MUSEUM ACT 1969 - SECT 45
MUSEUM ACT 1969 - SECT 45
45 . Protection and recovery of certain meteorites
(1) A person shall not
—
(a)
damage or destroy a meteorite the property of the Crown;
(b)
except for the purpose of recovering and delivering a meteorite, the property
of the Crown, to the Trustees, remove any meteorite from the place where it
appears to have fallen upon the earth; or
(c)
refuse or fail to deliver up to the Trustees any meteorite in his possession
not being a meteorite which was lawfully in his possession prior to the coming
into operation of the Museum Act Amendment Act 1973 , upon notice from the
Trustees requiring him so to do within a time specified therein and upon
payment by the Trustees of the reasonable expense likely to be incurred
thereby.
(2) The Trustees may
refund the amount of any reasonable expense incurred by a person in notifying
the Trustees of the finding of a meteorite or in recovering and delivering a
meteorite to them.
(3) The Trustees may,
with the approval of the Minister, pay a reward to a person who provides
information of a specific nature leading to the recovery of a meteorite the
existence of which was not previously known to the Trustees.
(4) A person who,
without the consent of the Trustees, destroys or removes a meteorite from the
State commits an offence.
Penalty: $1 000.
(5) Where, prior to
the coming into operation of the Museum Act Amendment Act 1973 , a person was
lawfully in possession of a meteorite the Trustees shall not refuse to give
their consent to the removal of that meteorite from the State if that
meteorite has been offered for sale to the Trustees at a reasonable price
(having regard only to the amount that might reasonably be expected to be
offered by a willing purchaser in the State and not taking into account any
price that might be obtained elsewhere) and the Trustees have not accepted the
offer within 14 days.
(6) Any question as to
what constitutes a reasonable price for the purpose of this section may be
determined by the Minister.
(7) For the purposes
of any proceedings under this Act —
(a) a
meteorite shall be deemed to be in the possession of a person if, at the
relevant time, he was knowingly exercising complete control of the use and
physical location of it; and
(b) a
meteorite shall not be regarded as having been reduced into the possession of
a person by reason only of the fact that, at the relevant time, it was in or
on land owned or occupied by him.
(8) Where a meteorite
is removed from the State with the consent of the Trustees the property in
that meteorite shall thereupon vest in the person to whom that consent was
given.
[Section 45 amended: No. 65 of 1973 s. 11; No. 78
of 1995 s. 147.]