Whenever any portion
of the Colony is about to be separated therefrom the Lords Commissioners of
Her Majesty’s Treasury may if requested by the Governor in Council, on
report and accounts furnished by him, declare what portion of the public debt
of the Colony has been expended within the territory about to be separated,
and the interest and sinking fund, if any, upon the portion of the public debt
mentioned in any such declaration shall be a reserved charge payable to the
Government of Western Australia by the Government of the separated territory,
and due provision for such reserved charge shall be made in any Act regulating
the constitution of the separated territory. Provided always, that nothing
herein contained, and no declaration or provision as aforesaid, shall in any
way prejudice or affect the security of any debentures which may have been
issued by the Government of Western Australia before the separation of any
such territory.