EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1986 NO. 14
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Aviation
AIR NAVIGATION (CHARGES) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
Section 6 of the Air Navigation (Charges) Act 1952 provides that the Governor-General may make regulations not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters permitted by the Act, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act. Section 5A of the Act provides that the Minister, the Secretary or an authorised officer may, in the prescribed circumstances, authorise such remission or refund of the whole or part of any charge due and payable under the Act, or of the whole or part of an amount payable by way of penalty under sub-section 5(2), as that person thinks just in all the circumstances.
The Air Navigation (Charges) Amendment Act 1984 provided, inter alia, for introduction of new charging arrangements to replace the existing system of air navigation charges (ANCs). The new arrangements, which are to comprise separate airport and airway charges, are scheduled to commence on 1 July 1986.
Under the existing charging arrangements, aircraft operators coming within the general aviation category pay ANCs under Schedule 2 of the Act as an annual lump sum payable in advance, due on the aircraft registration anniversary. ANCs now payable by these operators are partly in respect of the 1986/87 financial year which is subsequent to the scheduled commencement date for separate charges. An increasing proportion of annual lump sum charges now payable relates to a period after 1 July 1986.
A mechanism is necessary to assist aircraft operators who could otherwise experience difficulties with the transition to the new charging arrangements and it is proposed to do this by varying administrative procedures to permit collection of pro-rata payment of the annual charges in the period leading up to the changeover.
New regulation 2A prescribes the circumstance for the purposes of section 5A in relation to remission and refund of penalty. The penalty that may be remitted or refunded under section 5A will only relate to an annual charge that applies in respect of a year of registration expiring on or after 1 July 1986.
The new regulation paves the way for administrative arrangements whereby the person liable to pay air navigation charges will be given the option of paying the full amount of the annual charge or only a pro-rata portion. The Secretary or an authorised officer is empowered to remit or refund penalties which would otherwise apply where the pro-rata ANC was paid. Aircraft operators in the general aviation category will therefore be able to pay ANCs proportional to the operator’s liability for the period between the anniversary of registration and the scheduled date of commencement of separate charges without being penalised.
It is intended that a remission of any unexpired amount of annual ANCs relating to the period subsequent to the commencement date of separate airport and airways charges be included in regulations relating to transitional arrangements consequent upon the introduction of separate charges. Provision will also be made for partial refunds to those operators paying the full amount of annual charge for a period ending after the commencement of separate charges.