Northern Territory Consolidated Acts

REFERENDUMS ACT - SECT 66

(1) Subject to section 68, the powers of the Tribunal includes the power to -

(a) adjourn;

(b) compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents;

(c) examine witnesses on oath, affirmation or declaration;

(d) with the consent of the parties to the proceedings, receive evidence on affidavit or by statutory declaration;

(e) regulate the form and mode of its proceedings in each case;

(f) grant to a party to the petition leave to inspect, in the presence of an officer nominated by the Tribunal, the rolls and other documents (except ballot-papers) used at or in connection with the referendum to which a petition relates and to take, in the presence of the officer, extracts from those rolls and documents;

(g) permit, at any stage of its proceedings and on the terms that it thinks fit, amendments to a petition or other pleadings, that it thinks fit;

(h) permit a person to appear and be heard, or to be represented, in its proceedings;

(j) declare a referendum void;

(k) uphold a petition, in whole or in part;

(m) dismiss a petition; and

(n) award costs.

(2) The Tribunal may exercise all or any of its powers under this section on any grounds that it thinks fit.

(3) Without limiting the powers conferred by this section, the power of the Tribunal to declare a referendum void may be exercised on the ground that illegal practices were committed in connection with the referendum.

(4) The Tribunal has power to punish a contempt of its authority as if it were the Supreme Court and as if the contempt were a contempt of the Supreme Court.