Commonwealth Numbered Acts

SHIP CONSTRUCTION BOUNTY ACT 1975 No. 79, 1975 - SECT 10

10. (1) Bounty is not payable in respect of the construction or modification
of a vessel unless-

   (a)  the shipowner-

        (i)    within 60 days after the service of a notice on him under
               sub-section 6 (3), accepts an Australian tender lodged in
               response to a call for public tenders for that construction or
               modification under section 4 and notifies the Minister, in
               writing, accordingly; and

        (ii)   after consultation with the shipbuilder who lodged that tender,
               prepares, and submits to the Minister, a draft contract between
               the shipowner and that shipbuilder for the carrying out, in
               accordance with the specifications, of that construction or
               modification, being a draft contract that-

                (A)  fixes a date of completion for the construction or
                     modification; and

                (B)  if, in the case of the construction of a vessel, a major
                     unit from which the vessel is to be constructed has not
                     been set up on the construction site, fixes a date for
                     that setting up;

   (b)  the Minister, having regard to the nature and extent of the
        construction or modification-

        (i)    approves the date of completion fixed by the draft contract;
               and

        (ii)   where the draft contract fixes a date for the setting up on the
               construction site of a major unit from which the vessel is to
               be constructed-approves that date; and

   (c)  before the date of commencement or, if in special circumstances the
        Minister so approves, before the vessel is built or the modification
        is completed-

        (i)    the shipowner and the shipbuilder enter into the contract the
               draft of which was submitted to the Minister under
               sub-paragraph (a) (ii); and

        (ii)   the shipowner enters into such an agreement with the Minister
               as is required by sub-section (2).

(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1) (c) (ii), the agreement required to
be entered into by the shipowner with the Minister is such agreement as the
Minister considers necessary to ensure that, if bounty is paid in respect of
the construction or modification of the vessel, an amount calculated in
accordance with sub-section (4) may be recovered by Australia as a debt due to
Australia if-

   (a)  where the vessel is to be constructed-the vessel is used during the
        prescribed period otherwise than as specified in sub-paragraph 4 (1)
        (c) (i), in the case of a large vessel, or in sub-paragraph 4 (1) (c)
        (ii), in the case of a small vessel; or

   (b)  where the vessel is to be modified-the vessel is used during the
        prescribed period, or such part of the prescribed period as the
        Minister considers appropriate, otherwise than as specified in
        sub-paragraph 4 (1) (c) (i), in the case of a large vessel, or in
        sub-paragraph 4 (1) (c) (ii), in the case of a small vessel.
(3) For the purposes of sub-section (2), ''prescribed period'', in relation to
a vessel, means a period of 10 years commencing on the day on which bounty
becomes payable in respect of the construction or modification of the vessel.

(4) For the purposes of an agreement referred to in sub-section (2), the
amount to be recovered by Australia is an amount that bears the same
proportion to the amount of the bounty paid in respect of the construction or
modification of the vessel as that part of the period to which the agreement
relates that commenced when the vessel commenced to be used otherwise than as
specified in sub-paragraph 4 (1) (c) (i) or 4 (1) (c) (ii), as the case may
be, bears to the whole of that period.

(5) Sub-section (1), in so far as it refers to a draft contract, or a
contract, for the carrying out of the construction or modification of a
vessel, does not apply in relation to a shipowner who proposes to carry out a
construction or modification himself, but bounty is not payable in respect of
the construction or modification to be carried out by such a shipowner unless-

   (a)  before, in the case of the construction of a vessel, the major unit
        from which the vessel is to be constructed is set up on the
        construction site or, in the case of the modification of a vessel,
        before the modification has begun, the shipowner submits to the
        Minister for his approval-

        (i)    a date of completion for the construction or modification; and

        (ii)   in the case of a construction of a vessel-a date for the
               setting up on the construction site of a major unit from which
               the vessel is to be constructed; and

   (b)  the Minister, having regard to the nature and extent of the
        construction or modification, approves that date or both of those
        dates, as the case may be.