1Name of Act
This Act may be cited as the Coal Acquisition Act
1981.
2Commencement
(1)
This section and section 1 shall commence on the
date of assent to this Act.
(2)
Except as provided in subsection (1), this Act
shall commence on such day as may be appointed by the Governor in respect
thereof and as may be notified by proclamation published in the
Gazette.
3Definitions
In this Act—
appointed day means the day
appointed and notified under section 2 (2).
coal means coal within the meaning of
the Mining Act 1992 that is in a natural
state on or below the surface of any land to which the legislative power of
the State extends.
Coal Compensation
Board means the New South Wales Coal Compensation Board
established under the Coal Acquisition
(Compensation) Arrangements 1985.
relevant proceedings
means proceedings held in accordance with arrangements made under section 6
for the purpose of determining a case to which subsection (1) of that section
applies, and includes the hearing of an appeal from original proceedings held
for that purpose.
s 3: Am 1990 No 20,
Sch 1 (1); 1992 No 29, Sch 5; 2005 No 24, Sch 1 [1].
4Effect of other Acts etc
This Act has effect notwithstanding—
(a)
any other Act or law,
(b)
anything in any grant, lease, licence or other
instrument of title or tenure, or
(c)
anything in any other instrument or document in
force, issued or executed before, on or after the appointed
day.
s 4: Am 2021 No 10,
Sch 3.3.
5Vesting of coal in the Crown
(1)
All coal that, but for this Act, would be vested
in—
(a)
an instrumentality or agency of the Crown,
or
(b)
any person other than the
Crown,
is vested in the Crown freed and discharged from all
trusts, leases, licences, obligations, estates, interests and
contracts.
(2)
This section does not apply to coal granted under
the Coal Ownership (Restitution) Act
1990.
(3)
The reference in subsection (1) to leases does
not include, and is to be taken never to have included, a reference to coal
leases within the meaning of the Coal Mining Act
1973.
(4)
The provisions of this section have effect
despite anything contained in section 42 of the Real Property
Act 1900.
s 5: Am 1990 No 20,
Sch 1 (2); 2009 No 17, Sch 3.2.
5A
s 5A: Ins 1997 No 22,
Sch 1 [2]. Rep 2004 No 55, Sch 3.
5BAcquisition of coal on behalf of the Crown otherwise than by
revesting
(1)
This section applies to coal granted under the
Coal Ownership (Restitution) Act 1990,
whether granted before or after the commencement of this
section.
(2)
The Minister may, on behalf of the Crown, acquire
coal to which this section applies, whether by contract or other
arrangement.
(3), (4)
s 5B: Ins 1997 No 22,
Sch 1 [2]. Am 2005 No 24, Sch 1 [2]; 2007 No 62, Sch 1.1.
6Arrangements by the Governor
(1)
The Governor may by order make
arrangements—
(a)
for the determination of the cases, if any, in
which compensation is to be payable as a result of the operation of section 5
or 5A, and
(b)
if there are any such cases—for the
determination of the amount and method of payment of any such
compensation.
(2)
Except in the cases, if any, and to the extent,
determined under subsection (1) (taking into account section 6A), compensation
is not payable as a result of the operation of section 5 or
5A.
(3)
Arrangements under this section may differentiate
between the persons to whom compensation is payable as a result of the
operation of section 5 or 5A by providing that specified persons, or persons
of a specified class, are not entitled to be paid more than a specified sum or
specified sums of money in respect of coal vested in the Crown, irrespective
of the amount of coal that they owned immediately before the commencement of
section 5 or the publication of the relevant proclamation under section 5A, as
the case requires.
(4)
Arrangements under this section may—
(a)
authorise the person presiding over relevant
proceedings to issue a summons to a person requiring the person to appear at
the proceedings for the purpose of giving evidence, or of producing documents
specified in the summons, relevant to the determination of the proceedings, or
both, and
(b)
provide for the taking in the proceedings of
evidence on oath before the person presiding over the
proceedings.
(5)
Arrangements under this section may also provide
for—
(a)
the basis on which any recommendation referred to
in section 5B (3) is to be made, and
(b)
the determination of the amount, and method of
payment, of any consideration payable in respect of coal acquired under
section 5B.
(6)
Arrangements under this section that, before the
commencement of this subsection, were made otherwise than by order are taken
always to have been made by order.
(7)
The amount of compensation payable under
arrangements under this section must be just and equitable in so far as the
compensation—
(a)
results from the operation of section 5A,
or
(b)
relates to a refusal by the Minister to grant
coal to an eligible applicant, after the commencement of this subsection,
under the Coal Ownership (Restitution) Act
1990.
For the purposes of giving effect to paragraph
(b) any existing determination of the compensation concerned is to be
re-determined in accordance with this subsection.
(8)
It is the duty of the Minister—
(a)
to ensure that the arrangements are reviewed as
soon as practicable after the commencement of this subsection, and thereafter
from time to time, for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the
arrangements comply with subsection (7), and
(b)
to ensure that amendments to the arrangements are
promoted, from time to time as necessary, to bring the arrangements into
conformity with subsection (7).
s 6: Am 1990 No 20,
Sch 1 (3); 1997 No 22, Sch 1 [3]–[7]; 2005 No 24, Sch 1
[3].
6ASpecial provisions relating to
compensation
(1)
Section 6, and any arrangements made under that
section, are subject to the provisions of this section.
(2)
If royalty is to be included in the determination
of compensation under section 6 in relation to any claim, the royalty is to be
calculated in accordance with the provisions of the Mining Act 1992 and the Mining Regulation 2003 relating to the
payment of royalty, as those provisions were in force immediately before 1
July 2004.
(3)
Despite subsection (2), the determination of
compensation payable under section 6 in relation to any claim must not include
an additional amount in respect of royalty under section 283 (1) (b) of the
Mining Act 1992 (or any provision of or
made under the former Coal Mining Act 1973 relating to the
payment of additional royalty) unless the Coal Compensation Board considers it
appropriate and the amount relates to a period occurring before 1 July
2004.
(4)
Any additional amount of royalty referred to in
subsection (3) is to be calculated in accordance with the provisions of
section 283 (1) (b) of the Mining Act
1992, and the relevant provisions of the Mining Regulation 2003, as in force
immediately before 1 July 2004.
(5)
The determination of compensation payable under
section 6 in relation to any claim must not include any amount in respect of
any contract or other arrangement that—
(a)
was entered into by an applicant or tenderer for,
or the holder of, any lease, licence or other authorisation under the Coal Mining
Act 1973 (as in force before its repeal) or the Mining Act 1992, and
(b)
was entered into for the purpose of fulfilling a
requirement relating to the grant of the lease, licence or other authorisation
or a condition of the lease, licence or other authorisation,
and
(c)
related to the price at which coal was to be
supplied to another party to the contract or
arrangement.
(6)
The provisions of this section extend to any
compensation in relation to a claim that has not been finally determined at
the commencement of this section, including a claim that is the subject of any
appeal, judicial review or redetermination.
(7)
However, the provisions of this
section—
(a)
do not affect any payment of compensation under
section 6 made before the commencement of this section if the payment was in
respect of a claim that had been finally determined before that commencement,
or
(b)
do not entitle any person who has received a
payment referred to in paragraph (a) in respect of a claim to any further
payment of compensation under section 6 in respect of the
claim.
(8)
The arrangements made under section 6 may (but
need not) make provision with respect to the circumstances in which a claim is
taken to have been finally determined for the purposes of this
section.
(9)
In this section, a reference to a claim includes
a reference to an application.
s 6A: Ins 2005 No 24,
Sch 1 [4].
7Failure to attend relevant proceedings
etc
(1)
A person is guilty of an offence if—
(a)
arrangements in force under section 6 authorise
the issue of summonses requiring attendance at relevant proceedings for a
purpose specified in section 6 (4), and
(b)
the person—
(i)
having been served with such a summons, fails
without reasonable excuse to comply with the summons, or
(ii)
having complied with the summons, fails without
reasonable excuse to answer a question put to the person by the person
presiding over the relevant proceedings concerned.
(2)
A person is guilty of an offence if—
(a)
arrangements in force under section 6 provide for
evidence in relevant proceedings to be taken on oath, and
(b)
the person, having appeared in such proceedings
for the purpose of giving evidence, fails without reasonable excuse to take an
oath in accordance with a requirement to do so imposed by the person presiding
over the proceedings.
(3)
A person who in any relevant proceedings gives
evidence that the person knows to be false or misleading in a material respect
is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty—20 penalty
units.
s 7: Ins 1990 No 20,
Sch 1 (4).
8Proceedings for offences
Proceedings for an offence against this Act are
to be dealt with summarily before the Local Court.
s 8: Ins 1990 No 20,
Sch 1 (4). Am 2001 No 121, Sch 2.43; 2007 No 94, Sch 2.