Chowilla Reservoir Agreement Act 1964 (NSW)

CHOWILLA RESERVOIR AGREEMENT ACT.

Act No. 2, 1964.

An Act to approve an agreement between the Common­ wealth of Australia and the State of New South Wales in relation to the construction of a reservoir at Chowilla on the River Murray between Renmark and Wentworth; and for purposes connected therewith. [Assented to, 19th March, 1964.]

BE	it enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of New South Wales in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as
follows: —
1. This Act may be cited as the "Chowilla Reservoir Agreement Act, 1964".

1. (1) The agreement is hereby approved.

(2) This Act shall have effect and the agreement may be carried into effect notwithstanding the provisions of any other Act.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection one of this section, all acts, matters and things, for or with respect to which provision is made in the agreement or which, by the agreement, are agreed, directed, authorised or per­ mitted to be made, done, performed or executed by or on behalf of the State of New South Wales, the Auditor-General or any other person specified therein are hereby sanctioned, authorised and confirmed.

(4) In this section, "agreement" means the agreement, a copy of which is set out in the Schedule to this Act. THE

THE SCHEDULE.

A N A G R E E M E N T made this twenty-second day of October One

thousand nine hundred and sixty-three between T H E C O M M O N ­

WEALTH OF AUSTRALIA (in this agreement called "the Common­
wealth") of the one part and T H E STATE OF N E W S O U T H W A L E S
tin this agreement called "the State") of the other part:

W H E R E A S by an agreement made on the ninth day of September One thousand nine hundred and fourteen between the Common­ wealth, the State, the State of Victoria and the State of South Australia and referred to in the River Murray Waters Act 1915 of the Commonwealth and the collateral legislation of the said States as amended by agreements respectively dated the tenth day of August One thousand nine hundred and twenty-three, the twenty-third day of July One thousand nine hundred and thirty-four, the twenty-sixth day of November One thousand nine hundred and forty-eight, the second day of November One thousand nine hundred and fifty-four, the eleventh day of September One thousand nine hundred and fifty-eight, and the eighth day of October One thousand nine hundred and sixty-three (which agreement as so amended is in this agreement called "the River Murray Waters Agreement") it was agreed that the works to be provided under the River Murray Waters Agreement, as set out in clause 20 of that agreement, will include the provision of a water storage (in this agreement called "the Chowilla Reservoir") on the River Murray between Renmark and Wentworth with a capacity of approximately four and three-quarter million acre-feet of water, and with a roadway along the top of the containing dam and with provision for vessels drawing four feet six inches of water to pass:

A N D W H E R E A S the estimated cost of the construction of the

Chowilla Reservoir is Fourteen million pounds:

A N D W H E R E A S , pursuant to clause 32 of the River Murray Waters

Agreement, the cost of carrying out the works mentioned in clause 20 of that agreement is to be borne by the four parties to that agree­ ment, of which the State is one, in equal shares:

A N D W H E R E A S the State has sought financial assistance from the

Commonwealth towards meeting its share of the cost of the construction of the Chowilla Reservoir:

A N D W H E R E A S the Government of the Commonwealth has agreed

to submit to its Parliament legislation providing under section 96 of the Constitution for a grant of financial assistance to the State in the manner, to the extent, and on the terms and conditions con­ tained in this agreement:

N o w IT i s H E R E B Y AGREED by and between the parties to the

agreement as follows: —

1. The Governments of the Commonwealth and of the State will,

as soon as practicable after the date of this agreement, submit to their
respective Parliaments legislation approving this agreement.

2. The Government of the Commonwealth will include in the legislation submitted to its Parliament for the approval of this agree­ ment provisions for the grant under section 96 of the Constitution of financial assistance to the State in the manner, to the extent, and on the terms and conditions contained in this agreement.

3 . Except as hereinbefore provided, this agreement shall have no force or effect and shall not be binding on the parties unless and until it is approved by the Parliaments of the Commonwealth and of the State and until the legislation referied to in clause 2 of the agreement has been passed, and it shall commence and come into full force and effect upon the date upon which it is approved by the Parliaments of the Commonwealth and of the State and the provisions referred to in clause 2 of the agreement are passed.

4. Subject to compliance by the State with the provisions of this agreement, the Commonwealth will, in accordance with and subject to the provisions of this agreement, provide financial assistance to the State towards meeting the State's obligations under clause 32 of the River Murray Waters Agreement in respect of the cost of the construction of the Chowilla Reservoir.

5 .—(1 . ) The Commonwealth will, at the request of the State from time to time, and subject to the provisions of this agreement, make payments to the State in pursuance of the last preceding clause of the amounts that the State is required from time to time to provide to the River Murray Commission established under the River Murray Waters Agreement under clause 34 of that agreement in respect of the cost of the construction of the Chowilla Reservoir.

(2 . ) The State will furnish to the Treasurer of the Common­ wealth such documents and other evidence in support of each request by the State for a payment to it by the Commonwealth under sub­ clause (1 . ) of this clause as the Treasurer may from time to time reasonably request, whether the request by the Treasurer is made

the request by the State.	before or after the Commonwealth has made a payment pursuant to
6. The State will not use or apply any payment made to it by the Commonwealth under this agreement except for the purpose of meeting its obligations under clause 34 of the River Murray Waters Agreement in respect of the cost of the construction of the Chowilla Reservoir.
7 .—(1.) The State will pay to the Commonwealth interest on so much of a payment made to the State by the Commonwealth as is for the time being not repaid calculated from the date on which the payment was made at the rate provided in this clause.

(2 . )

(2 . ) The first payment of interest accrued on a payment made to the State by the Commonwealth will be made six calendar months after the date on which the payment was made and thereafter interest accrued on that payment will be paid at half-yearly intervals.

(3 . ) The rate at which interest is payable by the State under this clause in respect of each Commonwealth payment shall be the rate payable on the long term loan last raised by the Commonwealth in Australia for public subscription prior to the date upon which the payment was made.

8 .—(1.) Subject to sub-clauses (2.) and (3 . ) of this clause, the State will repay to the Commonwealth each payment made by the Commonwealth under this agreement by twenty equal consecutive half-yearly repayments, the first repayment in respect of a Common­ wealth payment to be made on the expiry of ten years from the date on which the Commonwealth payment was made and subsequent repayments to be made at half-yearly intervals thereafter until the final repayment has been made.

(2 . ) The Treasurer of the Commonwealth and the Treasurer of the State may at any time arrange for any payments made by the Commonwealth under this agreement and not repaid by the State to be consolidated, and repayment of, and payment of interest on, those payments shall thereafter be made by the State to the Commonwealth in accordance with the arrangement so made instead of on the dates ascertained in accordance with sub-clause (1.) of this clause and clause 7 of this agreement.

(3 . ) The State may at any time after giving to the Common­ wealth at least one month's notice of its intention so to do repay to the Commonwealth the whole of the unrepaid balance of a Com­ monwealth payment together with interest accrued thereon to the date of repayment by the State.

9 .—(1 . ) The accounts, books, vouchers, documents and other
records of the State relating to the expenditure of moneys received by

the State under this agreement shall be subject to audit by the Auditor-

General of the State.

(2 .) Until such time as all amounts to be paid by the Common­ wealth under this agreement are paid, a report on the audits in respect of each financial year shall be furnished by the Auditor-General of the State to the Treasurer of the Commonwealth as soon as possible after the completion of the financial year, indicating whether the expenditure of the moneys is in accordance with the agreement, and including a reference to such other matters arising out of the audits as the Auditor-General of the State considers should be reported to the Treasurer of the Commonwealth.

10. The State will from time to time at the request of the Treasurer
of the Commonwealth furnish to him such information as he may
reasonably require for the purposes of or in relation to this agreement.

11. Any notice, request or other communication to be given or

made under this agreement by the Commonwealth or the Treasurer of the Commonwealth to the State shall be deemed to have been suffi- ciently given or made if it is in writing signed by the Treasurer of the Commonwealth or by any person thereunto authorized in writing by him, and any notice, application or other communication to be given or made by the State or the Treasurer of the State to the Commonwealth or to the Treasurer of the Commonwealth shall be deemed to have been sufficiently given or made if it is in writing signed by the Treasurer of the State or any person thereunto authorized in writing by the Treasurer of the State.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the Prime Minister of the Common- wealth of Australia and the Premier of the State of New South Wales have signed this agreement for and on behalf of the Commonwealth and the State respectively on the day and year first hereinbefore written.
SIGNED for and on behalf of i the Commonwealth of Aus- J tralia by the Right Honourable /

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, the	>	ROBERT MENZIES
Prime Minister of the Common- V
wealth, in the presence of— I

HAROLD HOLT '

SIGNED for and on behalf of .

the State of New South Wales j

by the Honourable Robert ( H F F F R O N
K- J" H h * ^ K l J J N

James Heffron, the Premier of	)
the State, in the presence of—	1

G. M. GRAY '