Scotch Thistle Act 1851 (SA)

ANNO DECIMO QUINTO

VICTORIB REGINE.

An Act for preventing the further spread of the Scotch Thistle.

great injury and loss have been and are oc- Preamble.

by the spread of the plauts known as tlie Scotch This36 and it is	WHEREAS
casioned to the cultivated and waste lands of this Province, dksirable that measures be taken to prevent their further di@bion- U-----'
And, whc~ens, no such measures can be &ctual uuless some
p v i s i o n is made for securing its destruction upon land which has
hecomc: private property: e

Be it therefore Enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor of the Pro- p, & ~ for not des-

vince of' South Australia, with the advice and consent of the troying Thistles

notlca.

Legislative Council thereof, That if at any time after the passing of this Act any owner or occupicr of land within thc M$ Province, u on which land, or upon the half of any road adjaccnt thereto, any o the plants conmonly known in this .- Proviuce as the Scotch Thistle shall be growing, shall not w i t h ~ Heven days after my notice in writing that such Scotch Thistles are growing upon such land, or upon sueh adjacent half of any road, signed by any Chairman of any District Board of Roads, or of' any 1)istrict Council, or by any Clerk of such District Roard or District Council, or by any ~ i s t i c e of the l'eace, slid have been served upon such owner or occupier, or left for him at his usad or last known place of abode, effectually destroy all of

W the

the said plants so known as the Scotch Thistle then growing and being upon such land, or upon such adjacent half of the road, every such owner or occupier, being convicted thereof, shall be liable to [a

penalty not exceeding Ten Pounds and not less than Two Pounds, and such penalty may be recovered, and the matter thereof heard and determined, by two or more Justices of the Peace in a summary way: Provided that it shall be lawful for any such Justices to suspend any conviction, upon being satisfied that the person so re-

ceiving such notice has used, and is using, reasonable cxertionato

destroy such plants.

Where no occupier of 2. And be it Enacted, That if there shall be no _osupier- _o_f a g

landj may be land, then such notice as aforesaid may be affixed in some con-

affixed in some con- -

B ~ ~ C U O W place on S ~ ~ C U O U S place upon such land, and every notice so affixed shall be

land.

deemed and taken toxsufficient notice to the owner of such land fkom the time of its being so affixed: Provided that it shall not be necessary for any such last mentioned notice to specify the name of any person as owncr of the land therein referred to, and provided also that no owner of any land slid1 be liable to any payment beyond the expense of, and occesioncd by, the destruction and eradication of the Thistles growing and being upon such land and upon such adjacemt half of the road as hereinafter provided, together with costs of suit, by reasou merely of any notice having been so affixed as last aforesaid.

H Thistles not des-

troyed within seven 3. And be it Enacted, That if any such owner or occupier shall,

days parties may	for such space of s e v k days, refise or neglect to destroy tl14
enter for the purwo	Thistles specified in any such notice, it shall and may be h w f d for
of destroying them.	anv nerson autl~orized in that behalf bv anv District Board of
~ i a d s, or District Council, or by an oder of any Justice of the Peace, to destroy and eradicate the same, and for that purpose, with sufficient assistants, to enter upon any lands in respect whereof any such notice shall have been given as aforesaid, and every such person shall be entitled to recover from such owrler or occupier the ex- pense of and attending such destruction and eradication, such ex- penses to be assessed and allowed by two or more Justiccs of the
Peace, together with costs of suit by action or plaint in any Court of competent Jurisdiction, or by proceedings in a sunlmary manner before two or more Justices, and which action, plaint, or proceedings may be commenced, instit~~ted, bad aud taken in the name of such person, or of the District Board, or District Couwil, or Justice of the Peace, by whom such person was authorized.
Persons authorized	4. And be it Enacted, That it shall be lawful for any person authorized in that behalf by any District Board of Roads, or by any District Council, or by an order of any Justice of the Peace, without notice, to enter upon any lands, whether enclosed or not, for the purpose of ascertaining if any such Tllistles are growing and being thereupon, and that no such person s l d l be be deemed a trespasser by reason of such entry, or be liable for

;a;:zf ,"?$!&

any

any darnage thereby occasioned, unless the same was occasioned by

such wilfully and without necessity.

5. And be it Enacted, That upon complaint duly made to any Juatices to act upon

Justice of the Peace residing withiu the district where ally land is cOmp'aint	m'd0
situate, that any such Thistles are suspected to be growing, or are
n wowing upon m y laud, such Justice shall nlake an order for the
party complaining, or for some other person to enter upon such
lmd to search and ascertain if therc are any such Thistles growing
md being thereupon, or as the case may be, shdl sign such notice to the o;?ner or occupier of any land as hereinhefore provided, and also upon being satisfied that such notice has been served, or left or affixed as herein provided, shall make order for the destruction aild eradication of any such Tllistles as nforesa,id, growing and being upon any land by some person to be named in such order.

owner of land un-

6. Arid be it En:tctcd, That if the owner of any land, of which t h e shall be no occnpier as aforesaid, slrall be unknown, or s 1 d ~ ~ ~ ~ r o v i n ~ ~, ~ ~ l l ~ l ~ ~ & y known or absent frorn

iiot reside within the said Yrovincc, it shall be lawful for tlie be penses, upon order of to defray ex-

Supr-erne Court, or any Judge thereoi; upon petition addressed to s,,,,,ne Court, after

such Court by any District Board, Uistrict C n ~ ~ ~ l c i l, Justice, or ekhtee" months' notice in South AUS-

person so as aforesaid entitlcd to recover the expeuse of, and at- trtlltaa Government

tending the destruction and eradication of sllcli Thistles, and which

petition s l d l state that sucli destruction and eradication was eEec-

tcd under the authority of a District Board of Roads, or District

Council, or by an order of a Justice of the Peace, after due notice as aforesaid, 9nd that the expenses of, and attending such destruo- tion and eradication have been assessed and allowed by two or more Justices of the Peace, and which petition shall be verified by affidavit, and shall be supported by tbe production of such vouchers also certified by affidavit, as such Court or ally .Judp thereof may require, to make an order for the payment of the said expenses, and of the costs of, and attending the said petition and order, and which costs shall be ascertained and mentioned in such	ordcr, and in default of such payment, for the sale by the Sheriff	of the said Province, or of any 1)istrict thereof, of the land in
respect whereof such notice ns aforesaid was given, or of so much .
thereof as may be necessary to satisfy the said expenses and costs, and the costs of, and attendine; such sale; and such order shall
be published by advertisement in tour consecutive nurnbcrs of the
South ~uskaliczn Government Gazette, and if within eighteen months from the last publication of such notice, the said expenses
and all the costs of, and attending tlre said petition and order shall
not be paid to the party entitled to receive the sme, or brought into the said Supreme Court, the Sheriff named in the said order, or his successor, shall sell the said land, or so much thereof as is requisite for the purposes aforesaid, and shall execute a con- veyance thereof, by deed, to the purchaser or purchasers thereof', and every such conveyance sliall operate to vest the land described therein absolutely in such purchaser OF purchasers; and the said Sheriff, out of the proceeds of any such sale, s h d, in the first

place,

place, retain to and reimburse himself all the like - - Leer centage,, expenses, and charges to which he would be entitled upon the exe- cution of a writ of j&i jhcias for tlie amount mentioned in any such order, and in the second place sllall pay to such District Board, or District Council, or Justice, or person llientioiiecl in snch order, the sum therein directed to he paid, and shall bring any surplus into Court to the credit of the owrlcr of such land: Pro- vided that at any time within the sadd period of eighteen months the owner of any land in rctspcct of' which any order of sale is made as aforesaid, may appeal against any such assessment and allowance of expenses in the same ruxnner as is by law provided in the case

of conviction upou smnrrmry 1~roceediiigs .

Power of appeal	'7. And be it Enacted, That if within such period of eiqhteeu n~nnths
against order of Jus-	ss last aforesaid, the sum of money ureiltioned in a G such it shall be lawful for thc said Supremc Court, or any Judge thereof, to order such sum of money to be paid out of Court to any such District Board, District Council, Justice, or person as aforesaid, unless at tlie time of bringi~lg in tlie same the party on whose account tlie same is brought in, shall produce, or cause to be pro- duced, to the master or other officer receiving such money, a certi- cate of the Clerk of the Local Court of full jurisdiction henrest to the land in respect of wl~icll nncl~ order has'beon niade, that such party bath causcd such appeal to be lodg~d and reeoog~hnees to be entered into as are required in cases of appeal from any order of Justices, under any sumruary proceeding; and if such certificate shall be produced, then no order shall be nindc for the payment of the said money until such appeal shall be determined, either by failure of prosecution, ur bv judgrrlcilt upon hearing; and in such cast the mid Supreme ~ o u r c, or any J u d g ~ thereof, sl~all order the
tices, upon bringing
moncv into Court.	order as last aforcmid, shall bc brouglit into the said Supreme Court,

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said money to be paid, in accordance w~th	the determination of
such appeal.

Thistlesgrowingupon 8. A d be it Enacted, That ~11~11 ally S U C ~ Tliistles sliall be

waste Im~ds of the

crown mqv be ersdi- growing upon any waste and unoccupied h n d s of the Crown, such

cated by Surveyor- notice as aforesztib shall be left at the oficc of'the Survevor-General General, or expenses

,,,,,,, for tlie said Pmvince, and shall describe and set h r th &e situation

repaid by Governor.

of such land; and it sliall he lawfd for such Surveyor-General with the assent of the Governor, to employ the necessary Iaborers, and continue to destroy and eradicate tlle said Thistles; and in the event of the neglect or refixsal of such Surveyor-General to destroy and eridicnte such Thistles, and of the destruction and eradication &errof by any' person authorised i11 that behalf' as hereinbefore provided, it a l d l be lmvful for the Governor, by warrant under his hand, t o direct the Coloxlial Treasurer, out of the Ordinary Revenue, to pav to the party entitled to receive the same, the expenses of and ai- tending such destruction and eradication as aforesaid.

Allawance of ex-

pcnseu by two Justices 9. And be it Enacted, That in any proceeding to recover from

to be sufficient the owner or occupier of any land the expcnses of and attending

evidence. tho

the destruction and eradication of any such thistles as aforesaid, and in any appeal relating to or concerning such expcnscs, it shall be sufficient to produce the allowance of such expenses purporting to be signed by two or more Justices of the Peace, and such allowance shall be conclusive evidence until the contrary be shewn, that the expenses so allowed were actually incurred in such destruction and eradication, and that the same destruction and eradication were duly authorised, and that such notice was given and proceedings taken as are herein required.

10. And be it Enacted, That all penalties recoverable under Appropriation of

this Act shall be payable one half to the person laying the in- p"a1tics. such District Board, or District Council.

formation or complaint, and one half to Her Majesty, Her Heirs

and Successors, for the public uses of the said Province, excepting

in cases where any such information or complaint shall be laid at

the instance of any District Board of Roads, or of any District

Council, when the whole of such penalty shall be paid to such

11. And be it Enacted, That in the construction of this Act the hterprctation clnose.

words " Plants, commonly known in this Province as the Scotch Thistle," shall be held to mean, and include (in addition to all other plants so comnody known), the variegated thistle, and the plants conxnonly known by the botanical names of Carduus Marianus,"

ancl of "CarCi'~~us Benedictus."

JOHN MORPHETT, Speaker.

Passed the Leyislatiue Council this Nineteenth

day (?f fiecember, One Thousand

Eight Hundred and Fiftyone.

WM. E. GIIJBERT,

Pro Clerk of Council.

In the name and on the behalf of Her Majesty I assent to this Act.

11. E. P. YOUNG.,

Lieutenant-Governor.

Government House, Adelaide,

2nd January, 1852.

ADELALDE : Ptinted by authority, by W. C. Cox, Government Printer, Victoria-square.

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