Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 3) 2007 (Qld)

Queensland Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 3) 2007 Subordinate Legislation 2007 No. 36 made under the Rural and Regional Adjustment Act 1994 Contents Page 1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 Regulation amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3 Amendment of s 7 (Approval of schemes—Act, s 11) . . . . . . . . . 2 4 Amendment of schedule (Approved assistance schemes). . . . . . 2

s1 2 s4 Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 3) 2007 No. 36, 2007 1 Short title This regulation may be cited as the Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 3) 2007 . 2 Regulation amended This regulation amends the RuralandRegionalAdjustmentRegulation 2000. 3 Amendment of s 7 (Approval of schemes—Act, s 11) Section 7— insert— ‘(t) the Drought Rate Rebate Scheme, set out in the schedule, part 20.’. 4 Amendment of schedule (Approved assistance schemes) Schedule— insert— ‘Part 20 Drought Rate Rebate Scheme ‘199 Objective of scheme ‘The objective of the scheme is to assist primary producers who— (a) are dependent on primary production enterprises in an EC area; and (b) have been detrimentally affected by exceptional circumstances for which the area became an EC area; and (c) have received the Exceptional Circumstances Relief Payment administered by Centrelink (the ECRP ).

s4 3 s4 Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 3) 2007 No. 36, 2007 ‘200 Nature of assistance ‘The nature of the assistance that may be given under the scheme is a rebate for the payment of rates levied by a local government on eligible land in the eligibility period. ‘201 Definitions for pt 20 ‘In this part— applicant means a person applying for financial assistance under the scheme. EC area means an area declared under an EC declaration. Editor’s note — At the commencement of this definition, information about the declaration and declared area was available on the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry website at < EC declaration means a declaration under the Rural Adjustment Act 1992 (Cwlth) of an area as an area undergoing exceptional circumstances. ECRP see section 199(c). eligibility period means the period from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2008. eligible land means primary production land or off-farm residential land for which rates may be rebated under the scheme. exceptional circumstances means circumstances that have detrimentally affected a primary producer’s income, leading to financial difficulty. Example of exceptional circumstances — extended severe drought conditions off-farm residential land means land other than primary production land. primary producer means an individual who spends the majority of the individual’s labour on, and derives the majority of the individual’s income from, a primary production enterprise.

s4 4 s4 Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 3) 2007 No. 36, 2007 primary production enterprise means a business that involves primary production, including, for example, the agricultural, apicultural, aquacultural, horticultural or pastoral industries. primary production entity means a partnership, proprietary company, or trust that is solely or mainly engaged in a primary production enterprise. primary production land means land on which a primary producer or primary production entity carries on a primary production enterprise. rates includes a charge but does not include a charge for excess water consumption or accrued interest on overdue rates or charges. relevant interest , in primary production land, means— (a) a leasehold interest in the land; or (b) a right under a share farming agreement in relation to the land. relevant participant , in a primary production entity, means— (a) if the entity is a partnership—a partner in the partnership; or (b) if the entity is a proprietary company—a person who holds shares in the company; or (c) if the entity is a trust—a trustee of the trust. scheme means the scheme set out in this part. ‘202 Eligibility criteria ‘For an applicant to be eligible under the scheme for a rebate for payment of rates levied on primary production land or off-farm residential land, the authority must be satisfied that— (a) the applicant is— (i) a primary producer; or (ii) a primary production entity in which a primary producer is a relevant participant; and

s4 5 s4 Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 3) 2007 No. 36, 2007 (b) the applicant owns or has a relevant interest in the primary production land; and (c) if the applicant has a relevant interest in the primary production land—the applicant is required to pay rates for the land under the lease or share farming agreement relating to the land; and (d) the primary production land or off-farm residential land is in the EC area or the buffer zone declared under the EC declaration; and (e) rates have been levied on the primary production land or off-farm residential land in the eligibility period; and (f) for an applicant mentioned in paragraph (a)(i)—the applicant was receiving the ECRP within 90 days immediately before the rates were levied; and (g) for an applicant mentioned in paragraph (a)(ii)—the primary producer was receiving the ECRP within 90 days immediately before the rates were levied; and (h) the applicant has paid the rates; and (i) for a rebate for the payment of rates levied on the off-farm residential land— (i) the applicant owns the land; and (ii) for an applicant mentioned in paragraph (a)(i)—the applicant’s principal place of residence is on the land; and (iii) for an applicant mentioned in paragraph (a)(ii)—the primary producer’s principal place of residence is on the land; and (iv) there is no habitable residence on the primary production land mentioned in paragraph (b). ‘203 Amount of assistance ‘The amount of assistance that may be given to an applicant under the scheme is a rebate of 50% of the rates paid by the applicant.

s4 6 s4 Rural and Regional Adjustment Amendment Regulation (No. 3) 2007 No. 36, 2007 ‘204 Terms ‘A rebate under the scheme will be paid only for rates that an applicant has paid under a rates notice given by a local government in the eligibility period. ‘205 Applications ‘(1) An application for assistance under the scheme must be— (a) made on the authority’s application form; and (b) accompanied by the documents mentioned in the application form. ‘(2) All applications for assistance under the scheme must be received by the authority on or before 30 September 2008. ‘206 Deciding applications ‘The authority must consider, and decide to approve, or refuse to approve, each application for assistance under the scheme.’. ENDNOTES 1 Made by the Governor in Council on 22 March 2007. 2 Notified in the gazette on 23 March 2007. 3 Laid before the Legislative Assembly on . . . 4 The administering agency is the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries. © State of Queensland 2007