Australia becomes a whole lot bigger after UN ruling
The ruling means that the seabed extending from the Australian coastline will expand by nearly a million square miles. Credit: Sam Abell, Getty Images
That gives Australia, which has a landmass above sea level of nearly three million square miles, including Tasmania, additional territory equivalent to 20 times the size of the United Kingdom.
The ruling clarifies the extent of Australia's control over the part of the continent that is submerged beneath the sea and follows requests by successive governments for clarification. The result could mean a "bonanza" in oil and gas reserves. But while Australia acquires rights on the resources beneath the seabed, it does not gain control over shipping or whaling in the areas.
Martin Ferguson, the Federal Resources Minister, announced yesterday: "I am pleased to announce that Australia ... has just been dramatically increased in size." He said the oil and gas reserves could help ensure secure an energy supply for Australia and the Asian countries that depend on it. "This is potentially a bonanza," Mr Ferguson said. "We have got unknown capacity there."
One scientist suggested that the ruling, by the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, would enable Australia to designate biologically sensitive regions as protected marine areas. Mark Allcock, of Geoscience Australia, said: "Beyond exploiting marine resources, it gives us the right to protect the environment."
The development was also welcomed, not surprisingly, by the energy industry. Richard Ellis, director of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, hailed it as exciting news for the oil and gas industry. "A larger continental shelf means a larger canvas upon which we can paint our resource and energy future," he said.
But the government warned that it did not mean lower petrol prices - a hot issue in Australia, where motorists enjoy relatively low prices, compared with Europe, but where oil companies are regularly accused of profiteering.
Mr Ferguson said the price of petrol was dependent on the world market: "LPG and oil prices are part of international outcomes, in the same way in which so is the price of iron ore, uranium, coal, nickel and copper."
Mr Ferguson said the territorial expansion meant "for a resource-rich nation such as Australia, added resource entitlements going to issues of oil and gas. But also, you might say, additional responsibilities in terms of the floor of the seabed ... It also raises questions about what potential regimes might be necessary in the future to encourage such exploration."
He said he could not put a figure on the size of the potential new oil and gas reserves. The government plans to ask the Governor-General, Michael Jeffery, to proclaim the additional territory part of Australia.
- By Kathy Marks in Sydney
