EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Telecom (Capital) Regulations
Statutory Rule No.204 of 1989
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Transport and Communications
Section 105 of the Australian Telecommunications Corporation Act 1989 (the Corporation Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Corporation Act, prescribing matters required or permitted by the Corporation Act to be prescribed or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Corporation Act.
Section 85 of the Telecommunications and Postal Services (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 1989 (the Transition Act) provides that, subject to any regulations made under the Corporation Act, section 71 of the Telecommunications Act 1975 (the old Act), as in force immediately before the commencement of section 85, continues to have effect as if the old Act had not been repealed. (The old Act was repealed by section 90 of the Transition Act.)
Section 71 of the old Act provides for the determination of the value of the Australian Telecommunications Corporation’s (Telecom) assets, liabilities, and vesting day loans payable by Telecom to the Commonwealth as at 1 July 1975.
Section 47 of the Corporation Act provides that the Minister shall, as soon as practicable after the commencement of the Corporation Act and after consultation with the Board of Telecom, determine the amount of Telecom’s initial capital under the Corporation Act.
It is intended that 25% of the vesting day loans payable by Telecom to the Commonwealth under section 71 of the old Act will be determined by the Minister to be Telecom’s initial capital under subsection 47(1) of the Corporation Act. The regulations enable the making of this determination by converting 25% of these loans to equity.
Details of the regulations are as follows:
Citation
Clause 1 - Provides that the Regulations are to be called the Telecom (Capital) Regulations.
Clause 2 - Provides that section 71 of the old Act continues to have effect as if the amounts of the loans determined under that section were reduced by 25%.