National Security (Meat Industry) Regulations (Cth)

STATUTORY RULES

1942. No. 69.

 

REGULATIONS UNDER THE NATIONAL SECURITY ACT 1939-1940.*

I, 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 seventeenth day of February , 1942.

Governor-General.

By His Excellency’s Command,

for and on behalf of the Minister of State for Defence Co-ordination.

 

National Security (Meat Industry) Regulations.

Citation.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the National Security (Meat Industry) Regulations.

Administration.

2. These Regulations shall be administered by the Minister of State for Commerce.

Definitions.

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

“canned meat” means meat preserved in hermetically sealed containers;

“canning” means the process of converting meat into canned meat, and “can” has a corresponding meaning;

“meat” means the flesh, whether fresh or preserved, of cattle, sheep and swine intended for human consumption;

“member” means a member of the Committee and includes the Chairman;

“The Australian Meat Board ” means the Board constituted under section 5 of the Meat Export Control Act 1935-1938;

“The Chairman” means the Chairman of the Committee;

“The Committee” means the Meat Canning Committee constituted under these Regulations.

Meat Canning Committee.

4.—(1.) For the purposes of these Regulations, there shall be a Meat Canning Committee.

 

* Notified in the Commonwealth Gazette on , 1942.

856.—25/7.2.1942.—Price 3d.

(2.) The Committee shall consist of eight members who shall be appointed by the Minister by notice published in the Gazette and who shall hold office during the pleasure of the Minister.

(3.) Four of the members shall be selected from among the members of the Australian Meat Board and four of the members shall be selected from officers of the Public Service of the Commonwealth.

(4.) The Minister may appoint one of the members to be the Chairman of the Committee and another of the members to be the Deputy Chairman of the Committee.

(5.) In the absence of the Chairman from any meeting of the Committee, the Deputy Chairman shall act as Chairman of that meeting and, in the absence from any meeting of both the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman, the members present at that meeting may elect one of their number to act as Chairman of that meeting.

Incorporation of Committee.

5. The Committee shall be a body corporate, with perpetual succession and a common seal.

Deputies of members.

6.—(1.) The Minister may, in respect of each member of the Committee, appoint any person to be a deputy of that member.

(2.) Any person so appointed shall, in the event of the illness or absence of the member of whom he is a deputy, have all the powers of that member during his illness or absence.

(3.) No such appointment of a deputy and no acts done by him as such shall in any proceedings be questioned on the ground that the occasion for his appointment had not arisen or had ceased.

Meetings of the Committee.

7.—(1.) Meetings of the Committee shall be held at such times and places as the Committee from time to time determines.

(2.) The Chairman of the Committee, or any four members thereof, may at any time call a special meeting of the Committee.

(3.) At all meetings of the Committee five members shall form a quorum.

(4.) At all meetings of the Committee the Chairman, or the person acting as Chairman, shall have a deliberative vote, and, in the case of an equality of voting, shall also have a casting vote.

(5.) All questions before the Committee shall be decided by a majority of votes.

(6.) The Committee shall keep a record of its proceedings.

Indemnity.

8. A member of the Committee shall not be personally liable for any act of the Committee or of the member acting as such.

Fees and expenses.

9. There shall be payable to any member of the Committee, and to any person or any member of a sub-committee appointed in pursuance of paragraph (c) of regulation 13 of these Regulations, such salaries, fees and expenses as the Governor-General directs.

Executive Committee.

10.—(1.) There shall be an Executive Committee of the Committee which shall consist of the Chairman (or, in his absence, the Deputy Chairman) and two other members appointed by the Committee, of whom one shall be one of the members who is a member of the Australian Meat Board and the other shall be one of the members who is an officer of the Public Service of the Commonwealth.

 

(2.) The Executive Committee shall have such powers and functions as the Committee, subject to any direction of the Minister, determines:

Provided that no such determination shall prevent the exercise of any power or function by the Committee.

Appointment of officers.

11.—(1.) The Committee may appoint such officers as are necessary to assist the Committee in carrying out its functions under these Regulations.

(2.) Officers appointed in pursuance of this regulation shall not be subject to the Commonwealth Public Service Act 1922-1941 and shall hold office during the pleasure of the Committee.

(3.) Where an officer appointed in pursuance of this regulation was, immediately prior to his appointment, an officer of the Public Service of the Commonwealth, his service as an officer of the Committee 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 and these Regulations were a section and an Act specified in the Schedule to that Act.

(4.) The salaries and allowances of officers appointed in pursuance of this regulation shall be as directed by the Minister, except where the sum of the salary and allowances payable to an officer during any year is to exceed Five hundred pounds, in which case the salary and allowances shall be as directed by the Governor-General.

Returns.

12. The Committee may, by notice addressed to any person, or by notice published in the Gazette specifying any class of persons, require that person or class of persons to furnish such returns relating to meat, canned meat, cattle, sheep or swine as the Committee directs, and every such person, or every member of every such class of persons, as the case may be, shall, within the time and in the manner specified in the notice, furnish a true and correct return accordingly.

Powers of Committee.

13. The Committee may, on behalf of the Commonwealth and subject to any direction of the Minister—

(a) purchase any meat or canned meat;

(b) can any meat;

(c) export, sell or dispose of any meat or canned meat;

(d) manage and control all matters connected with the handling, storage, protection, treatment, transfer and shipment of any meat or canned meat purchased, canned, exported, sold or disposed of by the Committee;

(e) appoint in any State, such person or a sub-committee consisting of such persons, not necessarily members of the Committee, as the Committee, subject to the approval of the Minister, thinks fit, and arrange with that person or sub-committee to exercise such powers and functions of the Committee, subject to any direction which the Committee may give, as the Committee thinks fit; and

 

(f) do all matters which it is required by these Regulations to do or which it is necessary or convenient to do for carrying out or giving effect to these Regulations.

Regulation of production.

14. The Minister may, by notice in writing, require any person—

(а) to cease canning any meat or class of meat, either absolutely or in excess of a quantity specified in the notice;

(b) if, in the opinion of the Minister, that person is capable of canning any class of meat specified in the notice, to can such quantities of that class of meat as are, and within such time as is, specified in the notice; or

(c) who has or will have the ownership, possession, control or disposal of any meat (not being meat which is, at the time when the notice is issued, subject to a contract for the sale or delivery of that meat in another State) to deliver or consign that meat to such person engaged in the canning of meat, within such time, and in consideration of such price, if any, as are specified in the notice

and that person shall comply with the requirements of the notice accordingly.

Power to inspect stocks, books, &c.

15. Any person authorized in that behalf by the Committee may enter any land, premises, vessel or vehicle and inspect any meat, canned meat, cattle, sheep or swine and any accounts, books, or other documents relating to any such meat, canned meat, cattle, sheep or swine and may, if he thinks fit, take copies of any such accounts, books or other documents.

Proper care to be taken of meat and canned meat.

16. Any person having any meat or canned meat the property of the Commonwealth in his possession or under his care, shall exercise proper care and take all proper and reasonable precautions and do all things necessary to preserve and safeguard that meat or canned meat, and to keep it free from any damage or deterioration whatsoever.

Finance.

17.—(1.) The Committee shall open and maintain an account with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia into which it shall pay all moneys received by it under these Regulations and any moneys appropriated by the Parliament or borrowed by the Minister for use by the Committee on behalf of the Commonwealth.

(2.) Out of moneys standing to the credit of the account, the Committee shall defray all costs and expenses of administering these Regulations, and make all payments authorized to be made by these Regulations.

(3.) The accounts of the Committee shall be subject to audit by the Auditor-General.

Arrangement with Commonwealth Bank for advances.

18. The Minister may arrange with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia for the making by that Bank of advances to the Commonwealth for use on its behalf by the Committee for the purposes of these Regulations, and may guarantee to that Bank the repayment, out of moneys lawfully made available by the Parliament, of any advances made by the Bank in pursuance of the arrangement.

 

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