30 Powers of public authorities
Notwithstanding anything in any other Act, any public authority is hereby authorised and empowered to enter into agreements for the purposes of this Act with a corporation and may do or suffer anything necessary or expedient for carrying any such agreement into effect.
(1) In this section, corporation does not include the Ministerial Development Corporation.(2) If any difference, whether arising out of the construction of this Act or not, arises between a corporation and a council, with respect to the carrying out of the provisions of this Act or with respect to the fulfilment and exercise of the corporation’s responsibilities, powers, authorities, duties, functions or privileges, the corporation or the council may submit the difference to the Minister, who may refer the matter for inquiry to some person appointed by the Minister in that behalf, or may make his or her own inquiry.(3) The Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Local Government, may thereupon make such order as in the public interest and in the circumstances of the case may seem to the Minister just and equitable, and by the order may direct the payment of any costs and expenses incidental to the conduct of the inquiry.(4) Any such order may, upon the application of the Minister, the corporation or the council, by leave of the Supreme Court, be enforced in the same manner as a judgment or order of the Supreme Court to the same effect.(5) If any such difference arises between a corporation and a Government Department, the parties to the dispute may mutually agree to submit the matter in dispute to the Minister, and in any such case the provisions of this section shall apply to the settlement of the dispute as if the dispute were between a corporation and a council.
A corporation cannot employ any staff.Note. Staff may be employed under Chapter 1A of the Public Sector Employment and Management Act 2002 in the Government Service to enable a corporation to exercise its functions.
(1) Where, through association with a corporation, a person has knowledge of specific information relating to proposals made, or to be made, by the corporation in respect of the use and development of land and that information is not generally known but, if generally known, might reasonably be expected to affect materially the market price of that land, the person is guilty of an offence against this Act if the person:(a) deals, directly or indirectly, in that land for the purpose of gaining an advantage for himself or herself by the use of that information, or(b) divulges that information for the purpose of enabling another person to gain an advantage by using that information to deal, directly or indirectly, in that land,and is liable to a penalty not exceeding 20 penalty units.(2) Where, through association with a corporation, a person is in a position to influence proposals made, or to be made, by the Corporation in respect of the use and development of land and does influence the proposals by securing the inclusion or alteration of any matter in, or the exclusion or omission of any matter from, the proposals, the person is guilty of an offence against this Act if:(a) the person does so for the purpose of gaining an advantage for himself or herself, or(b) the person does so for the purpose of enabling another person to gain an advantage,and is liable to a penalty not exceeding 20 penalty units.(3) Where:(a) an offence under subsection (1) is committed and an advantage, referred to in that subsection, is gained from any dealing in land to which the offence relates, or(b) an offence under subsection (2) is committed and an advantage, referred to in that subsection, is gained from any dealing in land which would not have been gained if the proposals concerned had not been influenced,any person who gained that advantage is, whether or not any person has been prosecuted for or convicted of an offence under subsection (1) or (2), as the case may be, liable to another person for the amount of any loss incurred by that other person by reason of the gaining of that advantage.(4) Where a loss referred to in subsection (3) is incurred by reason of an advantage gained from a dealing in land, the amount of the loss is the difference between the price at which the dealing was effected and:(a) in the case of any dealing to which subsection (1) relates, the price that, in the opinion of the court before which it is sought to recover the amount of the loss, would have been the market price of the land at the time of the dealing if the specific information used to gain that advantage had been generally known at that time, or(b) in any case to which subsection (2) relates, the price that, in the opinion of the court before which it is sought to recover the amount of the loss, would have been the market price of the land at the time of the dealing if the proposals concerned had not been influenced.(5) An action to recover a loss or profit, referred to in subsection (3), may not be brought after the expiration of five years next succeeding the dealing in land to which the transaction relates.(6) For the purposes of this section, a person is associated with a corporation:(a) in the case of a development corporation—if the person is a member of the board or officer or employee of the development corporation or a person appointed to a committee or a sub-committee of the development corporation,(ai) (Repealed)(b) if the person is a member of staff of the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning,(c) (Repealed)(d) if the person is an officer or servant of a council,(e) if the person acts or has acted as banker, Australian legal practitioner, auditor or professional adviser or in any other capacity for the corporation, the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning or a council, or(f) where the person, so associated by virtue of paragraph (e), is a body corporate, if the person is a director, manager or secretary of that body corporate.(7) In this section, a reference to gaining an advantage does not include a reference to Landcom (or any other public authority prescribed by the regulations) gaining an advantage.
(1) If a member of a board of a development corporation, or a member of a committee or a sub-committee of such a board, has an interest, directly or indirectly, in land, proposals in respect of the development or use of which are to be considered by the board, committee or sub-committee, as the case may be, or has a pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, in a contract or proposed contract with the corporation or in any other matter in which the corporation is concerned and is present at a meeting of the board, committee or sub-committee, as the case may be, at which the proposals are or the contract, proposed contract or other matter is the subject of consideration, the member shall, at the meeting, as soon as practicable after the commencement thereof, disclose his or her interest and shall not take part in the consideration or discussion of or vote on any question with respect to the proposals or the contract, proposed contract or other matter.(2) For the purposes of this section, a person shall be treated as having an indirect interest in land or a contract, proposed contract or other matter if:(a) the person or any nominee of the person is a member of a company or other body which has an interest in the land, or with which the contract is made or is proposed to be made or which has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in the other matter under consideration, or(b) the person is a partner, or is in the employment of, a person who has an interest in the land, or with whom the contract is made or is proposed to be made or who has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in the other matter under consideration.(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2):(a) that subsection does not apply to membership of or employment under any council or statutory body,(b) a member of a company or other body shall not, by reason only of the person’s membership, be treated as being so interested if the person has no beneficial interest in any shares of that company or other body, and(c) a member of a company having not less than twenty-five members shall not be treated as having an interest in land or in any contract or proposed contract with the corporation or in any other matter in which the corporation is concerned by reason only that the company has an interest in the land or the contract or proposed contract is with or the other matter concerns the company.(4) In the case of a married couple who are living together, or de facto partners who are living together, the interest of one spouse or de facto partner shall, if known to the other, be deemed, for the purposes of this section, to be also an interest of the other spouse or de facto partner.Note. “De facto partner” is defined in section 21C of the Interpretation Act 1987.(5) A general notice in writing to the secretary or the prescribed officer of the development corporation by a member of a board of a development corporation, or a member of a committee or a sub-committee of such a board, to the effect that the member or the member’s spouse or de facto partner is a member, or is in the employment of a specified company or other body, or that the member or the member’s spouse or de facto partner is a partner or in the employment of a specified person shall, unless and until the notice is withdrawn, be deemed to be a sufficient disclosure of the member’s interest in any land in which that company or other body has an interest or in any contract, proposed contract or other matter relating to that company or other body or to that person which may be the subject of consideration after the date of the notice.(6) The Secretary or officer referred to in subsection (5) shall record in a book to be kept for the purpose particulars of any disclosure made under subsection (1) and of any notice given under subsection (5) and the book shall be open at all reasonable hours to the inspection of any person on payment of such fees as may be determined by the development corporation from time to time.(7) Subject to subsection (8), if any person fails to comply with the provisions of subsection (1), the person is guilty of an offence against this Act and liable to a penalty not exceeding 4 penalty units, unless the person proves that the person did not know that proposals in respect of the development and use of the land in which the person had an interest were, or that the person did not know that a contract, proposed contract or other matter in which the person had a pecuniary interest was, the subject of consideration at the meeting.(8) The Minister may, subject to such conditions as the Minister thinks fit to impose, remove any disability imposed by subsection (1) in any case in which the number of members referred to in subsection (1) so disabled at any one time would be so great a proportion of the whole of the members of the board of a development corporation, or a committee or a sub-committee of such a board, as to impede the transaction of business, or in any other case in which it appears to the Minister that it is in the public interest that the disability should be removed.(9) The board of a development corporation, or a committee or a sub-committee of such a board, may, by resolution, provide for the exclusion of any member thereof from a meeting of the board, committee or sub-committee, as the case may be, while any proposal, in respect of any land or any contract, proposed contract or other matter in which that person has an interest as referred to in this section is under consideration.(10) In this section, shares includes stock.(11) The provisions of this section apply to a member of a council in relation to an interest in land that is within a growth centre and held by the member, directly or indirectly, proposals in respect of the development and use of which are to be considered by the council at a meeting of the council in the same way as they apply to a member of a board of a development corporation having an interest, directly or indirectly, in land proposals in respect of the development and use of which are to be considered by the board of the development corporation at a meeting.(12) (Repealed)
35 Proceedings at meetings confidential
A person shall not, unless the development corporation otherwise determines, disclose any information with respect to the business discussed at any meeting of a development corporation.Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.
35A Proceedings at committee meetings confidential
A person shall not, unless the corporation otherwise determines, disclose any information with respect to the business of a corporation discussed at any meeting of a committee or of a sub-committee of the corporation.Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.
35B Protection from personal liability
Anything done or omitted to be done by:(a) a development corporation, or(b) a board of a development corporation, or(c) a chief executive of a development corporation, or(d) a member of a board of a development corporation, or(e) a person acting under the direction of a development corporation or a board of a development corporation, or(f) a person acting as a delegate of a development corporation,if the thing was done or omitted to be done in good faith for the purpose of executing this or any other Act, does not subject the chief executive, the member of the board of the development corporation or the person so acting personally to any action, liability, claim or demand.
(1) A corporation may, by instrument in writing under seal, delegate to a member or officer or employee of the corporation, or to an officer, employee or servant of a Government Department or public authority whose services are being used by the corporation pursuant to section 21, the exercise or performance of such of the corporation’s responsibilities, powers (other than this power of delegation), authorities, duties and functions as may be specified in the instrument of delegation, and may, by such an instrument, revoke wholly or in part any such delegation.(2) A responsibility, power, authority, duty or function, the exercise or performance of which has been delegated under this section, may, while the delegation remains unrevoked, be exercised or performed from time to time in accordance with the terms of the delegation.(3) A delegation under this section may be made subject to such conditions or such limitations as to the exercise or performance of any of the responsibilities, powers, authorities, duties or functions delegated, or as to time or circumstance, as may be specified in the instrument of delegation.(4) Notwithstanding any delegation under this section, the corporation may continue to exercise or perform all or any of the responsibilities, powers, authorities, duties or functions delegated.(5) Any act or thing done or suffered by a delegate while acting in the exercise of a delegation under this section shall have the same force and effect as if the act or thing had been done or suffered by the corporation and shall be deemed to have been done or suffered by the corporation.(6) An instrument purporting to be signed by a delegate of the corporation in his or her capacity as such a delegate shall in all courts and before all persons acting judicially be received in evidence as if it were an instrument executed by the corporation under seal and, until the contrary is proved, shall be deemed to be an instrument signed by a delegate of the corporation under this section.
Any notice, summons, writ or other proceeding to be served on a corporation may be served:(a) by being left, or(b) in the case of a notice, by posting it addressed to the corporation,at its office or, if it has more than one office, at one of its offices.
(1) Any penalty imposed by this Act or the regulations may be recovered in a summary manner before the Local Court.(2) Where the penalty is a daily penalty it may be recovered either under a separate information or complaint for each day or under an information or complaint for the sum of the daily penalties.
Any charge, fee or money due to a corporation may be recovered as a debt or liquidated demand in a court of competent jurisdiction.
(1) The Governor may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, for or with respect to any matter that by this Act is required or permitted to be prescribed or that is necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act and, in particular, for or with respect to:(a) forms including forms of lease for use for the purposes of this Act, and(b) the payment of fees and travelling and out-of-pocket expenses to members of committees or sub-committees of a corporation for attending meetings, transacting business of the committees or sub-committees and making inspections for the purposes of this Act.(2) Regulations may be made so as to apply differently according to such factors as may be specified in the regulations.(3) A regulation may:(a) impose a penalty for any breach thereof and also distinct penalties in case of successive breaches thereof but no such penalty shall exceed 1 penalty unit, and(b) impose also a daily penalty for any continuing breach thereof not exceeding 0.1 penalty unit per day.
43 Savings, transitional and other provisions
Schedule 6 has effect.