National Security (Cargo Control) Regulations (Cth)

STATUTORY RULES.

1942. No. 195.

 

REGULATIONS UNDER THE NATIONAL SECURITY ACT 1939–1940.*

I, THE DEPUTY OF THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL in and over the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the National Security Act 1939–1940.

Dated this Twenty third

day of April , 1942.

Deputy of the Governor-General.

By His Excellency’s Command,

for and on behalf of the Minister of State

for Defence.

 

National Security (Cargo Control) Regulations.

Citation.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the National Security (Cargo Control) Regulations.

Incorporation with National Security (Stevedoring Industry Regulations.

2. These Regulations shall be incorporated and read as one with and subject to the National Security (Stevedoring Industry)Regulations.

Administration.

3. These Regulations shall be administered by the Minister of State for Trade and Customs.

Purposes.

4. The purposes of these Regulations are to provide for the orderly and expeditious disposal of goods arriving by sea and the punctual delivery at ship’s side of goods for shipment with a view to ensuring the speedy discharge and loading of ships, to reduce the length of time that goods lie at wharfs, to prevent congestion, confusion and delay at the waterside and to make proper provision for the storage or other accommodation of the goods, and these Regulations shall be administered accordingly.

Definitions

5. In these Regulations, unless the contrary intention appears—

“State Committee” means a State Cargo Control Committee established under these Regulations;

“the Central Committee” means the Central Cargo Control Committee established under these Regulations.

 

* Notified in the Commonwealth Gazette on , 1942.

2627.—Price 5d. 25/22.4.1942.

Cargo Control Committees.

6. There shall be a Central Cargo Control Committee and in each State there shall be a State Cargo Control Committee and each such Committee shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal.

Central Cargo Control Committee.

7.—(1.) The Central Committee shall consist of a Chairman, an Executive Member, who shall act as Chairman in the absence of the Chairman, seven other members, of whom—

(a) one shall be an officer of the Department of Trade and Customs,

(b)one shall be nominated by the Minister of State for the Army,

(c) one shall be nominated by the Minister of State for Transport,

(d)one shall be the Executive Member of the Central Wool Committee,

(e) one shall be chosen for his experience of dock and wharf management,

(f) one shall be chosen for his experience in the management of heavy carrying,

(g)one shall be chosen to represent industrial organizations of employees concerned in the disposal of cargo,

and, if the Minister thinks fit, one additional member.

(2.) The members of the Central Committee shall be appointed by the Minister.

State Cargo Control Committee.

8.— (1.) Each State Committee shall consist of a Chairman, an Executive Member, the Collector of Customs for the State or, instead of the Collector, such other officer of the Department of Trade and Customs as the Minister specifies, a member representing industrial organizations of employees concerned in the disposal of cargo and two other members.

(2.) The members of a State Committee, except the Collector of Customs for the State or the officer specified in his stead, shall be appointed by the Minister upon the recommendation of the Central Committee.

Remuneration of members of Committees.

9.— (1.) The Chairman and the other members of the Central Committee, except the Executive Member, shall be remunerated by fees or otherwise as the Minister directs.

(2.) There shall be payable to the Executive Member of the Central Committee such salary as the Central Committee, with the approval of the Minister, fixes.

(3.) The Chairman and the other members of a State Committee, except the Executive Member, shall be remunerated by fees or otherwise as the Central Committee, with the approval of the Minister, directs.

(4.) There shall be payable to the Executive Member of a State Committee such salary as the Central Committee, with the approval of the Minister, fixes.

(5.) Notwithstanding anything contained in this regulation, if a member of the Central Committee or of a State Committee is also a member of the Parliament of the Commonwealth or of any State, he shall not be entitled to be remunerated in pursuance of this regulation but shall be entitled to be reimbursed such expenses as he actually incurs by reason of his attendance at the Central Committee or a State Committee, as the case may be.

Responsibility of Committees.

10.—(1.) The Central Committee shall, subject to the Minister, be charged with the responsibility of carrying the purposes of these Regulations into execution.

(2.) A State Committee shall be responsible to the Central Committee for the proper exercise of such powers and performance of such duties as the Central Committee may assign to it.

(3.) In the exercise of its powers and the performance of its duties, a State Committee shall comply strictly with the general instructions and the particular directions of the Central Committee applicable to it.

Meetings of Committees.

11.—(1.) At a meeting of the Central Committee, five members shall form a quorum.

(2.) All questions arising at any meeting of the Central Committee shall be decided by a majority of the votes of the members present.

(3.) The Central Committee may make rules regulating its proceedings and the proceedings of the State Committees including, in the latter case, the quorum and majorities necessary for decisions.

Presence of members of Central Committee at meetings of State Committees.

12. The Central Committee may authorize any of its members to be present at any meeting of a State Committee and any member so authorized shall be entitled to be present at and take part in the proceedings of that meeting in the same manner as members of the State Committee, except that he shall not be entitled to vote or to be counted in any quorum.

Reports of proceedings of State Committees.

13. Every State Committee shall cause a report of the proceedings at each of its meetings to be transmitted to the Central Committee immediately after the meeting.

General powers of Central Committee.

14. Subject to the directions of the Minister, the Central Committee shall have all powers and authorities conducive or incidental to the purposes of these Regulations and, in particular, the power, in the name of the Commonwealth, of contracting, and of taking any legal proceedings, but no such contract or other dealing shall, if it directly involves an expenditure of more than Ten thousand pounds, be binding upon the Commonwealth unless and until it is approved by the Minister.

Specific powers of Central Committee.

15.—(1.) Subject to the directions of the Minister, the Central Committee shall have the following specific powers in relation to the carrying out of the purposes of these Regulations:—

(a)The Committee may give directions for the removal of goods from any wharf, pier or jetty or from any shed, store, building, yard or place used in connexion with the landing or shipment of goods and for the disposal of the goods, and it may cause the goods to be removed accordingly and authorize an officer of the Committee or any other person to take measures for that purpose;

(b) The Committee may—

(i) take possession or control of any goods discharged from a ship,

(ii) remove goods of which it has taken possession or control from one place to another,

(iii) withhold any such goods from the owner or consignee,

(iv) deliver any such goods to the owner or consignee at or from such store, premises or place as it thinks fit,

(v) demand and recover from the owner or consignee such reasonable charges for the handling, carriage, storage, safeguarding and delivery of the goods as the Committee thinks just;

(c) The Committee may direct the sale of goods of which it has taken possession or control or which remain upon a wharf, pier or jetty or in any shed, store, building, yard or place used in connexion with the landing or shipment of goods, identifying the goods by description or by reference to their situation or by any other sufficient means and it may give directions for the conduct of the sale, the removal of the goods or of any of them for the purpose of sale, the delivery of the goods, the receipt and holding of the proceeds of sale, the fixing and deduction of all proper charges, the payment of the residue or of a due proportion thereof to the persons entitled thereto, and for any other incidental matter;

(d)The Committee may requisition the services, either generally or for a period or occasion, of any vehicle, horse, harness, tackle or gear and, in the connexion with the requisitioning of any vehicle or horse, may require the person on whom the requisition is made to provide a driver and other employees as customary and the necessary fuel, lubricants and horse feed;

(e) The Committee may acquire compulsorily any vehicle, horses, plant, gear, tackle or appliance, or any fuel, fodder or supplies;

(f) The Committee may obtain or provide stores or storage accommodation and to that end it may—

(i) take possession of any store or building,

(ii) take a licence in respect of any store or building or any part of a store or building,

(iii) acquire a licence in respect of any land,

(iv) erect or cause to be erected stores, buildings and other structures;

(g)The Committee may, on behalf of the Commonwealth, compulsorily take possession or control of any store, warehouse or other building or any premises not in the possession or control of the Commonwealth or of an authority established under the law of the Commonwealth and it may authorize an officer of the Committee or any other person to enter any building of which possession or control has been so taken, to remove any goods or fixtures therefrom and to store goods therein or to make such use thereof as the Committee thinks fit;

(h)The Committee may, for the purpose of particular operations or work and notwithstanding any law, custom or usage to the contrary, direct that—

(i) premises shall be kept open and available,

(ii) work shall continue,

(iii) overtime shall be worked, and

(iv) an intermission in or interruption of work shall not take place;

(i)The Committee may give directions for the protection and for the safe and secure keeping and careful handling of goods and it may prescribe the responsibility of persons (including the Commonwealth) who have the possession, custody or control of the goods;

(j) The Committee may give directions, either general or particular, prescribing, in the case of goods affected by any exercise of a power conferred by these Regulations—

(i) how and when shipping documents are to be presented and what course is to be followed to obtain the goods,

(ii) when shipping documents have not become available, how the claims of consignees may be verified and under what conditions the goods may be delivered out or how otherwise the goods should be dealt with,

(iii) how the payment may be secured of customs duty, harbour or wharfage dues or rates, freight, stevedoring, handling, delivery or other charges in connexion with the goods notwithstanding the removal of the goods from a wharf, pier or jetty or shed, store, building or other place where goods usually remain in the possession, custody or control of the Customs, of the port, harbour or other authority or of the shipowner, ship’s agent or any other person who is entitled to such payment or a lien or charge therefor; and

(k)The Committee may give directions and take measures in respect of any matter incidental to the foregoing specific powers or to their execution.

(2.) The powers of the Committee under paragraphs (a), (c), (d), (e), (g), (h), (i) and (j) last preceding sub-regulation shall be exercisable by order in writing only.

Authorization of persons to exercise powers of Central Committee.

16.—(1.) The Central Committee may, by an order in writing, authorize any person or body of persons to exercise any power or authority or do any act or thing which under these Regulations may be exercised or done by the Committee.

(2.) Any such authorization may be general or limited in respect of place, time, occasion or subject-matter.

Appointment of King’s warehouses.

17. Any land whether enclosed or not may be appointed by the Minister to be a King’s warehouse for the purposes of the Customs Act 1901–1936.

Removal of goods from King’s warehouses.

18.—(1.) The Central Committee or a State Committee may request a Collector of Customs to cause goods lying in a King’s warehouse to be removed to some other King’s warehouse and thereupon any officer of customs may give directions to the owner of, or to any person having control of, or power of disposition over, or custody of the goods, to remove them accordingly.

(2.) If the goods are not removed in accordance with the directions, the Committee may cause them to be so removed.

(3.) The reasonable expenses incurred in removing the goods shall be a charge upon the goods and shall be paid to the Collector of Customs before the goods are released.

Authentication of orders, directions, authorities and other instruments.

19. Any order, direction, authority or other instrument authorized by or under these Regulations to be made, given or issued by the Central Committee or a State Committee shall be sufficiently authenticated if signed by the Chairman or Executive Officer of either Committee, as the case requires, and any order, direction, authority or other instrument purporting to have been so signed shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be deemed to have been made, given or issued in pursuance of a resolution of the Central Committee or a State Committee, as the case may be.

Compensation.

20. The Commonwealth shall be liable to pay in respect of any vehicles or other chattels requisitioned or required to be provided under these Regulations and the services of any person provided in connexion with any such requisitioning, and any store, warehouse, building or other premises, such compensation as, in the absence of agreement, the Central Committee fixes or, in the event of any dispute as to the amount of that compensation by a party interested, as a referee appointed by the Minister, determines.

Officers and employees.

21.—(1.) For the purposes of these Regulations, the Central Committee may appoint such officers and employ such persons, upon such terms and conditions, as it thinks fit:

Provided that the remuneration of any officer or employee shall not be fixed at a higher rate than £1,000 per annum except with the approval of the Minister.

(2.) Officers appointed or persons employed under these Regulations shall not be subject to the Commonwealth Public Service Act 1922–1941.

(3.) Where an officer or employee appointed or employed under these Regulations was, immediately prior to his appointment or employment, an officer of the Public Service of the Commonwealth, his services as an officer or employee under these Regulations shall for the purpose of determining his existing and accruing rights be taken into account as if it were service in the Public Service of the Commonwealth and the Officers’ Rights Declaration Act 1922–1940 shall apply as if this regulation were a section of an Act and that Act and section were specified in the Schedule to the Officers’ Rights Declaration Act 1922–1940.

Compliance with orders and directions.

22. A person stall not fail or refuse to comply with any order or direction given under these Regulations which is applicable to him.

No claims, actions or suits to be brought against the Commonwealth

23. No claim, action, suit or proceedings shall be made or brought against the Commonwealth or any Committee or any officer or person for anything done or omitted under these Regulations except for compensation under regulation 20 of these Regulations or under an order made by the Central Committee pursuant to paragraph (i)of sub-regulation (1.) of regulation 15 of these Regulations.

Assistance of Land Transport Board.

24. The Central Committee may request the assistance and co-operation of the Land Transport Board constituted under the National Security (Land Transport) Regulations in the provision of rail and road transport and that Board and the Director-General of Land Transport may exercise their powers and authorities under those Regulations with a view to making available rolling stock, vehicles and transport facilities for the purpose of these Regulations.

Consultative Committee.

25. The Chairman and the Executive Member of the Central Committee and the Chairman of the Stevedoring Industry Commission and the member of that Commission who is an officer of the Commonwealth shall form a consultative committee for the purpose of co-ordinating the work of the two bodies and securing the expeditious discharge and loading of ships, the quick dispersal from the wharves of goods unshipped, and the timely and orderly delivery at the wharves of goods for shipment.

 

By Authority: L. F. Johnston, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra.