{"id":"C1972A00132","name":"Pollution of the Sea by Oil (Shipping Levy) Act 1972","slug":"pollution-of-the-sea-by-oil-shipping-levy-act-1972","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"132 of 1972","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":2516,"registerId":"commonwealth-C1972A00132-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-29","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Pollution of the Sea by Oil (Shipping Levy) Act 1972","content":"Pollution of the Sea by Oil (Shipping Levy)\n\nNo. 132 of 1972\n\nAn Act to impose a Levy in respect of certain Ships in Australian ports with Oil on board.\n\n\\[Assented to 2 November 1972\\]\n\nBE it enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:—\n\nShort title.\n\n1. This Act may be cited as the Pollution of the Sea by Oil (Shipping Levy) Act 1972.\n\nCommencement.\n\n2.—(1.) This Act shall come into operation on such date as is fixed by Proclamation.\n\n(2.) The date fixed under the last preceding sub-section shall not be a date other than the first day of a quarter.\n\nCollection Act to be read with this Act.\n\n3. The Pollution of the Sea by Oil (Shipping Levy Collection) Act 1972 shall be read as one with this Act.\n\nImposition of levy.\n\n4. Where, at any time during a quarter when a ship to which this Act applies was in an Australian port, there was on board the ship a quantity of oil in bulk weighing not less than ten tons, levy is imposed in respect of the ship for the quarter.\n\nRate of levy.\n\n5. The rate of levy for a quarter is such rate, not exceeding a rate of Four cents per ton of the tonnage of a ship, as is prescribed and, in accordance with the regulations, is applicable to the quarter.\n\nApplication of Act.\n\n6. This Act applies to a ship (including a ship that is laid up) the tonnage of which exceeds one hundred tons, but does not apply to a ship that—\n\n(a) belongs to the naval, military or air forces of the Commonwealth or any other country; or\n\n(b) belongs to the Commonwealth or a State, or to an authority of the Commonwealth or a State, and is not engaged in trade.\n\nRegulations.\n\n7. The Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of section 5 of this Act.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act is brief and tightly focused. Its original purpose — imposing a quarterly levy on oil-carrying ships in Australian ports — remains exactly what the text delivers, with no amendments or expansions evident in this version. The scope has not drifted from its original intent."},"complexity_factors":["Very short Act — only 7 sections","Minimal defined terms (no dedicated interpretation/definition section)","Light conditional logic: levy only triggered when ship is in port AND carries 10+ tonnes of oil in a quarter","One cross-reference to a companion Act (Shipping Levy Collection Act 1972)","Rate-setting is delegated to regulations, adding a minor layer of indirection","Two straightforward exemptions in section 6 with no nested conditions"],"plain_english_summary":"The Act imposes a compulsory quarterly levy on commercial ships (over 100 tonnes) that carry at least 10 tonnes of oil in bulk while in an Australian port, funding responses to and prevention of marine oil pollution. Naval and non‑commercial government vessels are exempt. The levy rate is set by regulation but capped at four cents per tonne of ship tonnage. It embeds an early “polluter pays” approach to maritime environmental risk."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"other","section":"Section 2(2)","severity":"low","reasoning":"A double negative ('shall not be a date other than') is logically equivalent to a positive statement ('shall be the first day of a quarter'). While not impossible to comply with, it is a needlessly tortured construction for a simple requirement. It adds no legal nuance and creates minor interpretive friction — a reader must consciously untangle the negation to understand the rule.","confidence":0.85,"description":"The commencement provision is written as a double negative: 'The date fixed under the last preceding sub-section shall not be a date other than the first day of a quarter.' This means the date must be the first day of a quarter — but it says so by prohibiting it from being anything else, rather than simply mandating it. The phrasing is logically redundant and unnecessarily convoluted, though the practical effect is clear."},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"Section 5","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Section 4 imposes the levy. Section 5 defines the rate by reference to a prescribed figure. Section 7 grants the regulation-making power. If no regulations are made, the rate is undefined. A levy imposed at an undefined rate cannot be assessed, demanded, or paid. This creates a structural gap: the Act's core fiscal mechanism is entirely inoperative without subordinate legislation, and on its face the Act provides no fallback or default rate. This is a common but genuine drafting vulnerability.","confidence":0.8,"description":"The rate of levy is 'such rate... as is prescribed' by regulations under section 7, but section 7 only empowers the Governor-General to make regulations 'for the purposes of section 5.' Until regulations are actually made, there is no prescribed rate at all — meaning levy is imposed by section 4 but is quantified as zero (or indeterminate), making it effectively uncollectable. The Act imposes an obligation without providing any operative rate in the absence of subordinate legislation."},{"type":"other","section":"Sections 4 and 5 read together","severity":"medium","reasoning":"The policy purpose is to fund pollution response in relation to oil-carrying ships. Triggering the levy on a de minimis oil presence (one moment, ten tons) but calculating it on permanent vessel tonnage means the levy is poorly coupled to the risk it is meant to address. A tanker with 10 tons of residual oil pays the same levy as one fully laden. This is not a drafting contradiction per se, but it is a logical absurdity in the policy design that creates genuine inequity and potential compliance perversity — operators have no incentive to reduce oil quantities above the ten-ton threshold.","confidence":0.75,"description":"Section 4 imposes levy based on the presence of 'a quantity of oil in bulk weighing not less than ten tons' at any time during a quarter, while section 5 calculates the rate by reference to 'the tonnage of a ship.' The levy trigger (oil weight) is entirely unconnected to the levy quantum (ship tonnage). A ship could carry exactly ten tons of oil for one minute in a quarter and owe the same levy as a ship laden with oil for the entire quarter, since tonnage is a fixed vessel measurement. This creates a significant proportionality absurdity: the levy is not calibrated to the actual oil risk or exposure, only to vessel size."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Section 4 (Imposition of levy)","section_b":"Section 5 (Rate of levy)","confidence":0.65,"description":"Section 4 imposes the levy as a fixed obligation for an entire quarter if the trigger condition is met 'at any time during a quarter.' However, section 5 sets a rate that is 'applicable to the quarter' as prescribed by regulations. If regulations prescribe different rates for different quarters (as the phrase 'applicable to the quarter' contemplates), a ship that triggers liability early in one quarter under rate A could theoretically argue it should be assessed under rate B if the rate changes mid-quarter — since the levy is imposed for 'the quarter' as a whole. The point at which the rate is crystallised is ambiguous when rates vary quarter-to-quarter."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Section 6 (Application of Act — ships 'laid up')","section_b":"Section 4 (Imposition of levy — ship 'in an Australian port')","confidence":0.8,"description":"Section 6 explicitly extends the Act to ships 'that are laid up,' but section 4 only imposes levy where a ship 'was in an Australian port.' A laid-up ship is typically anchored offshore, in a bay, or at a mooring — not in a port in the legal or commercial sense. This creates a tension: the Act goes to the trouble of including laid-up ships in its scope, but the triggering condition in section 4 (presence in a port) may never be satisfied for a genuinely laid-up vessel that is not berthed at a port facility. The inclusion of laid-up ships in section 6 would be rendered largely otiose by the port-presence requirement in section 4."}]},"kimi_summary":{"_metrics":{"model":"kimi-k2.5","source":"moonshot-batch","completionTokens":922},"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose of imposing a levy on ships carrying oil in Australian ports. No evidence of scope creep; the Act maintains its narrow targeting of commercial shipping pollution funding."},"complexity_factors":["Very short statute (only 7 sections)","Minimal defined terms (relies on companion Collection Act for definitions)","Simple conditional structure (single trigger: ship >100 tons + 10+ tons oil in port)","Straightforward exemptions (military and non-trade government vessels)","Delegated rate-setting power (regulations prescribe actual levy rate within statutory cap)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis Act imposes a pollution levy on large commercial ships that carry significant amounts of oil when they visit Australian ports.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n*   **Ship owners/operators** of vessels over 100 tons (including ships that are laid up)\n*   **Applies when:** The ship is in an Australian port and carries at least 10 tons of bulk oil during a quarter (a three-month period)\n\n**Key details:**\n\n*   **How much:** The levy rate is set by government regulations, capped at 4 cents per ton of the ship's total tonnage\n*   **Exemptions:** Military vessels (navy, army, air force) and government-owned ships not used for trade are exempt\n*   **Companion law:** This Act works together with the *Pollution of the Sea by Oil (Shipping Levy Collection) Act 1972* (which handles how the money is actually collected)\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThe law creates a funding mechanism (the levy) to help cover costs associated with preventing and cleaning up oil pollution from shipping—a form of \"polluter pays\" principle where the shipping industry contributes to environmental protection."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/pollution-of-the-sea-by-oil-shipping-levy-act-1972","history":"/api/acts/pollution-of-the-sea-by-oil-shipping-levy-act-1972/history","analysis":"/api/acts/pollution-of-the-sea-by-oil-shipping-levy-act-1972/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/pollution-of-the-sea-by-oil-shipping-levy-act-1972/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/pollution-of-the-sea-by-oil-shipping-levy-act-1972/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/pollution-of-the-sea-by-oil-shipping-levy-act-1972/documents"}}