COTTON BOUNTY.

No. 3 of 1957.

An Act to amend the Cotton Bounty Act 1951–1955.

[Assented to 15th April, 1957.]

BE it enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:—

Short title and citation.

1.—(1.) This Act may be cited as the Cotton Bounty Act 1957.

(2.) The Cotton Bounty Act 1951–1955 is in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.

(3.) The Principal Act, as amended by this Act, may be cited as the Cotton Bounty Act 1951–1957.

Commencement.

2.—(1.) Subject to the next succeeding sub-section, this Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.

(2.) The amendments made by sections three and four of this Act shall be deemed to have come into operation on the second day of January, One thousand nine hundred and fifty-two.

Specification of bounty.

3. Section five of the Principal Act is amended by omitting from paragraph (c) the words “which has been sold for use in Australia” and inserting in their stead the words “for sale for use in Australia”.

Rate of bounty.

4. Section eight of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by inserting in sub-section (1.),after the word “paid”, the words “or payable”; and

(b) by omitting sub-section (2.) and inserting, in its stead the following sub-sections:—

“(2.) Where the total of the amounts paid or payable by a processor to growers for seed cotton delivered in any year, being seed cotton in respect of which bounty is payable, is less than the amount which the Minister—

(a) having regard to the proceeds of the sale by the processor during the year of raw cotton and of by-products of raw cotton and to the value of raw cotton and of by-products of raw cotton remaining unsold by the processor at the end of the year; and.

(b) after making such allowance for the expenses of ginning and of administration as he considers reasonable,

is of the opinion might have been expected to have been paid or payable, the bounty otherwise payable in respect of the seed cotton so delivered shall be reduced by the amount of the deficiency.

“(3.) Where the Minister is satisfied that an amount paid or payable by a processor to a grower for seed cotton in respect of which bounty is payable includes an amount which is attributable to profits made by the processor from activities other than the production and sale of raw cotton or of by-products of raw cotton, the amount so included shall not be taken into account for the purposes of this section.”.

5. After section eight of the Principal Act the following section is inserted:—

Advances on account of bounty.

“8a.—(1.) At any time after the delivery of any seed cotton to a processor, an advance on account of the bounty in respect of that seed cotton may be made to the processor on such terms and conditions (including conditions with respect to the distribution amongst growers of the amount of the advance) as are approved by the Minister.

“(2.) Where a processor has received by way of an advance or advances on account of any bounty an amount which, or amounts the sum of which, exceeds the amount of the bounty,

he is liable to repay to the Commonwealth the amount of the excess, and the Commonwealth may recover that amount as a debt due to the Commonwealth by action in a court of competent jurisdiction.

“(3.) An advance on account of bounty shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be a payment of bounty.

“(4.) Advances on account of bounty are payable out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, which is hereby appropriated accordingly.”.