STATUTORY
RULES.
1942. No. 176.
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 fifteenth
day
of April ,
1942.
Governor-General.
By
His Excellency’s Command,
for
and on behalf of the Minister of State
for
Defence.
National Security (Vegetable Seeds) Regulations.
Citation.
1. These Regulations may be cited as the National
Security (Vegetable Seeds) Regulations.
Administration.
2. These Regulations shall be administered by the
Minister of State for Commerce.
Objects.
3. The objects of these Regulations are to
secure, as far as possible, an adequate supply of vegetable seeds in Australia
during the present war, and to ensure the trueness to type and satisfactory
purity and germination of those seeds.
Definitions.
4. In these Regulations, unless the contrary
intention appears—
“prescribed vegetable” means any vegetable
which the Committee, by order published in the Gazette, declares to be a prescribed vegetable for the purposes of
these Regulations;
“the Committee” means the Vegetable Seeds
Committee constituted by these Regulations;
“vegetable” means any herbaceous plant
(other than a cereal) of a kind which, or any part of which, is ordinarily used
for human consumption;
“vegetable seed” means any seed which is
capable of producing a prescribed vegetable.
Vegetable
Seeds Committee.
5.—(1.) For the purposes of these Regulations there
shall be a Vegetable Seeds Committee.
(2.) The Committee shall consist of—
(a)two persons representing the
Commonwealth Government, one of whom shall be an officer of the Department of
Supply and Development;
* Notified in
the Commonwealth Gazette on ,
1942.
2066.—Price
3d. 25/13.4.1942.
(b)two persons representing that body
which is commonly known as the Standing Committee on Agriculture;
(c)
two persons representing growers of vegetable seeds; and
(d)two persons representing merchants of
vegetable seeds, 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.) The person appointed to represent the
Commonwealth Government who is not the officer of the Department of Supply and
Development shall be the Chairman of the Committee.
(4.) In the absence of the Chairman of the
Committee, the members present at any meeting may choose one of their number to
be the Chairman of that meeting.
Meetings
of the Committee.
6.—(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 three
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 shall have a deliberative vote, and in the case of an equality of
votes, 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.
Deputies
of members.
7.—(1.) The Minister may, in respect of each member
of the Committee, appoint a person representative of the same interests as that
member 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.
Fees
and expenses.
8. There shall be payable to any member of the
Committee such salary, fees and expenses as the Governor-General directs.
Incorporation
of Committee.
9. The Committee shall be a body corporate, with
perpetual succession and a common seal.
The
Executive Officer.
10.—(1.) There shall be an Executive Officer who shall
be appointed by the Minister on such terms and conditions as the Minister
determines.
(2.) The Executive Officer shall be entitled to
attend all meetings of the Committee and to take part in the discussions at any
such meeting, but shall not have the right to vote on any question before any
such meeting.
(3.) The Executive Officer shall perform such
duties as are determined by the Committee and shall be responsible for the
carrying out of the decisions of the Committee.
Indemnity.
11. 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.
Appointment
of officers.
12.—(1.) The Committee may appoint such officers,
other than the Executive Officer, 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.
Delegation
of powers.
13.—(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.
Registration
of growers.
14.—(1.) Any person who engages, or who is about to
engage, in the production of vegetable seeds may, in such form and manner as
the Committee requires, at any time before sowing the crop from which those
seeds are to be produced (or, where the Committee, in special cases, permits,
after sowing but during the growth of the crop) apply to the Committee to be
registered as a vegetable seed grower in respect of that crop.
(2.) The Committee may, in its absolute
discretion, register any such person as a vegetable seed grower, and may, at
any time, for reasons which it thinks fit, cancel the registration of any
registered vegetable seed grower.
Prohibition
of sale of seeds.
15.—(1.) A person who is not a registered vegetable
seed grower in respect of any particular seeds produced by him shall not sell,
exchange or in any way dispose of those seeds for valuable consideration.
(2.) A registered vegetable seed grower in
respect of any seeds produced by him shall not sell, exchange or otherwise
dispose of those seeds for valuable consideration other than in accordance with
such directions, if any, as the Committee serves upon him in writing.
Power to require destruction or disposal
of vegetable crops.
16. Where the Committee is satisfied that any
crop of vegetables, other than a crop of vegetables in respect of which a
person is registered under these Regulations, has matured beyond the stage at
which it is ordinarily marketed for human consumption, the Committee may, by
notice in writing addressed to the grower or to any other person having the
control of the crop, require that grower or other person to destroy or
otherwise dispose of the crop in such manner, and within such time, as is
specified in the notice, and the grower or other person shall comply with the
requirements contained in that notice accordingly.
Returns.
17. The Committee may, by notice in writing
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 returns containing such information relating to
vegetable seeds as is specified in the notice, and that person, or every person
of that class, as the case may be, shall, within the time and in the manner
specified in the notice, furnish a return accordingly.
Dispersal
of seeds to protect against enemy action.
18. For the purpose of protecting any vegetable
seeds from enemy action, or of minimizing the effect of enemy action, the
Committee may direct the owner or any other person having the possession,
control or disposal of any vegetable seeds, to remove those seeds from one
place to another place (whether within the same locality or not) and to do all
such things as the Committee thinks necessary for the protection and
preservation of any such seeds, and the owner or other person shall comply with
the requirement accordingly.
Powers
of Committee.
19. 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 vegetable seeds;
(b)
process, treat, clean and grade, or arrange for the processing, treatment,
cleaning or grading of, any vegetable seeds;
(c)store, or arrange for the storage of,
any vegetable seeds;
(d)enter into agreements with any person on
any matter relating to the production, acquisition, treatment, storage or
disposal of vegetable seeds;
(e)
make advances to any registered vegetable seed grower;
(f)
guarantee any registered vegetable seed grower against any loss due to crop
failure; and
(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.
Authentication
of notices, directions and requirements.
20. Any notice, direction or requirement
authorized by the Regulation to be made or given by the Committee shall be
sufficiently authenticated if signed by the Executive Officer on behalf of the
Committee, and any 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.
Person not to fail to comply with
conditions.
21. A person shall not contravene or fail to
comply with any term or condition of any agreement entered into by him with the
Committee, or any direction served on him by the Committee under regulation 15
of these Regulations.
Power
of entry.
22. Any person authorized in that behalf by the
Committee may enter upon any land or premises and destroy, or cause to be
destroyed, any plants which, in the opinion of the Committee, might
cross-fertilize any vegetable crop being grown by a registered vegetable seed
grower for the purpose of producing vegetable seeds.
Proper
care to be taken of vegetable seeds.
23. Any person having any vegetable seeds in his
possession or under his care (other than seeds for his own domestic use) shall
exercise proper care and take all proper and reasonable precautions and do all
things necessary to preserve and safeguard those vegetable seeds and to keep
them from any damage or deterioration whatsoever, and shall comply with any
direction of the Committee given for the purpose of preserving or safeguarding
those seeds.
24. In any prosecution for an offence against the
National Security Act 1939–1940
for an offence arising out of a contravention or failure to comply with the
provisions of these Regulations, the averment of the prosecution that the
person charged was the owner of any vegetable seeds and that he sold, exchanged
or disposed of those seeds for valuable consideration shall be prima facie evidence of the matters so
averred.
By
Authority: L. F. Johnston, Commonwealth
Government Printer, Canberra.