EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1984 NO. 174
QUARANTINE (COCOS ISLANDS) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Health
Sub-section 87(1) of the Quarantine Act 1908 (‘the Act’) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters which by the Act are required or permitted to be prescribed or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
Sub-section 87(1A) further provides that regulations made under sub-section (1) may, inter alia, apply in, or relate to, the Cocos Islands only.
Sub-section 87(1B) provides that regulations made under sub-section 87(1) may be made for the purpose of preventing the spread of animal or plant diseases to, or from, quarantine stations in the Cocos Islands or for the purpose of preventing, eradicating or controlling animal or plant diseases in the Cocos Islands.
The Quarantine (Cocos Islands) Regulations were made following the establishment of a high security quarantine station on the Cocos Islands, to provide for the prevention, eradication and control of animal and plant diseases that might endanger the security of the station. Regulation 14 provided that a quarantine
officer might enter premises for the purpose of examining those premises and any domestic animal therein to ensure that the animal was healthy and the premises free from infection. Regulation 19 provided that a quarantine officer might enter premises to examine goods that were suspected of being diseased.
The Senate Standing Committee on Regulations and Ordinances expressed concern that regulations 14 and 19 provided an unrestricted right of a quarantine officer to enter premises in the Cocos Islands.
To overcome the Standing Committee’s concerns, the Quarantine Act was subsequently amended by Quarantine Amendment Act 1984, which received Royal Assent on 26 April 1984. The amending Act made provision for a quarantine officer to enter land or premises on the Cocos Islands, with the consent of the occupier or by warrant issued by a Justice of the Peace, for the purpose of searching such land or premises for domestic animals and to take certain measures to ensure that the land, premises or animals are clean and free from infection. These provisions were fixed by proclamation to come into effect on 1 August 1984.
Consequently, regulations 14 and 19 have been repealed by the Governor-General in Council.