| C2004C07940 | WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 [Note: This Act is "repealed" by Act No. 61 of 1981]
(#DATE 29:10:1966)
Compilation Information
- Reprinted as at 29 October 1966
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - TABLE OF PROVISIONS
TABLE
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section
1. Short title
2. Commencement
3. Interpretation
4. Minister to provide particulars of Plan
5. Referendum
6. Distribution of arguments for and against the Plan
7. Entitlement to vote
8. Returning Officer and Deputy Returning Officer
9. Rolls of wool-growers
10. Entitlement to apply for enrolment
11. Removal and transfer of names and correction of errors
12. Personal representatives and trustees
13. Partnerships
14. Transmission of ballot papers
15. Offences
16. Regulations
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WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - PREAMBLE
SECT
An Act to provide for a Referendum for the purpose of ascertaining whether the
Wool-growers of Australia approve a certain Plan for maintaining Reserve
Prices for Australian Wool sold at auction.
Preamble. WHEREAS a plan for maintaining reserve prices for Australian wool
sold at auction has been formulated in consultation between the organization
known as the Australian Wool Industry Conference and the Government of the
Commonwealth:
AND WHEREAS legislation of the Parliament would be necessary for carrying
the plan into effect:
AND WHEREAS it is desirable to ascertain, for the information of the
Government and of the Parliament, whether the wool-growers of Australia
approve the plan:
AND WHEREAS it is the intention of the Government to regard the plan as
having been approved by the wool-growers of Australia if a majority of the
wool-growers who vote at the referendum held under this Act approve the plan:
BE it therefore enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate,
and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as
follows:-
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - SECT. 1.
Short title.
SECT
Short title amended; No. 32, 1918, s. 2.
1. This Act may be cited as the Wool Reserve Prices Plan Referendum Act
1965.*
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - SECT. 2.
Commencement.
SECT
2. This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the
Royal Assent.*
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - SECT. 3.
Interpretation.
SECT
3. (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears-
''the Australian Wool Industry Conference'' means the organization having
that name that is referred to in the Wool Industry Act 1962-1964;
''the Chief Electoral Officer'' means the Chief Electoral Officer for the
Commonwealth;
''the Plan'' means the plan for maintaining reserve prices for Australian
wool sold at auction that has been formulated in consultation between the
Australian Wool Industry Conference and the Government of the Commonwealth;
''trustee'' includes an Official Receiver or Trustee in Bankruptcy;
''wool-grower'' means a person who owns sheep that are kept by him wholly or
partly for the purpose of the production of shorn wool.
(2) For the purposes of this Act-
(a) the Australian Capital Territory shall be deemed to be part of the
State of New South Wales;
(b) the Northern Territory shall be deemed to be part of the State of South
Australia;
(c) a corporation shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident in the State in
which its principal office in Australia is situated; and
(d) a wool-grower (not being a corporation) who is ordinarily resident
outside Australia shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident in the State in
which he keeps sheep or, if he keeps sheep in two or more States, the State in
which he keeps the greater or greatest number of sheep.
(3) A reference in this Act to the ownership of sheep shall be read as a
reference to the legal ownership, except that where the legal ownership of
sheep is vested in a mortgagee, the sheep shall be deemed to be owned by the
person who would be the owner if the mortgage were discharged.
(4) For the purposes of this Act, other than a provision creating an
offence-
(a) the Crown in right of the Commonwealth shall be deemed to be a person
ordinarily resident in the Australian Capital Territory; and
(b) the Crown in right of a State shall be deemed to be a person ordinarily
resident in that State.
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - SECT. 4.
Minister to provide particulars of Plan.
SECT
4. For the purposes of this Act, the Minister shall deliver to the Chief
Electoral Officer a document under his hand containing a statement of the
Plan, being a statement prepared by the Minister and approved by the Executive
Committee of the Australian Wool Industry Conference, and that statement
shall, for the purposes of this Act, be taken to be a full and correct
statement of the Plan.
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - SECT. 5.
Referendum.
SECT
5. (1) A referendum in respect of the Plan shall be held in accordance with
this Act.
(2) At the referendum, the Plan shall be submitted, in accordance with this
Act and the regulations, to a poll of wool-growers enrolled on rolls for the
several States prepared in accordance with this Act.
(3) Each ballot-paper sent or delivered to an enrolled person shall be
accompanied by a statement of the Plan in the terms of the statement referred
to in the last preceding section.
(4) Each ballot-paper at the referendum shall ask the voter to indicate
whether he approves the Plan as set forth in the statement accompanying the
ballot-paper.
(5) A person may vote at the referendum by post, in accordance with the
regulations, or in any other manner permitted by the regulations.
(6) The poll at the referendum shall close at the prescribed time on the
prescribed date and only votes received by a Deputy Returning Officer before
that time shall be counted.
(7) Particulars of the voting at the referendum shall be published as
prescribed.
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - SECT. 6.
Distribution of arguments for and against the Plan.
SECT
6. (1) If, on or before the first day of October, One thousand nine hundred
and sixty-five, there is received by the Minister either or both of the
following:-
(a) an argument in favour of the Plan, consisting of not more than two
thousand words, authorized by the Executive Committee of the Australian Wool
Industry Conference;
(b) an argument against the Plan, consisting of not more than two thousand
words, authorized by the organizations and companies specified in the next
succeeding sub-section, or by a majority of those organizations and
companies,
the Minister shall cause a pamphlet to be printed containing the argument or
arguments, and each ballot paper sent or delivered to an enrolled person shall
be accompanied by a copy of the pamphlet.
(2) The organizations and companies referred to in the last preceding
sub-section are the following:-
The Committee for the Retention and Improvement of the Free Wool Market;
The Graziers' Association of New South Wales;
The Graziers' Association of Victoria;
The Graziers' Association of Riverina;
The Stockowners' Association of South Australia;
The Pastoralists' Association of West Darling;
Australian Mercantile, Land and Finance Company Limited;
Pitt Son and Badgery Limited; and
Winchcombe Carson Limited.
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - SECT. 7.
Entitlement to vote.
SECT
7. (1) Subject to this section, a person is entitled to vote at the
referendum if, at the time of voting, he is enrolled on the roll for a State
prepared under this Act and is a wool-grower who-
(a) produced not less than ten bales of shorn wool during the year that
ended on the thirtieth day of June, One thousand nine hundred and sixty-five;
or
(b) has owned not less than three hundred sheep at all times from and
including the sixteenth day of September, One thousand nine hundred and
sixty-five.
(2) A person (other than the Crown, a corporation or the separate person who
is to be deemed to be constituted by any personal representative or personal
representatives or trustee or trustees) is not entitled to vote at the
referendum unless he has attained the age of twenty-one years.
(3) A person is not entitled to vote more than once at the referendum.
(4) For the purposes of this section, a person voting in the capacity of
personal representative or trustee shall be taken to be distinct from the same
person voting in his own right or in another capacity of personal
representative or trustee.
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - SECT. 8.
Returning Officer and Deputy Returning Officer.
SECT
8. (1) The Chief Electoral Officer shall be the Returning Officer for the
purposes of the referendum.
(2) The Returning Officer shall appoint a Deputy Returning Officer for each
State.
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - SECT. 9.
Rolls of wool-growers.
SECT
9. (1) The Secretary to the Department of Primary Industry shall, on the
basis of information obtained by him from wool-brokers and wool-dealers and
any other available information, prepare, in respect of each State, a roll
containing the names and addresses of persons appearing to him to be persons
who, during the year that ended on the thirtieth day of June, One thousand
nine hundred and sixty-four, were ordinarily resident in the State and
delivered to a wool-broker or wool-dealer not less than ten bales of shorn
wool produced by them as wool-growers.
(2) The Secretary shall deliver the rolls prepared by him to the Returning
Officer, and those rolls, as added to or altered in accordance with this Act
and the regulations, shall be the rolls for the respective States for the
purposes of the referendum.
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - SECT. 10.
Entitlement to apply for enrolment.
SECT
10. (1) Subject to this section, a person who is not enrolled in accordance
with the last preceding section is entitled to apply for enrolment on the roll
for a State if he is ordinarily resident in the State and is a wool-grower
who-
(a) produced, as a wool-grower, not less than ten bales of shorn wool
during the year that ended on the thirtieth day of June, One thousand nine
hundred and sixty-five; or
(b) has owned not less than three hundred sheep at all times from and
including the sixteenth day of September, One thousand nine hundred and
sixty-five.
(2) A person (other than the Crown, a corporation or the separate person who
is to be deemed to be constituted by any personal representative or personal
representatives or trustee or trustees) is not entitled to apply for enrolment
unless he has attained the age of twenty-one years, or will attain that age on
or before the date on which the poll closes.
(3) A person entitled to apply for enrolment on the roll for a State may, at
any time before the poll closes, apply accordingly, in the prescribed manner,
to the Deputy Returning Officer for the State and, if the Deputy Returning
Officer is satisfied that the person is entitled to make the application and
is not already enrolled, he shall enter his name and address on the roll.
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - SECT. 11.
Removal and transfer of names and correction of errors.
SECT
11. A Deputy Returning Officer for a State may-
(a) remove from the roll for the State the enrolment of a person whom he is
satisfied is not entitled to vote at the referendum or is ordinarily resident
in another State;
(b) enrol on the roll for the State a person appearing to be entitled to
vote and to be ordinarily resident in that State, being a person whose
enrolment on the roll for another State is removed from that other roll; and
(c) make such corrections to names and addresses on the roll for the State
as he is satisfied are necessary by reason of error or change of name or
address.
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - SECT. 12.
Personal representatives and trustees.
SECT
12. (1) For the purposes of this Act, the personal representative or
personal representatives of a deceased person, in whom sheep are vested, shall
be deemed-
(a) to be, in his or their capacity as personal representative or personal
representatives, a separate person;
(b) to have produced or delivered any wool produced or delivered by the
deceased person before his death, or by any predecessor in the office of
personal representative; and
(c) to be ordinarily resident-
(i) in the State in which the deceased person ordinarily resided; or
(ii) if the deceased person ordinarily resided outside Australia, in the
State in which the sheep are kept or, if the sheep are kept in two or more
States, the State in which the greater or greatest number of sheep are kept.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, a trustee or trustees in whom any sheep
are vested shall be deemed-
(a) to be, in his or their capacity as trustee or trustees, a separate
person;
(b) to have produced or delivered any wool that was produced or delivered
by any predecessor in the office of trustee or, where the sheep are part of
the estate of a bankrupt, by the bankrupt; and
(c) to be ordinarily resident in the State in which the sheep are kept or,
if the sheep are kept in two or more States, the State in which the greater or
greatest number of sheep are kept.
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - SECT. 13.
Partnerships.
SECT
13. For the purposes of this Act, sheep owned by a partnership, and wool
produced or delivered by a partnership, shall be deemed to be owned, or to
have been produced or delivered, as the case may be, by the partners
individually in the proportions in which they are entitled to share in the
profits of the partnership.
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - SECT. 14.
Transmission of ballot papers.
SECT
14. (1) The Deputy Returning Officer for a State shall transmit by post or
deliver to every person enrolled on the roll for that State a ballot-paper in
accordance with the prescribed form.
(2) As far as practicable, ballot-papers shall be transmitted under this
section at least thirty days before the date on which the poll closes.
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - SECT. 15.
Offences.
SECT
Sub-section (1) amended by No. 93, 1966, s. 3.
15. (1) Where, on the twenty-first day before the date on which the poll
closes, a person-
(a) is entitled to make a claim for enrolment under this Act;
(b) is not so enrolled; and
(c) has not duly applied for enrolment,
that person shall make a claim for enrolment, in accordance with this Act and
the regulations, not later than seven days after that first-mentioned day.
Penalty: Ten dollars.
(2) A person who has, within the seven days referred to in the last
preceding sub-section, ceased to be entitled to apply for enrolment is not
liable to prosecution under that sub-section.
(3) For the purposes of this section, if a person has received a ballot-
paper for the referendum, it shall be conclusively presumed that he was
enrolled at the time he received the ballot-paper.
Amended by No. 93, 1966, s. 3.
(4) A person who-
(a) becomes, not less than seven days before the date on which the poll
closes, entitled to vote at the referendum;
(b) remains so entitled up to the time at which the poll closes; and
(c) fails to vote at the referendum,
is guilty of an offence, punishable by a fine not exceeding Ten dollars.
(5) Where two or more personal representatives or trustees would be guilty
of an offence against this section if they were one person, each of them shall
be deemed to be guilty of the offence.
(6) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against this section if
the person charged satisfies the court that there was a reasonable excuse for
the failure out of which the charge arises or, in the case of a prosecution of
a personal representative or trustee, that he could not reasonably have been
expected to ensure that that failure did not occur.
(7) A prosecution shall not be instituted under this section against a
person who does not ordinarily reside in Australia.
(8) Proceedings for an offence against this section shall not be instituted
except with the consent in writing of the Minister or of a person authorized
in writing by the Minister to give such consents.
(9) In a prosecution for an offence against sub-section (4) of this section,
a certificate under the hand of the Deputy Returning Officer for a State
certifying-
(a) that a person was, on the eighth day before the date on which the poll
closed, enrolled on the roll for that State; and
(b) that that person did not vote at the referendum,
is evidence of the facts stated in the certificate and of the fact that that
person became, not less than seven days before the date on which the poll
closed, entitled to vote at the referendum and remained so entitled up to the
time at which the poll closed.
WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - SECT. 16.
Regulations.
SECT
Amended by No. 93, 1966, s. 3.
16. The Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with this
Act, prescribing all matters that by this Act are required or permitted to be
prescribed or that are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying
out or giving effect to this Act and, in particular, for making provision for
or in relation to-
(a) the manner of voting at the referendum, including the furnishing of
declarations with respect to entitlement to vote;
(b) the manner in which the entitlement of a corporation, of the Crown, or
of personal representatives or trustees, to apply for enrolment or to vote at
the referendum is to be exercised;
(c) the issue of ballot-papers, and the replacement of lost or destroyed
ballot-papers;
(d) the scrutiny at the referendum;
(e) the time and manner of destruction of ballot-papers, and their
preservation until that time;
(f) the forms to be used in connexion with the referendum; and
(g) the prohibition of false statements and improper conduct in connexion
with the referendum, and the imposition of penalties, not exceeding a fine of
One thousand dollars or imprisonment for three months, for contraventions of
such a prohibition.
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WOOL RESERVE PRICES PLAN REFERENDUM ACT 1965 - NOTE
NOTE
1. The Wool Reserve Prices Plan Referendum Act 1965 comprises the Wool
Reserve Prices Plan Referendum Act 1965 as amended by the other Act specified
in the following table:
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Number Date of Date of
Act and year Assent commencement
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Wool Reserve Prices Plan
Referendum Act 1965 No. 56, 1965 29 Sept 1965 29 Sept 1965
Statute Law Revision
(Decimal Currency) Act
1966 No. 93, 1966 29 Oct 1966 1 Dec 1966
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