15Visits of foreign ships and aircraft etc.

15 Visits of foreign ships and aircraft etc.

(1) Nothing in this Part makes it unlawful for a person (including the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory or an authority of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory) to allow or facilitate: (a) a visit to a port in Australia by a foreign ship; (b) a visit to an airfield in Australia by a foreign aircraft; (c) navigation through Australian waters by a foreign ship; or (d) the transit through the airspace over Australia by a foreign aircraft; whether or not Australia is required under international law to allow that visit, navigation or transit. (2) No act done in relation to a nuclear explosive device that is on: (a) a foreign ship exercising a right under international law to navigate through Australian waters; (b) a foreign aircraft exercising a right under international law of transit through the airspace over Australia; (c) a foreign ship visiting a port in Australia; (d) a foreign aircraft visiting an airfield in Australia; (e) a foreign ship navigating through Australian waters with the concurrence or acquiescence of the Commonwealth; or (f) a foreign aircraft in transit through the airspace over Australia with the concurrence or acquiescence of the Commonwealth; constitutes an offence against subsection 8(2) or section 10, 11 or 13. (3) Section 10 does not apply to or in relation to a nuclear explosive device of a foreign country, being a nuclear explosive device that is outside Australia. (4) The reference in subsection (2) to an act done in relation to a nuclear explosive device includes a reference to the possession of, or having control over, a nuclear explosive device. (5) A reference in this section to a visit by a foreign ship to a port in Australia includes a reference to such a visit by a ship for the purposes of dry‑docking. (6) A visit by a foreign ship to Australia for the purposes of dry‑docking otherwise than at a port shall be deemed, for the purposes of this section, to be a visit by that ship to a port in Australia for the purposes of that dry‑docking. (7) A reference in this section to navigation through Australian waters includes a reference to presence in those waters (whether or not in the course of navigation through those waters). (8) In this section, Australian waters means: (a) the territorial sea of Australia; and (b) the sea on the landward side of the territorial sea of Australia.