Once a permit application assessment report has been prepared by the

ANAO Report No.3 2015–16 Regulation of Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Permits and Approvals 72 including some of the underlying assumptions, the risk analysis and the draft findings and conclusions. GBRMPA informed the ANAO that, given the limited time between the finalisation of the assessment report and the deadline for a decision less than two weeks, it was not practicable for the assessment report to be modified to address the issues raised by the delegate.

4.7 After considering the final assessment report and supporting

documentation, the delegate determined that the most appropriate option was to grant a permit for the project Option 3. The broad outline of the reasons for the delegate’s decision did not, however, fully explain the basis on which the relevant option was selected, nor address the specific issues raised in the assessment report. GBRMPA informed the ANAO that the reason the permit decision was not documented in greater detail primarily related to time constraints caused by statutory deadlines for related approvals, the delayed finalisation of the assessment report, the complexity of the assessment, and the refinement of risk mitigation strategies as part of the development of the permit. A more comprehensive explanation of the basis on which the delegate approved the permit was subsequently provided one and a half months later when GBRMPA prepared and published a statement of reasons in response to a number of requests for such a statement received after the decision was made. 79

4.8 The delegate’s statement of reasons acknowledged gaps in information

modellingcoverage and other uncertainties about the project’s impact on the Marine Park environment. Nevertheless, the delegate formed the opinion that the risks to the Marine Park posed by the project could be adequately managed after assessing mandatory and relevant discretionary considerations in light of available information—placing particular emphasis on: • documentation prepared by, or on the behalf of, the applicant; • documentation supporting the project’s approval by the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment under the EPBC Act and subsequent approval conditions imposed; and • additional conditions to be imposed under the proposed Marine Park permit. 79 GBRMPA further advised that there is no specific requirement to provide the statement of reasons at the time that a decision is made.