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Land Legislation Amendment Bill 2003
LAND LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL
2003
EXPLANATORY NOTES
GENERAL OUTLINE
Short title
The Act will be known as the Land Legislation Amendment Bill 2003.
Objectives of the Bill
The objectives of the Bill are to amend:
(a) the Aboriginal Land Act 1991;
(b) the Land Act 1994;
(c) the Mineral Resources Act 1989;
(d) the Valuation of Land Act 1944; and
(e) the Valuers Registration Act 1992.
Reasons for the Bill
The proposed amendments clarify a number of matters:
· in the Land Act 1994 (defines the meaning of "agriculture"
principally to include forestry);
· in the Mineral Resources Act 1989
· in the Valuation of Land Act 1944:
- clarifies the approach to valuation of State leases with sub
leases;
- clarifies ownership and valuation of lands leased from
Government Owned Corporations and water authorities;
- extends the power to alter valuations for rates, land tax or
State land rental under certain circumstances back 3 years;
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Land Legislation Amendment Bill 2003
- provides for separate valuation notices for land tax purposes
where such valuation amounts are different from the annual
valuation notice;
- empowers withholding certain particulars of valuation and
sales information in contracts to data wholesale brokers on
reasonable grounds; and
- makes other minor changes and improved drafting.
· in the Valuers Registration Act 1992 (empowers access to
searching Queensland Police data on criminal history in the
appointment process of members and assistant members to the
Valuers Registration Board); and
· in the Aboriginal Land Act 1991 (removes doubt as to the validity
of a regulation and facilitates future transfers of land).
· in the Mineral Resources Act 1989:
· cancels Mining Leases Numbers 5940 and 5941 (the
mining leases) situated at Shelburne Bay on Cape York
Peninsular; and
· provides that the applications for renewal of the mining
leases do not require a decision under the Mineral
Resources Act 1989;
· expressly provides that no compensation is payable to any
person as a result of the cancellation of the mining leases.
Way in which the policy objective is to be achieved
The policy objectives will be achieved by operational means using the
amended legislation.
Alternate ways of achieving the objective
Continuation of administration without these amendments would not be
efficient and would continue operational difficulties.
Consistency with fundamental legislative principles
The amendments are generally consistent with fundamental legislative
principles. Though the amendment to the Aboriginal Land Act 1991 may
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Land Legislation Amendment Bill 2003
have a retrospective effect, given that the amendment is restricted to the
operation of section 19 of the Act (that is, defining "available Crown
land"), there is no imposition of obligations upon any person nor any
adverse effects on the rights and liberties of individuals, and thus, the
amendment does not breach fundamental legislative principles.
The amendment to the Mineral Resource Act 1989 breaches section 4(3)
(g) & (i) of the Legislative Standards Act 1992. The proposed legislation
will effect the cancellation of the mining leases notwithstanding the
holder's compliance with section 286(3) of the Mineral Resources Act
1989. The proposed legislation breaches fundamental legislative principal
in two aspects:
· the holders' legislative right to renewal is being revoked for
reason of public interest to ensure that the environmental
and conservation values are protected.
· The amendment has the effect of removing the former
holders rights as a lease holder without the payment of any
compensation. This is justified for the following reasons:
· it is beyond doubt that State Parliament may if it so
elects, remove such rights without the payment of any
compensation;
· it is in the public interest that the land subject to the
mining leases is protected for future generations;
· it would be nonsensical for the Government to
continue to renew the mining leases knowing that the
land has never and will never be mined; and
· it is highly unlikely that the Commonwealth
Government will issue an export licence for the sand.
Administrative cost to government of the implementation
Apart from the actual cost of printing the legislation, there are expected
system costs of about $37,000 to produce the notices of valuations for land
tax purposes.
Consultation
Consultation on this draft legislation included all relevant State
Government Departments, the Local Government Association of
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Land Legislation Amendment Bill 2003
Queensland, Agforce, SunWater, and South East Queensland Water Board.
Specific consultations with the Torres Shire Council and the Kaurareg
native title holders were undertaken in relation to Part 2 of the Bill and with
the Queensland Police Service in relation to Part 5 of the Bill.
Consultation in respect of the Mineral Resources Act 1989 amendment
included, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Department of Treasury, the
Queensland Mining Council and the Land and Resources Tribunal.
ANALYSIS OF THE BILL
PART 1--PRELIMINARY
Clause 1 gives the Short Title to the amending Act as the Land
Legislation Amendment Act 2003.
Clause 2 provides commencement of the amendments on a date to be
proclaimed to allow necessary system or procedural changes to occur.
PART 2--AMENDMENT OF ABORIGINAL LAND ACT
1991
Clause 3 identifies the Act being amended.
Clause 4 inserts section 137AB into the Act. The section provides that
Sales Permit No 004490 issued under the Forestry Act 1959 in respect of
the sale of quarry materials does not create, and never has created, an
interest in land for the purposes of section 19 of the Act. This will enable
the presently proposed transfers of land (over which the Sales Permit
operates) to proceed without doubt and without the need to surrender and
reissue the Sales Permit repeatedly. The section further provides that the
associated Aboriginal Land Amendment Regulation (No 1) 2002 was a
valid regulation.
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Land Legislation Amendment Bill 2003
PART 3--AMENDMENT OF LAND ACT 1994
Clause 5 identifies the Act being amended.
Clause 6 ensures the meaning of agriculture used in the Act is defined
particularly in relation to forestry activities.
PART 4--AMENDMENT OF MINERAL RESOURCES
ACT 1989
Clause 7 provides that Part 4 amends the Mineral Resources Act 1989.
Clause 8 inserts section 418C into the Mineral Resources Act 1989.
Section 418C is a new section which deals with the cancellation of
Shelburne Bay mining leases.
Section 418C (1) (a) provides that from the commencement of the
section the mining leases are cancelled.
Section 418C(1) (b) (i) provides that despite any entitlement under the
Mineral Resources Act 1989 for the renewal of the mining leases, the
Minister may not further deal with any application for the renewal of the
mining leases made before the commencement of this section. This section
is intended to negate the requirement to deal with applications for renewal
made before the commencement of this section in accordance with section
286 of the Mineral Resources Act 1989.
Section 418C(b)(ii) provides that the Minister must not recommend to
the Governor in Council to grant a renewal of the leases.
Section 418C(1)(b)(iii) provides that the Governor in Council must not
grant a renewal of the leases.
Section 418C(2) expressly provides that no compensation is payable to
any person because of the operation of subsection (1).
Section 418C(3) provides that subsection (2) applies despite any other
provision of this Act and despite any other Act or law.
Section 418C(4) defines the term "relevant mining leases."
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Land Legislation Amendment Bill 2003
PART 5--AMENDMENT OF VALUATION OF LAND ACT
1944
Clause 9 identifies the Act being amended.
Clause 10 inserts definitions of "SunWater" and "Water Authority"
which are necessary from the amendment in Clauses 12 and 14, which
refer in part to a "lessee of SunWater or a Water Authority".
Clause 11 redrafts section 6(2) to clarify the meaning of
"improvements" in relation to land owned by a lessee from Government
Owned Corporation (GOC) land, or land owned by a GOC for a valuation
for rating or land tax purposes.
Clause 12 expands the definition "owner" for valuation purposes to
include lessees of all GOC lands (currently only Port Authorities and
Queensland Rail) and of Water Authority lands. This will make "owner"
under this Act consistent with the owner for rating purposes under the
Local Government Act 1993.
Clause 13 omits a redundant reference to the "issue of a certificate of
title" and replaces it with "registration of a plan of subdivision" to conform
to land registry practices under the Land Title Act 1994.
The clause also ensures a lease of land from the State which has
subleases is generally not deemed to be "subdivided" for valuation
purposes.
However, if the State Lease is subleased to a GOC and further leased to
persons, such derivative subleases are regarded as a subdivision and
separately valued. For example, the Department of Transport hold a State
perpetual lease over rail corridor land and such lease is subleased to
Queensland Rail (QR). QR further leases parts to various persons. These
parts are still regarded as subdivisions for valuation purposes.
Clause 14 redrafts section 14 to remove a direction to ignore a notice of
a road realignment from a local government in a valuation. The Act is
silent on a notice from the State, however in practice, impacts of such a
notice are considered in a valuation. The particular part of section 14 is an
inconsistent provision and has in practice not generally been applied by the
Department and the Land Court in decisions on valuations. The
amendment will ensure all notices of road realignments are in fact
considered in valuations.
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Land Legislation Amendment Bill 2003
The clause also redrafts section 14(5)(c) to ensure conditions and
purpose of a lease, licence or permit from SunWater or a water authority
are taken into account in a valuation.
Clause 15 corrects a heading to ensure the chief executive must fix the
date of valuation of any valuation. This was always intended in a previous
amendment, however the section heading was not amended.
Clause 16 omits redundant parts of section 28 which are now covered by
other provisions in the Act consequent upon the amendment in Clause 18.
Clause 17 amends section 29(1) by adding a reference to the new section
30(3) which redrafts the current section 30 in Clause 19.
Clause 18 amends section 29A to extend the provision to allow any
previous valuation to be altered for the usual reasons allowed under
sections 28, 29, or the new section 30(3) from Clause 19 - for example,
subdivision, amalgamation, loss of a licence, right or privilege, town
planning change etcetera. Currently section 29A only applies to valuations
for local government rating purposes. This amendment extends section
29A to also apply to valuations for rental or land tax purposes, whilst
maintaining discretion for the chief executive to not alter valuations, if the
impact on rates, State Land rental or land tax is so small that the adjustment
could not be justified in the circumstances. Also, it extends the limitation
on altering a valuation to 3 years.
Clause 19 amends section 30 to allow the valuation of land to be made if
such land becomes rateable, subject to State land rental or land tax. It
limits how far back such valuations may be made to a period of 3 years.
The period is similar to that outlined in Clause 18. It maintains the power
to alter a valuation under sections 29 or 29A if land ceases to be rateable,
subject to State land rental or subject to land tax.
Clause 20 is a consequential amendment from Clause 13 to ensure State
Land Leases with buildings capable of separate occupation are not
generally "subdivided" by declaring separate parcels for valuation
purposes.
Clause 21 provides a definition of the term "category" in relation to
land as a category for differential rating by a local government. It includes
"category" amongst the reasons for separate valuations required under
section 35, where part of the land is one category and part in another. The
separate valuations then allow a local government to apply the specified
differential rate in the dollar to the valuation of the respective parts.
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Land Legislation Amendment Bill 2003
This Clause also contains a consequential amendment from Clause 13 to
ensure State Land Leases with subleases are not generally "subdivided" by
including new subsections (1A) and (1B) of section 35. These subsections
provide that subsection (1)(a), which directs that several parcels of land
which are separately let, shall be separately valued, does not generally
apply to State Land Leases with subleases.
Clause 22 inserts a reference to "land tax" for valuation notices
consequent upon Clause 24.
Clause 23 inserts a reference to "land tax" for valuation notices
consequent upon Clause 24.
Clause 24 amends section 41A to include the requirement of a "notice
of valuation for land tax purposes" where the amount of the valuation is
different from that on the annual valuation notice. This will ensure that
where land comprises mixed freehold and State leasehold tenure, a
valuation notice is given in relation to the freehold component. Also, if no
annual valuation notice is issued, for example, if freehold land is not
rateable, a notice (of valuation for land tax purposes) will issue.
Clause 25 makes a minor drafting change by substituting an "and" for
the conjunctive "or" to better reflect circumstances. It also inserts
references to "land tax" purposes consequent upon Clause 24.
Clause 26 inserts a reference to "land tax" for valuation notices
consequent upon Clause 24.
Clause 27 amends section 77 to empower the chief executive to provide,
in a contract for the supply particulars of the valuation roll or land sales
information (section 81 notices) with data wholesalers, that--
if the chief executive is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the inclusion
of the particulars may result in the particulars being misused, certain
particulars may be excluded from the information supplied; and
if the chief executive is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the future
distribution of certain particulars already supplied may result in the
particulars being misused, the future distribution of the particulars may be
limited.
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Land Legislation Amendment Bill 2003
PART 6--AMENDMENT OF VALUERS REGISTRATION
ACT 1992
Clause 28 identifies the Act being amended.
Clause 29 inserts a definition of "criminal history" consequent upon
Clause 30.
Clause 30 provides the power and the conditions of supply of data from
a search of the criminal history of a person from records of the Queensland
Police Service. The search is required to comply with probity requirements
in the appointment of a member or assistant member to the Valuers
Registration Board of Queensland. For appointment, in accordance with
section 10(b) the person is not eligible for appointment if "the person has
been convicted of an indictable offence (whether in Queensland or
elsewhere)."
© State of Queensland 2003