Farmers' Assistance Act (Amendment) and Rural Adjustment Agreement (Ratification) Act 1980 (Qld)

810 ANNO VICESIMO NONO ELIZABETHAE SECUNDAE REGINAE No. 51 of 1980 An Act to amend the Farmers ' Assistance Act 1967-1974 in certain particulars and to approve and ratify an agreement made between the Commonwealth and the several States of the Commonwealth and the Northern Territory of Australia relating to the adjustment of rural industries throughout Australia [ASSENTED TO 22ND SEPTEMBER, 1980]

Farmers' Assistance Act (Amdt) and Rural Adjt, Etc., Act 1980, No. 51 811 BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:- PART I-PRELIMINARY 1. Short title . This Act may be cited as the Farmers' Assistance Act (Amendment) and Rural Adjustment Agreement (Ratification) Act 1980. 2. Arrangement of Act. This Act is divided into Parts as follows:- PART I-PRELIMINARY: PART 11-AMENDMENTS OF FARMERS' ASSISTANCE ACT 1967-1974: PART I11-RATIFICATION OF AGREEMENT; SCHEDULE. PART Il-AMENDMENTS OF FARMERS' ASSISTANCE ACT 1967-1974 3. Citation. (1) In this Part, the Farmers' Assistance Act 1967-1974 is referred to as the Principal Act. (2) The Principal Act as amended by this Part may be cited as the Farmers' Assistance Act 1967-1980. 4. Amendment of s. 13A. Section 13A of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (3) by inserting after provision (a) the following provision:- "(al) moneys approved by the Board to be applied as assistance to or for the benefit of persons for purposes set out in section 14n:". 5. Amendment of s. 13C. Section l3c of the Principal Act is amended by inserting after the word "Act" where it first occurs the words " or established for the purposes of the Rural Adjustment AgreementAct1977, the Fruit-growingReconstructionSupplemental AgreementsAct1977 or the Farmers' Assistance Act (Amendment) and Rural Adjustment Agreement (Ratiftcation) Act 1980 ". 6. New s. 14B. The Principal Act is amended by inserting after section 14A the following section:- 14B. Assistance designed to continue farming operations . (1) Any farmer may apply to the Board at any time and from time to time for approval of a proposal- (a) where he intends to retire from farming operations on the grounds of advanced age or ill health or any other ground that in the opinion of the Board is or is likely to affect the efficient farming operations of his farm, to transfer his farm or any part thereof or any estate or interest therein to a person or persons who is, are or include a prescribed person or persons; (b) to transfer an estate or interest in his farm to a member of the family of the farmer which member intends to carry on farming operations on the farm; or

812 Farmers' Assistance Act (Amdt) and Rural Adjt, Etc., Act 1980, No. 51 (c) to acquire an estate or interest in land in his name or the name of one or more than one member of the family or in his name and the name of one or more than one member of the family to enable a member of the family to carry on farming operations on the aggregation of that land and the farmer's existing farm. (2) An application under subsection (1) shall be made in writing to the Board and the applicant shall furnish to the Board such information as the Board requires. (3) The Board shall consider every application made under subsection (1) and shall- (a) approve the 'proposal set out in the application in whole or in part; or (b) refuse to approve the proposal. (4) Where, pursuant to subsection (3), the Board approves a proposal in whole or in part, it may invite one or more than one prescribed person referred to in the proposal as it thinks fit to apply for assistance for the purpose of facilitating the implementation of the proposal. The provisions of section 14A (2) shall apply to an application made pursuant to the invitation of the Board. (5) For the purposes of this section- " member of the family " in relation to a farmer, means a person related to the farmer by consanguinity or affinity or a person who the farmer has, in the opinion of the Board, been accustomed to accept as being so related; " prescribed person " in relation to a proposal or an application for assistance with respect to such proposal means- (a) a member of the family of the farmer who applied for approval of the proposal; (b) a sharefarmer; or (c) a lessee of land who is dependent for his livelihood on farming operations, and who satisfies the Board that he has sufficient practical experience in the type of farming operations intended to be carried on under the proposal.". 7. Amendment of s. 16. Section 16 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (1) by- (a) omitting the words, " of this Act " and substituting the words or section 14B (4)"; (b) inserting after the word " able " the words " to carry on farming operations or, as the case may be,". 8. Amendment of s. 17. Section 17 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting the words " of this Act " and substituting the words " or section 14B (4)".

Farmers' Assistance Act (Amdt) and Rural Adjt, Etc., Act 1980, No. 51 813 9. Amendment of s. 18A . Section 18A of the Principal Act is amended by- (a) in subsection (1), inserting after the words " of an applicant the words " under section 14B (4) for the purpose of facilitating a proposal under section 14B or of an applicant "; (b) in subsection (2), omitting the words "of this Act" and substituting the words " or section 14B (4)". 10. Amendment of s. 19. Section 19 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (1) by omitting the words " of this Act " and substituting the words " or section 14B (4)". 11. Amendment of s. 20. Section 20 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (1) by omitting the words " of this Act " and substituting the words " or section 14B (4)". 12. Amendment of s. 21. Section 21 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting the words " of this Act " where they occur in subsections (1), (4) and (5) and substituting the words " or section 14n (4)" in each case. 13. Amendment of s. 22. Section 22 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (1), in provision (a) by omitting the words " of this Act and substituting the words " or section 14B (4)". 14. Amendment of s. 30 . Section 30 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (1) by omitting the words " of this Act " and substituting the words " or section 14B (4)". PART III-RATIFICATION OF AGREEMENT 15. Approval and ratification . The agreement set out in the schedule is approved and ratified. SCHEDULE (s. 15) AN AGREEMENT made the 31st day of March, One thousand nine hundred and eighty between- THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA of the first part; THE STATE OF NEW SOUTH WALES of - the second part; THE STATE OF VICTORIA of the third-.part; THE STATE OF QUEENSLAND of the fourth part; THE STATE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA of the fifth part; THE STATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA of the sixth part; THE STATE OF TASMANIA of the seventh part; and

814 Farmers' Assistance Act (Amdt) and Rural Adjt, Etc., Act 1980, No. 51 THE NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA of the eighth part; which are in this agreement referred to respectively as the Commonwealth, as a State or collectively as the States, and as the Territory. WHEREAS-- (A) the Commonwealth and the States are parties to an agreement made the 1st January 1977 (in this agreement referred to as " the Principal Agreement ") under which a Scheme has been established to provide assistance to persons engaged in rural industries throughout Australia; (B) the execution of the Principal Agreement on behalf of the Commonwealth was approved by the StatesGrants (RuralAdjustment) Act1976 which also authorized the making to a State. by way of financial assistance, on the terms and conditions contained in the Principal Agreement. of the payments by the Commonwealth to that State provided for in the Principal Agreement; (C) the Commonwealth and the States are desirous of varying the provisions of the Principal Agreement; (D) following the establishment of the Territory as a body politic by the NorthernTerritory (Self-Government) Act1978, the Commonwealth and the Territory have proposed, and the States have agreed. that the operation of the Scheme be extended to persons engaged in rural industries in the Territory and that the Territory should accordingly become a party to.the Principal Agreement; (E) the Commonwealth and the States are desirous of making provision for and in relation to the expenditure, upon all or any of the forms of financial assistance specified in clause 5 of the Principal Agreement as proposed to be varied by this agreement. of certain moneys held by, or repayable by certain persons to, the States, being moneys that were granted or deemed to have been granted to the States under the Loan (Farmers'Debt Adjustment) Act1935 or under that Act as amended and in force from time to time; and (F) the Parliament of the Commonwealth has authorized the execution of this agreement by and on behalf of the Common- wealth and the provision of financial assistance to the States as provided in this agreement: NOW IT IS HEREBY AGREED as follows: 1. (1) Except for the purposes of clause 2, this agreement shall, as between the Commonwealth and a State, come into force when it has been entered into by the Commonwealth and that State. (2) This agreement shall, as between the Commonwealth and the Territory, come into force when it has. been entered - into by the Commonwealth and the Territory.

Farmers' Assistance Act (Amdt) and Rural Adjt, Etc., Act 1980, No. 51 8 15 (3) Notwithstanding that all the States of New South Wales, Victoria. Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania and the Northern Territory of Australia are named as parties to this agreement. this agreement- V(a) shall operate as an agreement between the Commonwealth and each State in respect of which it has come into force as fully and effectually as if the State or States in respect of which it has come into force were the only State or States named as a party or as parties to the agreement; and (b) when it has come into force in respect of the Territory, whether or not it has come into force in respect of a State or States, shall operate as an agreement between the Commonwealth and the Territory as fully and effectually as if the Commonwealth and the Territory were the only parties named as parties to the agreement. (4) In this agreement, each State in respect of which the agreement has come into force is referred to as a `' State ", and the expression " the States " means, except where the context otherwise requires, all of the States in respect of which for the time being the agreement is in force. 2. (1) The Territory shall on and as from the 1st July 1980 become a party with the Commonwealth and the States to the Principal Agreement as varied by this agreement as if the Territory were named as a party to the Principal Agreement. (2) For the purposes of the operation of this clause- (a),references in the Principal Agreement as varied by this agreement to a State shall include the Territory and the expression " the States" shall have a corresponding construction; (b) the Minister in relation to the Territory shall be the Minister of the Territory who for the time being has executive authority in respect of the matters to which the Principal Agreement as varied by this agreement relates: and (c) any reference in a geographical sense to a State shal I be construed as including a reference to the Northern Territory. 3. (1) The following sub-clause is inserted in clause 11 of the Principal Agreement immediately after sub-clause (I): (IA) The amount to be made available to a State during a financial year determined under sub-clause (1) may, at any time the Commonwealth so considers fit, after consultation with the other States. be increased by the addition of a supplementary amount determined by the Commonwealth at that time. (2) The following sub-clause is inserted in clause I t after sub-clause (2):

816 Farmers' Assistance Act (Amdt) and Rural Adjt, Etc., Act 1980, No. 51 (3) When an amount of financial assistance determined in respect of a State under the preceding sub-clauses will not be required by the State during the period for which the amount is determined, the amount, or such part of that amount as the Commonwealth determines, may, with the consent of that State, be allocated by the Commonwealth to another State and the respective amounts of financial assistance to which those States are entitled under this clause during the relevant period shall'be adjusted accordingly. 4. The following heading and clause are inserted in the Principal Agreement immediately after clause 11: Pre-commitment of Assistance 11A. (1) Where the Minister for Primary Industry of the Commonwealth has, upon the State establishing to his satisfaction that the circumstances so warrant, authorized the State during a financial year to commit to the Scheme financial assistance to be received under this agreement during the next succeeding financial year, the Authority of the State may approve the provision of assistance under the Scheme to the extent of the amount or amounts that have been so authorized by the Minister. (2) Any amounts that are approved by the Authority of the State under sub-clause (1) shall be included in the amount of financial assistance to be made available by the Commonwealth to the State for the purposes of the Scheme as determined under clause 11 in respect of the financial year for which the amounts have been approved. 5. The Schedule to the Principal Agreement is amended as follows: (a) by inserting in paragraph (a) of Part I after " pastoral industries the words " the apicultural industry "; (b) by deleting paragraph (2) (a) of Part 4 and inserting in its place the following paragraph: (a) The applicant must be able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Authority that he is an established bona fide farmer who, intends remaining on his property and that the proposed improvements are of such a kind as to offer sound prospects of long term commercial viability if assistance under the Scheme were provided. (c) by deleting from the second sentence of paragraph (3) (a) of Part 7 the words " two years " and inserting in their place the words three years "; (d) by deleting from paragraph (3) (i) of Part 7 the words " six months " and inserting in their place the words " twelve months "; and (e) by deleting from paragraph (3) (1) of Part 7 the sum " $3,000 " and inserting in its place the sum " $5,000 ".

Farmers' Assistance Act (Arndt) and Rural Adjt, Etc., Act 1980, No. 51 817 6. (1) Each State shall expend, in such manner and at such times as the State may from time to time determine, upon such of the forms of financial assistance to persons engaged in rural industries in the State specified in clause 5 of the Principal Agreement as varied by this Agreement as the State may from time to time determine, moneys that were held by the State at the time of the execution of this agreement by the State, and moneys repaid to the State that, at that time, were repayable to the State, being moneys that were granted or deemed to have been granted to the State under the Loan (Farmers' Debt Adjustment) Act1935 or under that Act as amended and in force from time to time. (2) Moneys expended by a State in accordance with sub-clause (1) shall not be taken to be financial assistance made available by the Commonwealth to the State for the purposes of the scheme established and operated by the State in accordance with clause 4 of the Principal Agreement as varied by this Agreement. 7. The Principal Agreement is confirmed to the intent that its operation prior to the date upon which the variations made by this agreement take effect shall not be affected and that as from that date it shall have effect as varied by this agreement. IN WITNESS WHEREOF this agreement has been signed for and on behalf of the parties thereto respectively as at the day and year first above written. SIGNED by the Honourable PETER. JAMES NIXON, Minister for Primary Industry of Australia, J( in the presence of-PAUL DAVEY. PETER NIXON. SIGNED by the Honourable JOHN BROPHY RENSHAW, Treasurer of the State of New South Wales, in the presence of-N. OAKES. J. B. RENSHAW. SIGNED by the Honourable RUPERT JAMES HAMER, Premier of the State of Victoria, in the presence of-K. D. GREEN. J SIGNED by the Honourable JOHANNES BJELKE-PETERSEN, Premier of the State of Queensland, in the presence of-J. GRIFFIN. J R. J. HAMER. JOH. BJELKE-PETERSEN. SIGNED by the Honourable DAVID OLIVER TONKIN, Premier of the State of South Australia in theJ presence of-J. HOLLAND. DAVID TONKIN.

818 Farmers' Assistance Act (Amdt) and Rural Adjt, Etc., Act 1980, No. 51 SIGNED by the Honourable RICHARD CHARLES OLD, Minister for Agricuture of the State of Western Australia, in the presence of-H. E. PHIPPS. J SIGNED by the Honourable NEIL LEONARD CHARLES BATT, Minister for Finance and Treasurer of the State of Tasmania, in the presence of-K. MOREY. SIGNED by the Honourable ROGER MICHAEL STEELE, Minister for Industrial Development - of the Northern Territory, in the presence of-G. J. NANCARROW. R. C. OLD. NEIL BATT. ROGER STEELE.