Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

[Index] [Search] [Download] [Related Items] [Help]

AUSTRALIAN WOOL REALISATION COMMISSION REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1991 NO. 432

STATUTORY RULES 1991 No. 432

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Primary Industries and Energy

AUSTRALIAN WOOL REALISATION COMMISSION ACT 1991

Australian Wool Realisation Commission Regulations (Amendment)

Section 72 of the Australian Wool Realisation Commission Act 1991 (the Act) provides for the Governor-General to make regulations for the purposes of the Act. Section 83 of the Act provides for the making of regulations in respect of transitional matters due to the repeal of the Wool Marketing Act 1987 (the repealed Act).

Subsection 80(2) of the Act provides for regulations to be made in relation to the payment of amounts due and payable to a person or body under three schemes which existed under the repealed Act. These schemes were:

(a)       a scheme for the disposal of sheep, which operated from November 1990 to March 1991, in which woolgrowers were re-imbursed a nominal amount for the orderly disposal of surplus sheep;

(b)       a scheme for the payment of woolgrowers not able to sell their wool before 1 June 1990, when the minimum reserve price was lowered, due to the flooding which occurred in New South Wales and Queensland in April and May 1990;

(c)       the repayment of woolgrowers' wool-tax contributions to the Market Support Fund (MSF). The MSF was a pool of woolgrowers' funds used to support the Reserve Price Scheme. These funds were repaid to woolgrowers periodically, with the last repayment period announced in May 1989, and pertaining to the 1983-84 and 1984-85 seasons.

Subsection 80(2) also provides for regulations to be made in respect of the period within which any payment is to be made by the Australian Wool Realisation Commission (the Commission) under these schemes. As the period to which the schemes apply has passed, it is necessary from the Commission's perspective to finalise payments relating to the schemes. The Regulations provide that all payments must be made by the Commission by 31 December 1991, and, in addition, rectify an incorrect reference in existing regulation 6 to the relevant subsection of the Act.

The details of the Regulations are as follows:

Clause 1 provides for the commencement of the Regulations, with subregulation 3.1 to apply retrospectively to 1 July 1991. This clause pertains to the amendment of the incorrect reference to the relevant subsection of the Act, and has no adverse financial implications for any persons involved with the schemes;

Clause 2 provides for the amendment of the Regulations; and

Clause 3 Subregulation 3.1 omits the reference to the incorrect subsection in the existing regulation 6, and inserts the correct subsection as'subsection 80(2)'. Subregulation 3.2 adds at the end of the existing regulation 6 that all payments under the three schemes must be made by the Commission by 31 December 1991.