Ian Cohen, New South Wales, Australia, Member of Legislative Council, put forward a notice of motion in State Parliament on August 31st, 2006, asking that NS Wales adopt the Oil Depletion Protocol. This motion makes Australia the first country to consider official adoption of the Protocol at a state or national level.

The motion available here:
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/lc/lcpaper.nsf/0/1EAC6FF1F5B6E6BBCA2571DB002CA528

Ian Cohen's Press Release available here:
http://www.iancohen.org.au/mediarelease.aspx?id=179

143. Mr Cohen to move—

That this House:

1. Notes the looming crisis of dwindling of global oil supplies known as peak oil.

2. Calls on the Government to adopt the Oil Depletion Protocol, which can be found in full at www.oildepletionprotocol.org, as drafted by international authority on peak oil, Dr Colin Campbell, and is also known, with slight changes in wording, as the “The Rimini Protocol” and “The Uppsala Protocol”.

3. Calls on the Government to commit signatories to the following principles, namely that:

(a) a convention of nations be called to consider the issue with a view to agreeing to an Accord with the following objectives:

(i) to avoid profiteering from shortage, such that oil prices may remain in reasonable relationship with production cost,
(ii) to allow poor countries to afford their imports,
(iii) to avoid destabilising financial flows arising from excessive oil prices,
(iv) to encourage consumers to avoid waste,
(v) to stimulate the development of alternative energies,

(b) such Accord have the following outline provisions:

(i) the world and every nation aim to reduce oil consumption by at least the world depletion rate,
(ii) no country to produce oil at above its present depletion rate,
(iii) no country to import at above the world depletion rate,
(iv) the depletion rate is defined as annual production as a percent of what is left (reserves plus yet-to-find),
(v) the preceding provisions refer to regular conventional oil—which category excludes heavy oils with cut-off of 17.5 API, deepwater oil with a cut-off of 500 metres, polar oil, gas liquids from gas fields, tar sands, oil shale, oil from coal, biofuels such as ethanol, etc,
(vi) detailed provisions cover the definition of the several categories of oil, exemptions and qualifications, and the scientific procedures for the estimation of depletion rate,
(vii) the signatory countries cooperate in providing information on their reserves, allowing full technical audit, such that the depletion rate may be accurately determined,
(viii) the signatory countries have the right to appeal their assessed depletion rate in the event of changed circumstances.

4. Notes that the protocol has already been adopted by a number of Australian organisations.

(Notice given 31 August 2006)