Commonwealth Consolidated Acts
Section 3
AN AGREEMENT made the day of One thousand nine hundred and
sixty- BETWEEN
THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA (in this agreement called "the Commonwealth") of
the one part and THE STATE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA (in this agreement called "the
State") of the other part:
WHEREAS
( a ) it is desirable in the
interests of the State of Western Australia and of the Commonwealth of
Australia generally that works be carried out to assist in the development of
water resources in the Kimberley region of the State;
( b ) the State
proposes to undertake the works described in the Schedule to this agreement
for the construction of a dam on the Ord River and associated irrigation and
drainage facilities and has requested the Commonwealth to provide financial
assistance to the State for the carrying out of those works;
( c ) the State
proposes to let a contract to enable the dam to be completed by June 1972 and
to have irrigation water available during 1972 to allow development of farms
at an approximate rate of 15 farms per annum;
( d ) the Commonwealth and the
State have agreed that appropriate financial assistance for the carrying out
of the works consists of an amount which does not exceed Forty-eight million
one hundred and eighty thousand dollars ($48,180,000) of which the costs of
the works described in Part I of the Schedule will be provided by the
Commonwealth as a non-repayable grant and the costs of the works described in
Part II of the Schedule will be repayable by the State as provided in this
agreement; and
( e ) the Parliament of the Commonwealth has authorized the
grant of financial assistance to the State under section 96 of the
Constitution of the
Commonwealth of Australia upon and subject to the terms and conditions set out
in this agreement.
NOW IT IS HEREBY AGREED as follows:
Definitions.
1. In this agreement, unless the contrary intention appears
"the Minister" means the Minister for National Development of the Commonwealth and includes such other Minister of State of the Commonwealth or member of the Federal Executive Council as is for the time being acting for and on behalf of that Minister;
"the Schedule" means the Schedule to this agreement;
"the State Treasurer" means the Treasurer of the State and includes such other Minister of the Crown as is for the time being acting for and on behalf of the Treasurer of the State;
"the Treasurer" means the Treasurer of the Commonwealth and includes such other Minister of State of the Commonwealth or member of the Federal Executive Council as is for the time being acting for and on behalf of the Treasurer; and
"the works" means the works described in the Schedule, or, if the Schedule is varied in accordance with clause 8 of this agreement, the works described in the Schedule as so varied.
Financial assistance.
2.(1.) Subject to
compliance by the State with the provisions of this agreement, the
Commonwealth will in accordance with and subject to the provisions of this
agreement provide financial assistance to the State in an amount equivalent to
expenditure on the works.
(2.) The financial assistance to be provided by the
Commonwealth under this clause shall not exceed in the aggregate the sum of
Forty-eight million one hundred and eighty thousand dollars ($48,180,000).
(3.) For the purposes of this agreement expenditure on the works means
expenditure by the State on or in connexion with the works during the period
commencing the tenth day of November, 1967, and includes planning, design and
administrative expenses directly related to carrying out the works but does
not include expenses that would have been or would be incurred whether or not
the works were carried out.
Payments by the Commonwealth.
3.(1.) The
Commonwealth will, at the request of the State, from time to time and subject
to the provisions of this agreement, make payments to the State in pursuance
of clause 2 of this agreement amounts equal to expenditure on the works.
(2.)
The State will furnish to the Treasurer such documents and other evidence in
support of each request by the State for a payment to it by the Commonwealth
under sub-clause (1.) of this clause as the Treasurer may from time to time
reasonably request, whether the request is made by the Treasurer before or
after the Commonwealth has made a payment pursuant to the request by the
State.
(3.) The State shall obtain the approval of the Treasurer to the
apportionment of expenditure which is jointly attributable to the works
described in Part I of the Schedule and to the works described in Part II of
the Schedule.
(4.) Any statement of expenditure by the State forwarded to the
Commonwealth in connexion with a request for payment under sub-clause (1.) of
this clause shall be certified as to its correctness by the Auditor-General of
the State.
Advances by the Commonwealth.
4.(1.) The Treasurer may, at
such times and in such amounts as he thinks fit, make advances to the State on
account of an amount that may become payable to the State under clause 3 of
this agreement.
(2.) An amount or part of an amount advanced by the Treasurer
under this clause may be deducted by the Commonwealth from amounts to be paid
subsequently under sub-clause (1.) of clause 3 of this agreement, or if there
are no further amounts to be paid under that sub-clause, shall be refunded by
the State to the Treasurer at his request.
Use of payments and advances.
5.
The State shall ensure that an amount, or any part of an amount, paid or
advanced to the State under this agreement is not used or applied except for
the purpose of meeting or of reimbursing to the State expenditure on the
works.
Repayments by the State.
6.(1.) Subject to sub-clause (2.) of
this clause, the State shall repay to the Commonwealth so much of the payments
made by the Commonwealth under clause 3 of this agreement and of the amounts
advanced and not refunded under clause 4 of this agreement as were made or
advanced in respect of the works described in Part II of the Schedule by
thirty equal consecutive half-yearly payments, the first repayment to be made
on the fifteenth day of December nearest to the date which is nine years and
six months after the end of the financial year during which payment was made
by the Commonwealth and subsequent repayments to be made on each fifteenth day
of June and fifteenth day of December thereafter until
the final repayment has been made.
(2.) The State may at any time, after
giving to the Treasurer at least one month's notice of its intention so to do,
repay to the Commonwealth the whole or any part not being less than One
hundred thousand dollars of so much as remains unpaid by the State of a
payment or advance, together with the interest on the amount repaid accrued to
the date of repayment under the next succeeding clause.
Interest.
7.(1.) The State shall pay to the Commonwealth interest on so much of
each amount which has been paid or advanced to the State and which is
repayable by the State under this agreement as has not for the time being been
repaid or refunded to the Commonwealth, calculated from the date upon which
the amount was paid or advanced by the Commonwealth, at the rate provided in
this clause.
(2.) The State shall pay the interest for the time being accrued
under this clause on the fifteenth day of June and the fifteenth day of
December in each year.
(3.) The rate at which interest is payable by the
State under this clause in respect of an amount paid or advanced by the
Commonwealth shall be the rate of yield to maturity of the long term loan last
raised by the Commonwealth in Australia for public subscription prior to the
date upon which the amount was paid or advanced.
Execution of the works.
8.(1.) The State shall ensure that the works are carried out efficiently
and in conformity with sound engineering and financial practices.
(2.) To the
extent that it is necessary for the more efficient fulfilment of the
objectives of this agreement, the Schedule may be varied in such manner and to
such extent as the State proposes and the Minister approves.
Rate of
construction.
9. The State shall ensure that the works are carried out in
accordance with the rate of construction as agreed from time to time between
the Minister and the State.
Contracts to be let.
10. The State shall not let
contracts for the performance of any part of the works to a value in excess of
Five hundred thousand dollars for any one contract without obtaining the prior
approval of the Minister.
Ord Project Co-ordinating Committee.
11. The State
shall appoint two persons nominated by the Secretary to the Department of
National Development and the Secretary to the Department of the Treasury of
the Commonwealth, respectively as members of the Ord Project Co-ordinating
Committee which has been established by the State to facilitate the
co-ordination of the works under this agreement.
Supply of information.
12.
The State shall at the request of the Minister furnish to him such information
in relation to the planning design and execution of the works or such other
information for the purpose of or in relation to this agreement as he may
require.
Annual estimates.
13. The State shall prepare and furnish to the
Treasurer not later than the thirtieth day of April in each year a statement
or statements showing the estimated expenditure on the works during the next
succeeding financial year and estimates of the amounts that the State will
request the Commonwealth to pay to the State under this agreement during that
financial year.
Audit.
14.(1.) The accounts, books, vouchers,
documents and other records of the State relating to the carrying out of the
works shall be subject to audit by the Auditor-General of the State.
(2)
Until such time as the total amount of the financial assistance to be provided
to the State under this agreement has been provided by the Commonwealth and
supporting evidence to the satisfaction of the Treasurer in relation to all
amounts paid or advanced is furnished by the State, a report on the audits and
on the financial statements in respect of each financial year shall be
furnished by the Auditor-General of the State to the Treasurer as soon as
possible after the completion of the financial year, indicating, inter
alia
( a ) whether the financial statements are based on proper
accounts and records and are in agreement with those accounts and records; and
( b ) whether the expenditure of moneys is in accordance with this agreement,
and including reference to such other matters arising out of the audits and
financial statements as the Auditor-General of the State considers should be
reported to the Treasurer.
Notices, etc.
15. Any notice, request or other
communication to be given or made under this agreement by the Commonwealth to
the State shall be deemed a sufficient notice if it is in writing signed by
the Minister or by any person thereunto authorized in writing by him and any
notice, application, request or other communication to be given or made by the
State to the Commonwealth or the Minister shall be deemed a sufficient notice
if it is in writing signed by the State Treasurer or any person thereunto
authorized in writing by him.