Treasurer Peter Costello and the Minister for Industry, Science and Resources, Senator Nick Minchin, today gave in-principle support for an independent review of the operation of the National Third Party Access Code for Natural Gas Pipelines Systems.
The announcement was made in response to infrastructure industry concerns over the impact of recent regulatory decisions on future investment in natural gas pipelines.
Mr Costello and Senator Minchin agreed it would be appropriate to commission an independent review of the operation of the national gas access Code, following the completion of regulatorsÂ’ final decisions in the first round of Access Arrangements and the outcome of the recently announced Review of Part IIIA of the Trade Practices Act 1974 and of Clause 6 of the Competition Principles Agreement, to be conducted by the Productivity Commission.
"As announced by the Assistant Treasurer on 10 October, the Productivity Commission has been asked to report to the Government within 12 months. Therefore by the time the first round of Access Arrangements and the Review of Part IIIA have been completed, the Code will have been in operation for over three years and it would be appropriate to take stock of what it has achieved and whether its operation can be enhanced." Mr Costello said.
"Gas market participants will be in a better position to contribute their experiences to a review of the Code following the completion of regulatorÂ’s final decisions in the first round of Access Arrangements. In addition, the outcome of the Review of Part IIIA may have relevance to determining the scope of the review of the national gas access Code."
"We will be consulting with the States and Territories in relation to the details of the review of the operation of the Code as any proposed changes which may result from the review would need to be implemented through State and Territory legislation," Senator Minchin said.
"All relevant gas market participants will be consulted on the development of the terms of reference and the scope and conduct of the review of the operation of the Code."
The Ministers note that, in the meantime, the National Gas Pipelines Advisory Committee provide an established process for interested parties to bring forward for consideration specific Code change proposals to address particular identified problems in the operation of the Code. The Ministers encourage the industry to make full use of this process.