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For the purposes of the Diesel Fuel Rebate Scheme, does the activity of dredging fall within the definition of 'marine transport' in paragraph 164(1)(7) of the Customs Act 1901 (CA) and paragraph 78A(1)(ac) of the Excise Act 1901 (EA)?

For the purposes of the Diesel Fuel Rebate Scheme, dredging operations do not fall within the definition of 'marine transport' contained in paragraph 164(1)(7) of the CA and paragraph 78A(1)(ac) of the EA.

Dredging involves the use of a machine to remove, or 'dredge up', sand, silt or mud (or the like), usually from the bottom of a waterway. The material obtained by dredging is then disposed of in a variety of ways, such as being carried away by the dredging vessel, by another vessel or being pumped away through a pipe.

The Diesel Fuel Rebate Scheme provides that a rebate is payable in respect of diesel fuel purchased for certain usages, subject to certain conditions and restrictions. One of the specified usages is 'marine transport (otherwise than for the purpose of propelling a road vehicle on a public road) in the course of carrying on an enterprise'.

Subsection 78A(7) of the EA states that for the purposes of the Diesel Fuel Rebate Scheme, 'marine transport' has the same meaning as in subsection 164(7) of the CA.

Subsection 164(7) of the CA relevantly states: Marine transport includes transport by vessels in or on fresh water, but does not include any transport relating to forestry.

As the term 'marine transport' is not exhaustively defined under the legislation, the term should be given its ordinary and literal meaning as modified by the definition in subsection 164(7) of the CA.

Section 164(7) of the CA although inclusive, refers to 'transport'. Paragraph 78A(1)(ac) of the EA refers to use 'in marine transport'. Both of these provisions connote active involvement in transport which is relevantly defined in the Macquarie Dictionary (3rd Ed) as 'the act or method of transporting or conveying'.

To transport means 'to carry or convey from one place to another': Macquarie Dictionary (supra).

Dredging activities, although connected with transport in certain cases, are not transport within the normal meaning of that term as defined in the Macquarie Dictionary. Thus diesel fuel used for any purpose in or on a dredge is not used in 'marine transport' and will not attract the rebate.