Handed down by the Productivity Commission, the recommendations include addressing inconsistencies and duplications across and within jurisdictions; evaluating how regulations could be restructured to lower compliance costs; assessing the case for a national authority to oversee onshore and offshore petroleum regulation throughout Australia; and for regulators to commit to clear time-frames for making decisions.
Robinson said Australia's natural gas industry could prevent 180 million tonnes of global greenhouse gas emissions a year by 2017 if it meets industry targets for exports and domestic use. This is equal to 25% of forecast Australian emissions in 2017.
The nation's leaders had a generational opportunity to put Australia in front of international competition for investment capital by considering the Productivity Commission's recommendations, according to Robinson.
"Australia faces a challenge globally from perceptions that we are becoming a difficult place to invest because of the length and complexity of eight separate regulatory and approvals regimes," she said.
"Add to that the tightening of global capital, and it is important for us to be seen to be open for business if we are to tap our vast resources, particularly when you consider that we have an estimated 110 years of gas reserves."
Robinson said while the upstream oil and natural gas industry was committed to being part of the solution on climate change, Australia still had only two operating liquefied natural gas projects with many more facing a mass of red tape before final investment decisions can be made.
"APPEA is supportive of a strong and transparent regulatory system that gives public confidence that companies are adhering to sound and responsible operating practices," Robinson said.
She added while the peak petroleum body acknowledged and welcomed the reforms being advanced by the new Federal Government and some state jurisdictions, APPEA was concerned about the length and complexity of the multi-jurisdictional approvals processes and the delays and costs it placed on upstream decisions.
