WOOD PULP AND ROCK PHOSPHATE BOUNTIES.

No. 32 of 1912.

An Act to provide for Bounties on Wood Pulp and Rock Phosphate and Rewards for the Discovery of Rock Phosphate.

[Assented to 24th December, 1912.]

Preamble.

BE it enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, for the purpose of appropriating the grant originated in the House of Representatives, as follows:—

Short title.

1. This Act may be cited as the Wood Pulp and Rock Phosphate Bounties Act 1912.

Appropriation for payment of bounties.

2. There shall be payable out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, which is hereby appropriated accordingly, the sum of Seventy-five thousand pounds during the period of five years commencing on the first day of January One thousand nine hundred and thirteen, for the payment of bounties and rewards in accordance with this Act.

Specification of bounties.

3.—(1.) The bounties under this Act shall be payable on the manufacture or production in Australia of wood pulp and rock phosphate.

(2.) In order to entitle producers to bounty, the goods in respect of which the bounty is claimed must be produced, and the claim for bounty must be made, within the periods specified in the second column of the Schedule.

(3.) The bounties shall be payable at the rates specified in the third column of the Schedule.

(4.) The maximum amounts of bounty which may be paid in any one year in respect of any goods specified in the Schedule shall be as specified in the fourth column of the Schedule:

Provided that, where the maximum amount in respect of any item has not been paid in any year, the unpaid balance or any part thereof may be paid in respect of that item in any subsequent year in addition to the maximum amount for that year.

Conditions of bounties on wood pulp.

4. Bounty in respect of wood pulp shall only be payable in respect of wood pulp which—

(a) is, in the opinion of the Minister, of a merchantable quality,

(b) has been manufactured in not less than the prescribed quantity and subject to the prescribed conditions,

(c) has been manufactured from raw material, the produce of Australia, and

(d) has been manufactured by white labour only.

Conditions of bounty on rock phosphate.

5. Bounty in respect of rock phosphate shall only be payable in cases where—

(a) at least ten thousand tons of rock phosphate have been produced from the one deposit,

(b) the rock phosphate has been produced subject to the prescribed conditions,

(c) the rock phosphate has been produced by white labour only, and

(d) the rock phosphate has been manufactured into marketable phosphatic manure in Australia.

Employment of aboriginal not to prejudice claim for bounty.

6. The employment, in the manufacture or production of the goods, of any aboriginal native of Australia, or of any coloured person born in Australia and having one white parent, shall not prejudice the claim to bounty in respect thereof.

Conditions of employment and rates of wages.

7.—(1.) The Minister may make application to the President of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, or to any Judge of a Federal or State Court or to any person or persons who compose a State Industrial Authority, for a declaration as to what wages and conditions of employment are fair and reasonable for labour employed in the manufacture or production of the goods.

(2.) On the hearing and determination of the application, the President, Judge, person or persons shall have all the powers which under the Excise Procedure Act 1907 belong to the President of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, and all witnesses and persons summoned to appear or appearing before him or them shall be entitled to the same privileges and protection, and be subject to the same liabilities and penalties, as witnesses or persons summoned to appear or appearing before the President on an application within the meaning of that Act, and the provisions of that Act shall, so far as they are applicable apply accordingly, mutatis mutandis, as if the application were an application within the meaning of that Act.

(3.) Every person who claims the bounty payable under the Act shall, in making his claim, certify to the Minister the conditions of employment and the rates of wages paid to any labour employed by him, other than the labour of members of his family.

(4.) If the Minister finds that the rates of wages and conditions of employment, or any of them—

(a) are below the standard rates and conditions of employment prescribed by any Commonwealth or State Industrial Authority, or

(b) are below the standard rates and conditions applicable to the locality and agreed upon between representatives of associations of employers and employees registered under any Commonwealth or State Act, or

(c) are below the rates and conditions declared, as in the first sub-section of this section mentioned, to be fair and reasonable,

the Minister may withhold the whole or any part of the bounty payable.

Reward for discovery of rock phosphate.

8.—(1.) Subject to this section, the Governor-General may, during a period of five years commencing on the first day of January One thousand nine hundred and thirteen, grant a reward of One thousand pounds to the discoverer of any deposit or vein of rock phosphate suitable for making phosphatic manure.

(2.) The discovery must be made after the commencement of this Act, and notice of the discovery must be given to the Minister.

(3.) The deposit or vein must be worked, and ten thousand tons of rock phosphate produced therefrom and used in the manufacture of marketable phosphatic manure.

(4.) The reward shall not be payable if the deposit or vein is situated within twenty-five miles of any other deposit or vein in respect of which a reward is payable or in respect of which the Governor-General considers a prior claim to a reward exists.

(5.) The granting of any reward in pursuance of this section is discretionary, and the decision of the Governor-General in relation to any matter arising under this section shall, as against any discoverer or claimant, be final and conclusive.

(6.) If in any year the money available is not sufficient to pay the full amount of the reward in all cases in which a reward is claimed, the Governor-General may allocate the amount available amongst the persons he is satisfied are entitled to a reward.

(7.) The maximum amount of rewards which may be paid in any one year shall not exceed Five thousand pounds:

Provided that where the maximum amount has not been paid in any year, the unpaid balance, or any part thereof, may be paid in any subsequent year, in addition to the maximum amount for that year.

Offences against Act.

9. No person shall—

(a) obtain any bounty or reward which is not payable;

(b) obtain payment of any bounty or reward by means of any false or misleading statement: or

(c) present to any officer or other person doing duty in relation to this Act or the Regulations any document, or make to any such officer or person any statement which is false in any particular.

Penalty: One hundred pounds, or imprisonment for twelve months.

Aiding and abetting offences.

10. Whoever aids, abets, counsels, or procures, or by act or omission is in any way directly or indirectly knowingly concerned in the commission of any offence against this Act shall be deemed to have committed that offence and shall be punishable accordingly.

Regulations.

11. The Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, prescribing all matters which by this Act are required or permitted to be prescribed or are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for giving effect to this Act, and in particular for any of the following purposes:—

(a) For prescribing the proportion in which bounty shall be payable to claimants who have complied with the prescribed conditions in cases where there is not sufficient money available to pay the full bounty in respect of all the claims; and

(b) For prescribing the manner in which the market value is to be determined.

THE SCHEDULE.