State Policies and Projects Amendment Act 1997
An Act to amend the State Policies and Projects Act 1993
[Royal Assent 27 June 1997]
Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:
This Act may be cited as the State Policies and Projects Amendment Act 1997 .
This Act commences on a day to be proclaimed.
In this Act, the State Policies and Projects Act 1993 is referred to as the Principal Act.
4. Section 5 amended (Requirements for making of State Policies)
Section 5 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting subsection (2) .
After section 5 of the Principal Act, the following section is inserted:5A. Matters to be contained in State Policies
A State Policy may contain matters relating to one or more of the following:(a) sustainable development of natural and physical resources;(b) land use planning;(c) land management;(d) environmental management;(e) environment protection;(f) any other matter that may be prescribed.
6. Section 6 amended (Preparation of draft State Policies)
Section 6 of the Principal Act is amended as follows:(a) by omitting from subsection (1) ", the Minister must" and substituting "and the Minister is satisfied that the draft State Policy deals with a subject requiring a State Policy, the Minister may";(b) by omitting subsections (2) and (3) and substituting the following subsection:(2) Where the Advisory Council is directed to prepare a report on a draft State Policy, it must –(a) cause a copy of the draft State Policy to be placed on public exhibition at its office for a period of 8 weeks; and(b) advertise, as prescribed, the exhibition of the draft State Policy.
7. Section 7 repealed
Section 7 of the Principal Act is repealed.
8. Section 8 amended (Representations in respect of draft State Policies)
Section 8 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting "7(a)" and substituting "6(2)(a)".
9. Section 11 amended (Making of State Policies by Governor)
Section 11(8) of the Principal Act is amended by omitting from paragraphs (b) and (c) "15" and substituting "10".
10. Section 13 amended (Effect of State Policies)
Section 13 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting subsection (3) and substituting the following subsections:(3) The Panel must, as soon as practicable after a State Policy comes into operation, other than a State Policy which comes into operation under section 12 , amend a planning scheme or special planning order to incorporate all those parts of the State Policy which are relevant to it and to remove any inconsistency between it and the State Policy.(3A) The Panel may, after a State Policy comes into operation under section 12 , amend a planning scheme or special planning order to incorporate those parts of the State Policy which are relevant to it and to remove an inconsistency between it and the State Policy.(3B) A State Policy may be implemented by any means available to the Crown.
11. Sections 13A, 13B, 13C and 13D inserted
After section 13 of the Principal Act, the following sections are inserted:13A. Delegation of implementation of State Policies
(1) The Minister may, by instrument in writing, delegate the implementation of a State Policy to another Minister specified in the instrument of delegation.(2) The Minister may revoke, wholly or in part, or vary a delegation at any time.(3) A delegation under this section may be made subject to such conditions as are specified in the instrument of delegation.(4) A State Policy, the implementation of which has been delegated under this section, may be implemented only in accordance with the terms of the delegation and any conditions to which the delegation is subject.(5) A State Policy, the implementation of which has been delegated under this section, that is implemented by a delegate is taken to have been implemented by the delegator.(6) If the implementation of a State Policy is delegated to a particular Minister –(a) the delegation does not cease to have effect merely because the person who was the particular Minister when the implementation of the State Policy was delegated ceases to be that Minister; and(b) the State Policy may be implemented by the person for the time being occupying or acting in the office of that Minister.(7) A State Policy, the implementation of which has been delegated under this section, may, notwithstanding the delegation, be implemented by the delegator.(8) In all courts and before all persons acting judicially, an instrument purporting to be executed by a delegate in the capacity as a delegate is to be received in evidence as if it were an instrument executed by the delegator and is to be taken to be an instrument executed by the delegator.13B. State Policies may require statutory authorities to undertake certain activities
(1) Subject to subsection (3) , a State Policy may require a statutory authority or statutory office holder to undertake activities, perform functions and exercise powers specified in the State Policy.(2) A statutory authority that, or statutory office holder who, undertakes activities, performs functions or exercises powers specified in a State Policy pursuant to a requirement under subsection (1) must, in doing so, seek to promote the principles contained in the State Policy and to further the objectives set out in Schedule 1 .(3) A statutory authority or statutory office holder is not to be required to undertake activities, perform functions or exercise powers that are inconsistent with the statutory functions or powers of the statutory authority or statutory office holder.(4) In this section –statutory authority means an incorporated or unincorporated body which is established, constituted or continued by or under an Act or under the royal prerogative, being a body which, or of which the governing authority, wholly or partly comprises a person or persons appointed by the Governor, a Minister or another statutory authority;statutory functions or powers, in relation to a statutory authority or statutory office holder, means the functions or powers conferred on the statutory authority or statutory office holder by an enactment;statutory office holder means the holder of an office which is established by or under an enactment.13C. State Policies to bind Crown and councils
A State Policy binds –(a) the Crown in right of Tasmania and, so far as the legislative power of Parliament permits, in all its other capacities; and(b) a council.13D. State Policies may adopt standards, codes, &c.
(1) A State Policy may adopt, either wholly or in part and with or without modification and either specifically or by reference, any of the standards, rules, codes, specifications, management plans or similar documents of any body approved by the Minister, whether the standards, rules, codes, specifications, management plans or documents are published, made or amended before or after the commencement of the State Policies and Projects Amendment Act 1997 .(2) A reference in subsection (1) to standards, rules, codes, specifications, management plans or documents includes an amendment of those standards, rules, codes, specifications, management plans or documents whether the amendment is published, made or issued before or after the commencement of the State Policies and Projects Amendment Act 1997 .
12. Section 15 substituted and section 15A inserted
Section 15 of the Principal Act is repealed and the following sections are substituted:(1) The Minister or such other Minister as the first-mentioned Minister may determine must review a State Policy at least once within the period of 5 years from the date on which it came into operation and at least once within each period of 5 years from the date on which the last review was conducted.(2) If after the completion of a review of a State Policy the Minister considers that an amendment is required to the State Policy, the provisions of section 15A apply to that amendment as if it were a proposed amendment submitted to the Minister under that section.15A. Amendment of State Policies
(1) In this section,referred amendment means a proposed amendment to a State Policy, or that part of a proposed amendment to a State Policy, specified in a direction given under subsection (2) .(2) Where a proposed amendment to a State Policy has been submitted to the Minister, the Minister may give a written direction to the Advisory Council to advise whether the Advisory Council considers the proposed amendment, or that part of it specified in the direction, constitutes a significant change to the State Policy.(3) Where the Advisory Council is directed to provide advice in accordance with subsection (2) it must, within 21 days or such longer period as the Minister may allow, provide the advice to the Minister.(4) The Advisory Council must –(a) publish notice of its advice to the Minister under subsection (3) in the Gazette; and(b) make the advice available to any person who wishes to view it.(5) Where on receipt of advice from the Advisory Council the Minister determines that a referred amendment does not constitute a significant change to the State Policy, the Minister must –(a) publish a notice in the Gazette specifying the details of the referred amendment and that the Minister considers that the referred amendment does not constitute a significant change to the State Policy; and(b) cause the notice and the advice of the Advisory Council provided to the Minister under subsection (3) to be laid before each House of Parliament within the first 10 sitting days of the House after it has been published.(6) The referred amendment specified in the notice under subsection (5) takes effect on the date of publication of the notice in the Gazette.(7) If either House of Parliament passes a resolution within the first 5 sitting days after a notice referred in subsection (5) is laid before it that the notice be disallowed, the amendment specified in the notice is void and, from that date of disallowance, the amendment ceases to have effect.(8) Where on receipt of advice from the Advisory Council the Minister determines that a referred amendment constitutes a significant change to the State Policy, the Minister must give a written direction to the Advisory Council to prepare a report on the referred amendment and the Advisory Council must prepare a report in accordance with the direction.(9) Where the Minister determines under subsection (8) that a referred amendment constitutes a significant change to the State Policy, the provisions of sections 6 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 and 12 apply in relation to the referred amendment as if it were a draft State Policy.(10) For the purposes of this section, a referred amendment is taken to be a significant change to the State Policy to which it relates if it is a change which substantially alters the content or effect of the State Policy.
13. Section 16 amended (Interpretation: Part 3)
Section 16 of the Principal Act is amended as follows:(a) by inserting "(1)" before "For the purposes";(b) by inserting the following subsection:(2) For the purposes of this Part,integrated assessment, in relation to a project of State significance, means a consideration of environmental, social, economic and community issues relevant to that project and such other issues as may be prescribed.
14. Section 22 amended (Preparation and public exhibition of draft integrated assessment report)
Section 22 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting "not later than 28 days after it receives submissions under section 21 (2) or such longer" and substituting "within such".
15. Section 31 amended (Constitution of Advisory Council)
Section 31(1) of the Principal Act is amended by omitting paragraph (e) and substituting the following paragraph:(e) a person appointed or employed under the Tasmanian State Service Act 1984 who possesses economic development expertise nominated by the Minister; and
After section 47 of the Principal Act, the following section is inserted:47A. Validation of actions, &c., of delegates of Advisory Council
Any hearing conducted, meeting held or decision made by the delegates of the Advisory Council considering the draft State Policy on Water Quality Management before the commencement of the State Policies and Projects Amendment Act 1997 is taken to have been validly conducted, held or made and any action taken by a person acting pursuant to a decision of those delegates before that commencement is deemed to be validly taken.
17. Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 amended
(1) Section 3(1) of the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 is amended by inserting ", or that comes into operation under section 12," in the definition of "State Policy" after "section 11".(2) Section 20(1)(b) of the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 is amended by inserting "made under section 11 of the State Policies and Projects Act 1993 " after "Policies".(3) Section 32(1)(b) of the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 is amended by inserting "made under section 11 of the State Policies and Projects Act 1993 " after "Policies".
18. Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act 1994 amended
Section 39(1)(b) of the Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act 1994 is amended by inserting "made under section 11 of the State Policies and Projects Act 1993 " after "Policy".
[Second reading presentation speech made in:
House of Assembly on 29 APRIL 1997
Legislative Council on 19 JUNE 1997]