STATUTORY
RULES.
1942. No. 199.
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 Twenty-seventh
day
of April ,
1942.
(SGD.)
GOWRIE
Governor-General.
By His Excellency’s Command,
for
and on behalf of the Minister of State
for
Defence
National Security (Potatoes) Regulations.
Citation.
1. These Regulations may be cited as the National
Security (Potatoes) Regulations.
Administration.
2. These Regulations shall be administered by the
Minister of State for Commerce.
Object.
3. The purpose of these Regulations is to secure,
as far as possible, that adequate supplies of potatoes are available in
Australia to meet the needs of the Defence Forces and of the civil population
during the present war, and these Regulations shall be administered
accordingly.
Definitions.
4. In these Regulations, unless the contrary
intention appears—
“member” means a member of the Committee;
“the Committee” means
the Australian Potato Committee constituted under these Regulations.
Australian
Potato Committee.
5.—(1.) For the purposes of these Regulations,
there shall be an Australian Potato Committee.
(2.) The Committee shall consist of a Chairman,
an Executive Member and such other members, not being less than two in number,
as the Minister thinks fit.
* Notified in
the Commonwealth Gazette on ,
1942.
2856.—Price 3d. 25/17.4.1942.
(3.) The members shall be appointed by the Minister
by notice published in the Gazette.
Incorporation
of Committee.
6. The Committee shall be a body corporate, with
perpetual succession and a common seal.
Deputies
of Members.
7.—(1.) The Minister may, in respect of each member
of the Committee, appoint a person to be the 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 the deputy, have all the
powers of that member during his illness or absence, and any reference in these
Regulations to a member of the Committee shall be deemed to include a reference
to the deputy of a member,
(3.) Any such appointment of a deputy, and any
acts done by him as such, shall not, in any proceedings, be questioned on the
ground that the occasion for his appointment or for the exercise of his powers
had not arisen or had ceased.
Meetings
of the Committee.
8.—(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 two
members thereof, may at any time call a special meeting of the Committee.
(3.) At any meeting of the Committee a quorum shall
consist of half the number of members for the time being, plus one.
(4.) In the absence of the Chairman from any
meeting of the Committee, the members present at that meeting may choose one of
their number to preside at that meeting.
(5.) At all meetings of the Committee, the person
presiding shall have a deliberative vote and, in the event of an equality of
voting, he shall also have a casting vote.
(6.) All questions before the Committee shall be
decided by a majority of votes.
(7.) The Committee shall keep a record of its
proceedings.
Indemnity.
9. A member of the Committee shall not be
personally liable for any act of the Committee or for any act done by him as a
member of the Committee.
Fees
and expenses.
10. There shall be payable to any member of the
Committee, who is not an officer of the Public Service of the Commonwealth,
such salary, fees and allowances as the Governor-General directs and to any
other member such fees and allowances as the Minister directs.
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 these
Regulations 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 1928-1940
shall apply as if this regulation and these Regulations were a section and an
Act specified in the Schedule to that Act.
Delegation
of powers.
12.—(1.) The Committee may, in relation to any matters
or class of matters, or in relation to any particular State or part of the
Commonwealth, by writing under its seal, delegate such of its powers and functions
under these Regulations (other than this power of delegation) as it thinks fit,
so that the delegated powers or functions may be exercised by the delegate with
respect to the matters or class of matters or the State or part of the
Commonwealth specified in the instrument of delegation.
(2.) Where under these Regulations the exercise of
any power or function by the Committee is dependent upon the opinion, belief or
state of mind of the Committee in relation to any matter, that power or
function may be exercised by the delegate upon the opinion, belief or state of
mind of that delegate.
(3.) Every such delegation shall be revocable at
will, and no such delegation shall prevent the exercise of any power or
function by the Committee.
Control
of production, supply, &c., of potatoes.
13. Subject to any direction of the Minister, the
Committee may, by order, regulate or prohibit the production, supply,
distribution, sale or disposal of potatoes either unconditionally or subject to
such conditions as are specified in the order.
General
powers of Committee.
14. On behalf of the Commonwealth and subject to
any direction of the Minister, the Committee may—
(a)purchase, sell, exchange, dispose of or
otherwise deal in potatoes;
(b)process, treat, clean and grade, or
arrange for the processing, treatment, cleaning or grading of potatoes;
(c)
store, or arrange for the storage of, potatoes;
(d)enter into agreements with any person
on any matter relating to the production, acquisition, treatment, storage or disposal
of potatoes;
(e)
make, or arrange for the making of, advances to potato growers;
(f)
guarantee any potato growers against any loss due to crop failure;
(g)do all things which it is required by these Regulations to do or which are necessary
or convenient to do for carrying out or giving effect to these Regulations.
Power
to enter and search for potatoes.
15.
Any constable authorized so to do by the Committee may, at any time in the day
or night, enter and search any premises, vessel or vehicle, or part thereof,
where any potatoes in respect of which a contravention of these Regulations or
any order thereunder is believed to have taken place are or are suspected to be
and, if necessary for that purpose, may break into and use force to enter such
premises, vessel, vehicle or part.
Inspection
of stocks, books, &c.
16. For the purposes of these Regulations, any
person appointed by the Committee to be an authorized person for the purpose of
this regulation may, at all reasonable times, enter any premises and inspect
any stocks of potatoes and any accounts, books and documents relating to any
potatoes.
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 in respect of sales of potatoes or otherwise, 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 the 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 Board shall be subject to
audit by the Auditor-General.
Arrangements
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 purpose of these
Regulations, and may guarantee to that Bank repayment, out of moneys lawfully
made available by the Parliament, of any advance made by the Bank in pursuance
of the arrangement.
Authentication
of orders, notices, directions and requirements.
19. Any order authorized by the Regulations to be
made by the Committee, or any notice, direction or requirement authorized by
any such order to be given or made by the Committee shall be sufficiently
authenticated if signed by the Chairman or Executive Member of the Committee on
behalf of the Committee, and any order, notice, direction or requirement
purporting to have been so signed shall, in the absence of proof to the
contrary, be deemed to have been made or given in pursuance of a resolution of
the Committee.
Receipt
of notice sent by post.
20. Where any notice is, for the purposes of
these Regulations, sent to any person by prepaid letter post, that person
shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to have received that notice at
the time when, in the ordinary course of the post, it would have arrived at the
place to which it was addressed.
By
Authority: L. F. Johnston,
Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra.