Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

LIQUID FUEL EMERGENCY ACT 1984 - SECT 16

             (1)  Subject to this section, the Governor‑General may, by Proclamation, declare that a national liquid fuel emergency will exist during a period specified in the Proclamation.

             (2)  The Governor‑General shall not make a Proclamation under subsection (1) unless:

                     (a)  the Minister is satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest to do so by reason that there is a shortage, or the likelihood of a shortage, of liquid fuel, being a shortage of such magnitude as to require the making of directions under all or any of the following provisions, namely, sections 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24; and

                     (b)  the Minister is satisfied that he or she has afforded the Energy Minister for each State, the Energy Minister for the Australian Capital Territory and the Energy Minister for the Northern Territory a reasonable opportunity to consult with the Minister concerning the shortage, or likelihood of a shortage, as the case may be.

             (3)  Without limiting the generality of the matters to which the Minister is to have regard for the purposes of paragraph (2)(a), he or she shall have regard to the question whether the shortage, or the likelihood of a shortage, of the liquid fuel concerned is likely to be averted by the voluntary augmenting of supplies of the liquid fuel by relevant fuel industry corporations.

             (4)  The period specified in the Proclamation under subsection (1) shall be expressed to commence on a date not earlier than the date on which the Proclamation is published in the Gazette and shall not exceed 3 months.

             (5)  At any time during a period of national liquid fuel emergency specified in a Proclamation under subsection (1), the Governor‑General may, and if the Minister becomes satisfied that it is no longer in the public interest that that period of national liquid fuel emergency should continue, shall, by Proclamation, revoke the first‑mentioned Proclamation and, upon the revocation of the first‑mentioned Proclamation, the period of national liquid fuel emergency terminates.