House of Representatives

Statute Law Revision Bill (No. 1) 2014

Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by authority of the Attorney-General, Senator the Hon George Brandis QC)

Schedule 10 - Spent Acts

Part 1 - Rate correction Acts

110 The items in this Part repeal spent rate correction Acts.

Items 1 and 2

111 Items 1 and 2 repeal the National Residue Survey Customs Levy Rate Correction (Lamb Exports) Act 2004 and the National Residue Survey Excise Levy Rate Correction (Lamb Transactions) Act 2004. The National Residue Survey Customs Levy Rate Correction (Lamb Exports) Act 2004 corrected the rate of National Residue Survey Customs Levy on an export of lambs during the period starting on 1 July 2000 and ending immediately before 30 May 2003 if the value of the lambs was more than $75 per head. The National Residue Survey Excise Levy Rate Correction (Lamb Transactions) Act 2004 corrected the rate of National Residue Survey Excise Levy on a sale of lambs during the period starting on 1 July 2000 and ending immediately before 30 May 2003 if the sale price of the lambs was more than $75 per head. Those Acts have no further operation and are obsolete as the relevant period ended in 2003, all of the levy has been collected and there are no disputes.

Item 3

112 Item 3 is a saving provision. Item 3 makes it clear that, even though this Part repeals Acts, any acts or things that the Acts made, or took to be, lawful, valid or effectual still are, or are taken to be lawful, valid or effectual after the repeal of those Acts.

Part 2 - Validation Acts

113 The items in this Part repeal spent validation Acts.

Item 4

114 The Dried Vine Fruits (Rate of Primary Industry (Customs) Charge) Validation Act 2001 was an Act to validate certain regulations in the Primary Industries (Customs) Charges Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 1) that purported to fix retrospectively the rate of the primary industry (customs) charge on dried vine fruits. However, those Regulations were repealed by item 435 of the table in Schedule 1 to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Spent and Redundant Instruments) Repeal Regulation 2013. Therefore, the Dried Vine Fruits (Rate of Primary Industry (Customs) Charge) Validation Act 2001 is spent. Item 4 repeals it.

Item 5

115 The Dried Vine Fruits (Rate of Primary Industry (Excise) Levy) Validation Act 2001 was an Act to validate certain regulations that purported to fix retrospectively the rate of the primary industry (excise) levy on dried vine fruits. The regulations were provisions of the Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 3) and of the Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Amendment Regulations 2000 (No. 2). However, those Regulations were repealed by items 495 and 596 of the table in Schedule 1 to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Spent and Redundant Instruments) Repeal Regulation 2013. Therefore, the Dried Vine Fruits (Rate of Primary Industry (Excise) Levy) Validation Act 2001 is spent. Item 5 repeals it.

Part 3 - Other Acts

116 The items in this Part repeal other spent Acts.

Items 6 and 7

117 Items 6 and 7 are related. Item 7 repeals the Ballast Water Research and Development Funding Levy Collection Act 1998 (the collection Act). That Act provided for the collection of the levy imposed by the Ballast Water Research and Development Funding Levy Act 1998 (the levy Act). The collection Act has no further operation and is spent as section 14 of it provides that it ceased to have effect on a day fixed by Proclamation and Gazette 2000, No. GN 22 provided 30 June 2000 as the day that it ceased to have effect.

118 Item 6 repeals the levy Act. That Act imposed a levy on certain ships to provide funding for the Strategic Ballast Water Research and Development Program developed by the Australian Ballast Water Management Advisory Council. Once the collection Act ceased to have effect the levy Act also became obsolete. This is because the Act (under section 5) only imposed levy payable in respect of a ship in accordance with the collection Act.

Item 8

119 Items 8 and 17 are related. Items 8 and 17 repeal the Independent Schools (Loans Guarantee) Act 1969 and the Non-government Schools (Loans Guarantee) Act 1977. Those Acts provided a Commonwealth guarantee for loans for approved capital expenditure for independent schools in the States and Territories. Those Acts are no longer used and are obsolete. The Australian Education Act 2013 covers, amongst other things, capital expenditure for non-government schools in the States and Territories.

Items 9 to 11

120 Items 9 to 11 are related. They repeal the Judicial Appointment (Fiji) Act 1971, the Judicial Appointment (Western Samoa) Act 1980 and the Judiciary (Diplomatic Representation) Act 1977. They were enacted to allow the appointment of particular judges to various other positions. As the judges have all since died, and the Acts have no broader application, they are now spent. Items 9 to 11 repeal the Acts.

Item 12

121 Item 12 repeals the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games (Indicia and Images) Protection Act 2005. That Act provided for the regulation of the use for commercial purposes of indicia and images associated with the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. That Act has no further operation and is spent as section 47 of the Act provides that it ceased to have effect on 30 June 2006.

Items 13 to 16

122 Items 13 to 16 are related. Following the Port Arthur shootings in April 1996 the Australasian Police Ministers Council agreed to nationwide gun control measures. A significant element of these measures was an amnesty and compensation scheme for owners of semiautomatic firearms. It was agreed that people who surrendered firearms during the amnesty period would be compensated and the Commonwealth would pay the cost of the compensation scheme. The National Firearms Program Implementation Act 1996 contains the original appropriation allowing the Commonwealth to make payments to the States and Territories for implementing the amnesty. The National Firearms Program Implementation Act 1997 extended compensation to certain automatic weapons not covered by the May 1996 Police Ministers Agreement and the National Firearms Program Implementation Act 1998 related specifically to Norfolk Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island.

123 All payments to the States and Territories have been finalised and no further payments will be made under these Acts.

124 The National Handgun Buyback Act 2003 appropriates Commonwealth funds for the purpose of the national handgun buyback which commenced on 1 July 2003. The payments were to implement the Commonwealth's commitment to the implementation of the Council of Australian Governments' handgun reforms by removing from the community those hand guns that were not used in genuine sports shooting. Under the buyback, sporting shooters and dealers who surrendered prohibited handguns, parts and related accessories received compensation.

125 The appropriation was specifically to reimburse the States and Territories for payments made by them to compensate persons for their surrender of handguns, handgun parts, and accessories, and other payments made in connection with the handgun buyback or with the Council of Australian Governments handgun reforms.

126 The buyback period concluded on different dates for the States and Territories, with the final period concluding on 30 June 2004 for Western Australia. All payments under the Act have been made to the States and Territories and no further payments will be made.

127 Therefore the Acts are spent and items 13 to 16 repeal them.

Item 17

128 Items 8 and 17 repeal the Independent Schools (Loans Guarantee) Act 1969 and the Non-government Schools (Loans Guarantee) Act 1977. Those Acts provided a Commonwealth guarantee for loans for approved capital expenditure for independent schools in the States and Territories. Those Acts have no further operation and are obsolete. The Australian Education Act 2013 covers, amongst other things, capital expenditure for non-government schools in the States and Territories.

Item 18

129 Item 18 repeals the Repatriation Institutions (Transfer) Act 1992. That Act related to the transfer of repatriation institutions and to the staff of transferred institutions. That Act has no further operation and is obsolete as the Commonwealth has not had any residual liabilities to the States under that Act since 2009.


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