New South Wales Consolidated Acts

NOXIOUS WEEDS ACT 1993 - SECT 34A

34A Minister may declare quarantine area

(1) The Minister may, by order, declare land described in the order to be a quarantine area for the purpose of controlling, or preventing the dispersal of, any specified kind of Class 1 or 2 noxious weeds that are present on the land.

(2) Before making an order under this section, the Minister must consult with the Ministers responsible for any public authorities having functions that are exercisable on or in respect of the land that is to be subject to the order.

(3) Land can be declared to be a quarantine area for a kind of Class 1 or 2 noxious weed even though it is already a quarantine area for another kind of Class 1 or 2 noxious weed.

(4) An order must state the purpose of the quarantine and may:

(a) prohibit or restrict the movement of people, animals and things (such as vehicles and machinery) into, out of and within the quarantine area, and

(b) specify conditions subject to which people may move and animals and things may be moved into, out of or within that area, and

(c) without limiting paragraph (a) or (b), require movements of people, animals or things into or out of that area to be made only at specified entry or exit points, and

(d) authorise the erection of fencing and gates across roads within that area for the purpose of regulating the movement of vehicles or animals, and

(e) close any road within that area in order to regulate or prevent the passage of vehicles or animals, and

(f) specify other steps to be taken for the purpose of promoting the control, or preventing the dispersal, of the weed concerned.

(5) An order declaring land to be a quarantine area has effect only on and from the date specified in an advertisement published in a newspaper circulating in the area where the land is located or, if no such date is specified, on and from the day after the date on which the newspaper is published.

(6) An order remains in force for 6 months or such shorter period as is specified in the order. However, in the case of land that is already the subject of an order, the Minister may make a further order that is to have effect as soon as the existing order ceases to have effect.

(7) Any person who, without reasonable excuse, contravenes a requirement imposed on the person by an order, or a direction given to the person under the authority of an order, is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty (subsection (7)): 100 penalty units.