STATUTE LAW REVISION BILL 2001 Second Reading Speech

Northern Territory Second Reading Speeches

STATUTE LAW REVISION BILL 2001

(This an uncorrected proof of the daily report. It is made available under the condition that it is recognised as such.)

Mr Speaker, I move that the bill now be read a second time.

The purpose of this bill is to amend various Northern Territory laws, none of which reflect substantive changes in policy. I now outline some of the changes to be brought about by this bill. The Pastoral Leases (Rental) Act is repealed. This act relates to a rental increase on pastoral leases during the 1991-1992 financial year and is no longer relevant. The State Bank of South Australia (Transfer of Undertaking) Act is also repealed as the transfer period has now expired. The Financial Management Amendment Act 2001 is amended to include eight words that were inadvertently omitted when the act was printed.

There are also various amendments to the Firearms Amendment Act (No.2) 2000 to correct errors that occurred in that act. The Gaming Machine Act is amended to insert a penalty in s77(10) and to correct the use of ‘and’ instead of ‘or’ in section 116. Both of these amendments are to correct inadvertent omissions in the Gaming Machine Amendment Act (No 2) 2001. The Law Society (Public Purposes Trust) Act has been amended to incorporate amendments to section 7 of the Legal Practitioners Act which provides that the Law Society of the Northern Territory is a body corporate by the name ‘Law Society Northern Territory’. The amendment is necessary to reflect this change.

A further amendment is made to the Marine Pollution Act. MARPOL 73/78 is the international convention on which the act is based. As currently defined, MARPOL is fixed in time as the convention was adopted in 1978. This amendment is required to allow for the incorporation of amendments and additions to the convention that have been made since 1978. Such amendments will have no effect until the minister gives notice of the amendments in the Gazette. The Public Notaries Act is amended to allow for the Registrar of the Supreme Court to be the local registration authority in respect of applications for appointment as a public notary pursuant to the Commonwealth Mutual Recognition Act 1992.

Section 15 of the Wills Act currently deals with the effect of divorce on wills. As there may be some uncertainty in interpreting this section, an amendment has been made to clarify that section 15 applies to wills where annulment or divorce occurs on or after the commencement of the Wills Act. Various other acts and regulations are amended in a minor way and are set out in Schedules 1 and 2 of the Bill. These amendments correct typographical errors within existing legislation.

I commend the Statute Law Revision Bill (No.2) 2001 to honourable members.

Debate adjourned.

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