International law and the Murray-Darling Basin Plan

Environmental and Planning Law Journal

Volumn 29, Issue 4, 2012, Pages 268-280

  Rothwell, Donald R ^a  

^a AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION; ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING; INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT; INTERNATIONAL LAW; RIVER BASIN;

AUSTRALIA; MURRAY-DARLING BASIN;

EID: 84867158006     PISSN: 0813300X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (107)

1. [1975] Australian Treaty Series 47.
2. See the detailed discussion on Commonwealth environmental powers in Bates G, Environmental Law in Australia (7th ed, LexisNexis Butterworths, 2010) Ch 5, especially pp 111-116 regarding the use of the s 51(xxix) constitutional powers.
3. Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth), ss 16, 17, 17A, 17B.
4. [1975] Australian Treaty Series 48.
5. Compare ss 51(x) and 98 of the Constitution where it clearly conferred certain powers with respect to matters such as shipping and fisheries in the maritime environment.
6. For an historical overview, see Rothwell DR, "International Law and Legislative Power" in Opeskin BR and Rothwell DR (eds), International Law and Australian Federalism (Melbourne University Press, 1997) pp 104-131.
7. Saunders C, "Articles of Faith or Lucky Breaks? The Constitutional Law of International Agreements in Australia" (1995) 17 Sydney Law Review 150 at 150.
8. This history of expanded High Court interpretation of the Constitution is perhaps best reflected in the work of Professor Leslie Zines: Zines L, The High Court and the Constitution (5th ed, Federation Press, 2008).
9. The distinction to be made here is between treaties that impose clear international duties and obligations upon the parties, and those which only confer rights upon the parties or which contain language that does not clearly impose an obligation; this was a matter of distinction between the majority and minority judges in both Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen (1982) 153 CLR 168 and Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983) 158 CLR 1.
10. R v Burgess; ex p Henry (1936) 55 CLR 608 at 681-682 per Evatt and McTiernan JJ.
11. See eg Richardson v Forestry Commission (Tasmania) (1988) 164 CLR 261; Queensland v Commonwealth (1989) 167 CLR 232; Victoria v Commonwealth (1996) 187 CLR 416.
12. Bates, n 2, pp 111-116.
13. Crawford J, "The Constitution and the Environment" (1991) 13 Sydney Law Review 11.
14. See Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen (1982) 153 CLR 168 at 231 per Mason J, 260 per Brennan J; Horta v Commonwealth (1994) 181 CLR 183 at 195-197.
15. Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983) 158 CLR 1 at 131 per Mason J, 172 per Murphy J.
16. Victoria v Commonwealth (1996) 187 CLR 416; 138 ALR 129 at 146 (ALR) per Brennan CJ, Toohey, Gaudron, McHugh and Gummow JJ. This decision considered the status of certain International Labour Organization conventions under Australian law and reliance upon those conventions in adoption of the Industrial Relations Reform Act 1993 (Cth).
17. Dalton R and Groom R, "The Right to Strike in Australia: International Treaty Obligations and the External Affairs Power" (2001) 1 Melbourne Journal of International Law 162.
18. Airlines of NSW Pty Ltd v New South Wales (No 2) (1965) 113 CLR 54 at 87 per Barwick CJ. This was accepted in later cases: see Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983) 158 CLR 1 at 130 per Mason J, 259 per Deane J; Richardson v Forestry Commission (Tasmania) (1988) 164 CLR 261 at 289 per Mason CJ and Brennan J, 303 per Wilson J. In Victoria v Commonwealth (1996) 187 CLR 416; 138 ALR 129 at 147 (ALR) per Brennan CJ, Toohey, Gaudron, McHugh and Gummow JJ, reference is also made to an assessment of the "purpose or object" of the legislation in implementing the treaty.
19. Richardson v Forestry Commission (Tasmania) (1988) 164 CLR 261 at 291 per Mason CJ and Brennan J, 303 per Wilson J, 327 per Dawson J, 336 per Toohey J.
20. Richardson v Forestry Commission (Tasmania) (1988) 164 CLR 261 at 311-312. The view adopted by Gaudron J at 342 on this question was that a Commonwealth law will be "reasonably capable of being viewed as conducive to the purpose of the treaty if it is also reasonably capable of being viewed as appropriate, or adapted to, the circumstance which engages the power".
21. Richardson v Forestry Commission (Tasmania) (1988) 164 CLR 261 at 317-318.
22. Richardson v Forestry Commission (Tasmania) (1988) 164 CLR 261 at 346.
23. A point that was also considered in detail in Victoria v Commonwealth (1996) 138 ALR 129.
24. R v Burgess; ex p Henry (1936) 55 CLR 608 at 674-675 per Dixon J, 688 per Evatt and McTiernan JJ; see also R v Poole; ex p Henry (1939) 61 CLR 634 at 644 per Rich J, 647 per Starke J; on this point.
25. Chinkin CM, "The Conclusion and Implementation of Treaties in Federal and Unitary States" in Tay A (ed), Australian Law and Legal Thinking Between the Decades (University of Sydney Press, 1990) p 249.
26. Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983) 158 CLR 1 at 233, where it was accepted that the World Heritage (Western Tasmania Wilderness) Regulations 1983 (Cth) under the World Heritage Properties Conservation Act 1983 (Cth) only implemented part of the World Heritage Convention.
27. Victoria v Commonwealth (1996) 187 CLR 416; 138 ALR 129 at 194 (ALR) per Brennan CJ, Toohey, Gaudron, McHugh and Gummow JJ.
28. This position has also been followed in Federal Court of Australia decisions; see Toben v Jones (2003) 129 FCR 515 at [140]-[142] per Allsop J, who observed that "it is unnecessary for the law to be a full and complete implementation of the treaty".
29. Water Act 2007 (Cth), s 20(a); other factors to be taken into account include environmentally sustainable limits on surface and ground water, water-dependent ecosystems, use of Basin water to optimise economic, environmental and social outcomes, development of an efficient water trading regime across the Basin, accreditation of a water resource plan, and improved water security.
30. Water Act 2007 (Cth), s 4.
31. [1975] Australian Treaty Series 48.
32. [1993] Australian Treaty Series 32.
33. [2000] Australian Treaty Series 18.
34. [1991] Australian Treaty Series 32.
35. [1988] Australian Treaty Series 22.
36. [1981] Australian Treaty Series 6.
37. [2007] Australian Treaty Series 24.
38. [1994] Australian Treaty Series 2.
39. Water Act 2007 (Cth), s 4.
40. In this respect there is some ambiguity in the use of the distinctive terms "international agreement", "relevant international agreement" and "international convention" in the Water Act 2007 (Cth), s 4, especially with respect to how the term "international convention" may or may not be applicable to a future bilateral instrument similar to CAMBA that is referred to as an "Agreement".
41. Another example arose under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Cth), considered by the High Court in Project Blue Sky v Australian Broadcasting Authority (1998) 194 CLR 355.
42. Ramsar Convention, Arts 2, 3.
43. For full details on Australia's Ramsar wetlands, see Australian Government, Australian Ramsar Wetlands (Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, 2010), http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/wetlands/alphablist.pl viewed 30 May 2012.
44. Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA), Proposed Basin Plan (2011) at 5.02.
45. MBDA, n 41 at 7.04.
46. MBDA, n 41 at 7.04. The identification of these areas is further supported in Sch 5 "Criteria for identifying an environmental asset", in which the assessment criteria is either a declared Ramsar wetland, or an area capable of supporting a species listed under CAMBA, JAMBA, ROKAMBA, or the Bonn Convention.
47. MDBA, n 41 at 7.31(b) has an accompanying Note that refers to s 20(a) and ss 21(1), (2), (3) of the Water Act and noting that Principle 1 is "a further check to ensure that this purpose [in the Act] is achieved".
48. MDBA, n 41 at 7.50, which also has an accompanying Note referring back to ss 20 and 21 of the Water Act 2007 (Cth).
49. See eg MDBA, n 41 at 7.27, 8.03, 8.04, 8.09, 8.12, 9.36.
50. Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (2012), http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-about-parties-parties/main/ramsar/1-36-123%5E23808_4000_0_ viewed 30 May 2012.
51. Birnie P, Boyle A and Redgwell C, International Law and the Environment (3rd ed, Oxford University Press, 2009) pp 672-673.
52. Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, The Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance, http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-documents-list/main/ramsar/1-31-218_4000_0__ viewed 30 May 2012.
53. Ramsar Convention, Art 3(1).
54. Ramsar Convention, Art 4.
55. Ramsar Convention, Resolution IX.I, Annex A (2005).
56. Birnie et al, n 48, pp 674-675.
57. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth), s 3.
58. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations 2000 (Cth), Sch 6.
59. Bates, n 2, pp 425-427.
60. MDBA, n 41 at 7.04.
61. MDBA, n 41 at 8.03, 8.04.
62. MDBA, n 41 at 8.09, 8.12; see also Sch 9.
63. Pittock J, Finlayson M, Gardner A and McKay C, "Changing Character: The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and Climate Change in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia" (2010) 27 EPLJ 401 at 419-421, 425.
64. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth), s 5.
65. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth), s 3.
66. Commonly shortened to "biodiversity".
67. Biodiversity Convention, Art 2.
68. Biodiversity Convention, Art 6(a).
69. Biodiversity Convention, Art 8(k).
70. MDBA, n 41 at 7.04; there are two further references in the Schedule.
71. See Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Update on Ratification of the UNCCD (2012), http://www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/convention/ratification-eng.pdf viewed 30 May 2012.
72. Desertification Convention, Art 2(1).
73. Desertification Convention, Art 1(a).
74. Desertification Convention, Art 1(b).
75. Desertification Convention, Art 5.
76. Desertification Convention, Art 5(b).
77. See MDBA, n 41 at 5.05(1)(b), 7.06(2) and (3), 7.34(b).
78. Bonn Convention, Art I(1)(h).
79. Bonn Convention, Arts III, IV.
80. Bonn Convention, Art IV(3).
81. [2004] Australian Treaty Series 4.
82. CMS, Agreement Summary Sheets - 3 February 2012, http://www.cms.int/pdf/en/summary_sheets/AgmtSumSheet_engl.pdf 30 May 2012.
83. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth), s 209, Pt 13, Div 2.
84. See Australian Government, EPBC Migratory Species Lists (Department of Sustainability, Environmental, Water, Population, and Communities, 2012), http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicshowmigratory.pl viewed 30 May 2012.
85. There are few global or regional initiatives to particularly protect certain species of birds.
86. Birnie et al, n 48, p 655.
87. CAMBA, Art I and Annex; JAMBA, Art 1 and Annex; ROKAMBA, Art 1 and Annex.
88. CAMBA, Art II; JAMBA, Art II; ROKAMBA, Art 2.
89. CAMBA, Art III(3).
90. JAMBA, Art III(1).
91. CAMBA, Art IV(b) also refers to the taking of "appropriate measures to preserve and enhance the environment of migratory birds"; however, there is no attempt to define "environment" in this context.
92. CAMBA, Art IV(a).
93. JAMBA, Art VI; see also ROKAMBA, Art 5(a).
94. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth), ss 34E, 54, 146L.
95. [2008] Australian Treaty Series 2.
96. Climate Change Convention, Art 2.
97. Climate Change Convention, Art 3(3).
98. Climate Change Convention, Art 4.
99. Although there are scattered references to climate change: MDBA, n 41 at 4.03, 7.06, 9.55; see also Sch 1.
100. CSIRO, A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia (2008).
101. MDBA, n 41, Sch 1 at [46-47].
102. MDBA, n 41, Sch 1 at [46-47].
103. Water Act 2007, s 21(3).
104. See Water Act 2007 (Cth), s 4, referring to the definition of "declared Ramsar wetlands" found in Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth), s 17.
105. Water Act 2007 (Cth), s 21(3)(a).
106. Pittoc et al, n 58 at 403, 408.
107. Water Act 2007 (Cth), s 4.