Survey (Geocentric Datum Of Australia) Bill

The Hon. CARMEL TEBBUTT (Minister for Juvenile Justice, Minister Assisting the Premier on Youth, and Minister Assisting the Minister for the Environment) [7.56 p.m.]: I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

Australia has taken a national decision to change the mapping datum used in Australia. That change will affect everyone who uses mapping, spatial data or co-ordinates of latitude and longitude. The aim of this bill is to define the new datum, called the Geocentric Datum of Australia or GDA. A "datum" is a mathematical model of the surface of the earth on which mapping and co-ordinate systems are based and is fundamental for describing where things are in relation to each other.

As the words imply, "geocentric datum" is a datum which has its origin at the earth’s centre of mass. The key advantages of the GDA over Australia’s current datum are that GDA is totally compatible with satellite-based navigation systems such as the global positioning system [GPS] and with major international geographic information systems. The current mathematical model in use in Australia - the Australian Geodetic Datum or AGD - was designed to best fit the Australian region. The GDA is designed to model the whole planet.

Retaining the current Australian system in an international environment where positioning, navigation and information systems relate to a global earth model is becoming increasingly inefficient and difficult. The use of a globally compatible co-ordinate system within Australia is now inevitable given the rapid increase in the use of GPS technology in the land transport, aviation, maritime, defence, emergency service and community sectors. A number of

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Commonwealth agencies, including defence, aviation and maritime industries, have already adopted the geocentric datum. The longer we stay with the existing system the more difficult and expensive it will be to convert to GDA.

The proposed legislation is the product of recommendations made by the Inter-governmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping [ICSM] which comprises the Surveyor-General of New South Wales, or his counterparts from all Australian jurisdictions, New Zealand and Defence. ICSM has recommended that Australia convert to GDA by the year 2000 and has provided the new co-ordinate framework to enable this to happen. The Surveyor-General of New South Wales proposed the adoption of GDA for all government agencies from 1 January 2000 in line with commitments by other jurisdictions. This proposal was endorsed by the New South Wales Government late last year.

Adopting a geocentric datum allows for a single standard for collecting, storing and using geographic data. This will ensure compatibility across various geographic systems at the local, regional, national and global level. This is the main reason that the GDA will form the basis for the Australian Spatial Data Infrastructure [ASDI] - which provides the infrastructure to manage Australia’s key spatial data sets. Adoption of a geocentric datum will also provide a range of benefits including: providing direct compatibility with global positioning system measurements and mapping or geographic information systems [GIS] which are based on the geocentric datum; minimising the need for casual users to understand datum transformations; allowing more efficient use of organisations’ spatial data resources by reducing the need for duplication and unnecessary translations; helping to promote wider use of spatial data through one user friendly data environment; and reducing the risk of confusion as GPS, GIS and navigation systems become more widely used in business and recreational activities.

Adoption of GDA does not mean that positions on the earth’s surface will move, rather, the geographic co-ordinates or latitudes and longitudes used to describe the position of objects will vary by about 200 metres in a north easterly direction because of the different models. The actual size and orientation of the change will vary slightly from place to place. It should be possible to convert existing digital spatial data to GDA where the datum of the original digital data is known. Raster or image data such as remote sensing images may need to be treated differently and the suppliers or developers of this data will be consulted on any transformation issues. It is estimated that about 30 per cent of all geographic information is still held as paper maps. Much of this information may not require conversion. All organisations will require individual strategies for paper-based products. Some simple strategies for existing paper-based maps may involve the placement of warning stickers or stamps alerting the user to the change.

Part 2 of the bill provides a mechanism for defining in mathematical terms the Geocentric Datum of Australia. The proposed legislation also empowers the Surveyor-General, as the Government’s chief advisor on surveying and mapping, to amend or replace the datum from time to time and to specify systems to be used in map projections in connection with the datum. Map projection systems provide a means of describing the earth’s three-dimensional curved surface in the form of a two-dimensional map and the grid co-ordinates used such as Easting and Northing or geographic co-ordinates, which are latitude and longitude.

To remove ambiguity and for consistency, the Government, through the Surveyor-General, needs to specify official map projections to be used in New South Wales. Legal boundaries are generally defined by physical features or marks on the ground. These boundaries, such as State borders and land titles, will not change, though the co-ordinates of them may. There are some minor exceptions to this general principle in the mining sector. Some boundaries may have been defined by co-ordinates in terms of the AGD. These boundaries will not change, although the co-ordinates will be different when converted to GDA. In some cases, boundaries have been defined by co-ordinates without reference to a co-ordinate system.

In these instances, the physical location has always been uncertain and this will remain. Part 3 of the bill deals with regulation-making powers allowing the Governor to make regulations giving effect to this legislation. Schedule 2 to the bill deals with amendments to various Acts. These Acts are the Mining Act 1992, the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991, the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1982 and the Survey Co-ordination Act 1949. Under the Mining Act 1992, amongst the range of titles granted are exploration licences and assessment leases. There are presently about 780 exploration licences; 180 exploration licence applications; one assessment lease and 19 assessment lease applications in New South Wales.

Exploration licences and applications for those titles are granted and applied for in respect of areas of land defined as "units". The same can apply for assessment leases and assessment lease applications. To describe the system briefly, the State of New South Wales is covered by parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude. A "unit" is defined in section 370 of the Mining Act 1992. A unit is an area bounded by one minute of latitude by one minute of longitude. Each unit is approximately three square kilometres in size. The datum used for the latitudes and longitudes is set out in section 371 of the Mining Act 1992 and refers to the Australian Geodetic Datum 1966.

This bill provides that section 371 is to be replaced by a new section referring to the new Geocentric Datum of Australia. This will mean that latitudes and longitudes, and therefore "units", will move approximately 200 metres to the south west. Schedule 2 to this bill sets out in detail how all exploration licences and all applications for exploration licences, which are defined by reference to units, will shift to the south-west by approximately 200 metres. This will occur on the commencement of the appropriate clause. The same will apply to assessment leases and assessment lease applications where they are defined by units.

Officers of the Surveyor-General’s Office and the Department of Mineral Resources have been involved in the development of this provision. The movement of all licences and applications on a nominated date is the desirable course to take. It will overcome the need to keep two sets of maps, one on the old system and another on the new system. This approach will also overcome the considerable difficulties which would otherwise arise of having some titles on the new system and some on the old and the associated problems of being able to ensure that boundaries of licences and applications do not overlap. However, it is recognised that some licence holders may have located valuable mineral deposits within their licence areas adjacent to northern and eastern boundaries.

For this reason, paragraph 5 of the clauses dealing with exploration licences and paragraph 3 of the clauses dealing with assessment leases have been specially included. Under these clauses, the holder of an exploration licence and

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assessment lease may apply, within 90 days after the commencement of the clause, to the Minister for Mineral Resources to have the licence or lease restored to the whole or a specified part of the land excluded. Of the total of some 780 exploration licences, it has been estimated that perhaps 20 to 30 licences may be ones where licence holders may seek a restoration to an original boundary.

Similar amendments are being made to the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991 and the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1982. There are presently 27 petroleum exploration licences and two petroleum exploration licence applications under the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991. There are presently no licences or applications in the coastal waters offshore of New South Wales under the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1982. In respect of the amendments to the Survey Co-ordination Act 1949, the bill will amend clause 6 of that Act requiring all surveys carried out by or on behalf of a public authority, other than surveys carried out in accordance with the Surveyors Act, to be made in accordance with the geocentric datum of Australia. No private organisation will be forced to change.

Individual State government policies may require State agencies to comply with GDA at least for the transfer of data. As always, individual organisations will be based on a co-ordinate system they require - AGD or whatever. However, as others change to GDA, it may become increasingly inefficient to use project-based co-ordinate systems where external data is required. Adoption of this bill will see Australia and New South Wales well placed to take advantage of emerging global technologies and related standards. I commend the bill to the House.

The Hon. D. F. MOPPETT [7.56 p.m.]: The Opposition fully supports this bill. It is of a technical nature and is necessary to complement the rapid development of our modern positioning system. It is interesting to see the Hon. R. S. L. Jones in the Chamber as I know he is concerned about environmental matters. Many of us are familiar with the little gimmicks, as I call them, that people have in their cars whereby they have only to press a button to find out how far they are from London or wherever.

The Hon. D. J. Gay: GPS.

The Hon. D. F. MOPPETT: GPS systems. I suppose some people would say, "So what?" However, I should like to speak about how they have revolutionised aerial spraying of herbicides, fertilisers and insecticides. Where once people would be at the end of the paddock with flags and then dart when the aircraft went over spraying, now it is a matter of flying only once over the boundaries of the area to be sprayed, the button is clicked and it shows with wind directions and everything exactly where to fly in the rows across the paddock and when to turn the spray on and off. Along with myriad other things that is one small example of how technology is moving ahead. We welcome it and this legislation simply facilitates developments in that technical area.

The Hon. R. S. L. JONES [7.58 p.m.]: The only query I have with the legislation is how compensation will be determined for miners who have to move their markers by 200 metres. Has that been determined or quantified? Where will the money come from? Will miners be given other exploration land? Perhaps the Minister for Mining could enlighten us. The proposition has been put to me that 200 metres south-west is too great a move too soon, and that this should be amended to only 100 metres. It was a purely jocular proposition; it was the type of suggestion one makes on 1 April. We no longer live where we thought we were living; we now live 200 metres south-west, which is a concern.

The Hon. D. J. Gay: You could have waterfront.

The Hon. R. S. L. JONES: The waterfront is now in the ocean. Places like mine which used to be on a hill are now officially on the waterfront. Obviously, the bill must be passed. We now know from satellites exactly where we are; we no longer have to use ground maps. I do not think the Minister will respond to my question about compensation for the miners. However, I would like to know how compensation can be quantified, and whether it will be a lot of money. If the miners cannot be given land, can they be given cash instead? Perhaps the Minister for Juvenile Justice, Minister Assisting the Premier on Youth, and Minister Assisting the Minister for the Environment can help me on that point.

The Hon. D. J. GAY [8.00 p.m.]: The Opposition supports this bill. Last night I finished reading what could be described in the popular vernacular as a factional book, which is a book of facts but written as a novel. The title of the book is Longitude. It was the most marvellous read, absolutely incredible. The British Parliament established a prize for those who were able to establish longitude. The prize dates back to the Astronomer General, Mr Halley, who is synonymous with the comet.

The Hon. R. S. L. Jones: The 1702 Halley’s comet.

The Hon. D. J. GAY: Yes. The Hon. R. S. L. Jones has a shared history with Mr Halley as they are both Poms. The honourable member has acknowledged where Halley’s comet got its name. The observatory at Greenwich is zero longitude. During the 1700s the development of an accurate timepiece for sea travellers to judge longitude was the greatest achievement. In the 1790s one
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experimental piece travelled with Cook to Australia. Another experimental piece travelled with Bligh on his ill-fated trip.

In connection with what the Government is doing as we move into the next millennium with global positioning and measuring distance from the centre of the earth, I recommend Longitude to honourable members who what to read an interesting account of recent history. It is only about 100 years ago that we could not accurately judge longitude. That particular book - I am not sure whether it is in the parliamentary library but it is a bestseller at present - is well worth reading.

The Hon. CARMEL TEBBUTT (Minister for Juvenile Justice, Minister Assisting the Premier on Youth, and Minister Assisting the Minister for the Environment) [8.03 p.m.], in reply: I thank the Hon. D. F. Moppett, the Hon. D. J. Gay and the Hon. R. S. L. Jones for their contributions to the debate. Adoption of the proposals in the bill to define the geocentric datum of Australia will ensure that New South Wales remains in step with international best practice by implementing a single standard for collecting, storing and applying mapping and positional data at all levels - local, regional, national and international. The Government appreciates the Opposition’s support for this bill.

I can inform the Hon. R. S. L. Jones that the mining industry has agreed to the changes and has been fully consulted on them. When a licence holder can demonstrate to the Minister for Mineral Resources that valuable mineral deposits are situated within 150 metres to 200 metres of a northern or eastern boundary, there is provision for that holder to put a case to the Minister within 90 days after the appointed day for the licence to be restored to the whole or the specified part of the land excluded.

If the Hon. R. S. L. Jones has further questions beyond the information I have provided I am happy to speak further to him after the debate. However, I appreciate his support for the bill. By embracing this new datum, New South Wales will be well placed to take maximum advantage of current global technologies. I thank honourable members for their constructive input, and I commend the bill to the House.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a second time and passed through remaining stages.