EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1982 NO. 13
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Transport
NAVIGATION (DECK CARGO AND LIVE STOCK) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
The Shipping Registration Act 1981 has been proclaimed to come into operation on 26 January 1982. It fixes the conditions for the registration of ships in Australia and enables ships to be granted Australian nationality and the right to fly the Australian flag. Hitherto, ships have been registered in Australia as British ships under Part I of the United Kingdom Merchant Shipping Act, but repeal of that law, by the Shipping Registration Act, takes effect on 26 January 1982. The Navigation Amendment Act 1981 will, on commencement of the Shipping Registration Act, provide for consequential removal from the Navigation Act 1912 of references to the registration of ships under the Merchant Shipping Act and to British’ and ‘foreign’ ships.
There is also a reference in a provision of the Navigation (Deck Cargo and Live Stock) Regulations to ‘British or foreign’ ships.
The purpose of this consequential amendment is to alter that provision to refer to all ships including those to which Part II of the Navigation Act does not apply; this is a convenient way of making a reference to include ships not registered in Australia, not engaged in the coasting trade or that otherwise do not have a definite Australian connection.
It is provided that the amendment come into force on 26 January 1982, the date on which the new registration provisions commence.