure including ports, railways and other export related infrastructure. The agreed reforms aim to reduce regulatory uncertainty and compliance costs for owners, users and investors in significant infrastructure and to support the efficient use of national infrastructure.

The CIRA required South Australia to ensure that its rail access regime was consistent with the principles in the CIRA and to submit an application to the National Competition Council (NCC) for certification of the regime as an effective access regime under the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (now the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)) by the end of 2010.

An application for the certification of the South Australian rail access regime as an effective regime for a period of 10 years was submitted to the NCC on 29 December 2010. The NCC released its draft recommendation on the certification application on 16 March 2011.

The NCC recommended the regime be certified for a period of five years. The Council expressed the view that satisfaction of the requirement for periodic review of the need for access regulation to apply to a particular service would be stronger if the South Australian Government were to formalise a requirement for the Essential Services Commission of South Australia (ESCOSA) to review the railway services covered by the regime on a regular basis. The NCC has advised that certification for a period of 10 years would be considered if the Railways (Operations and Access) Act 1997 was amended to formalise this requirement.

As a 10 year certification period would offer greater regulatory certainty to access seekers and providers, the SA Government signalled to the NCC its intention to introduce an amendment to the Railways (Operations and Access) Act 1997 to include a mechanism requiring ESCOSA to conduct five yearly reviews of the South Australian rail access regime.

The amendment Bill requires ESCOSA to conduct five yearly reviews of the South Australian rail access regime.

I commend the Bill to Members.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

2—Commencement

3—Amendment provisions

These clauses are formal.

Part 2—Amendment of Railways (Operations and Access) Act 1997

4—Insertion of section 7A—Review and expiry of access regime

This clause proposes to insert a new section 7A that provides that the regulator (the Essential Services Commission established under the Essential Services Commission Act 2002) must conduct a review of the operators and railway services subject to the access regime to determine whether or not the access regime should continue to apply. Such a review must be undertaken in the last year of each prescribed period, the first of which concludes on 30 October 2015, with each successive prescribed period being five years.

The public will be notified of each review by notice in a newspaper circulating generally throughout the State and any submissions made in response to the notice must be considered by the regulator along with other forms of public consultation.

On completing a review the regulator must report to the Minister with a recommendation on whether the access regime should continue or not for a further prescribed period. The Minister must have copies of the report laid before both Houses of Parliament and must have the regulator's recommendation published in the Gazette.

Proposed subsection (6) has the effect that the access regime automatically expires at the end of a prescribed period unless a review under the section has been completed with a recommendation for the continuation of the access regime and the period of its operation has also been extended by regulation.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.M.A. Lensink.

At 18:03 the council adjourned until Wednesday 28 September 2011 at 14:15.