Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda

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SYDNEY HARBOUR FEDERATION TRUST AMENDMENT BILL 2007

                               2004-2005-2006-2007




       THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA




                         HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES




     SYDNEY HARBOUR FEDERATION TRUST AMENDMENT BILL 2007




                       EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM




(Circulated by authority of the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, the
                          Honourable Malcolm Turnbull MP)
        SYDNEY HARBOUR FEDERATION TRUST AMENDMENT BILL 2007

GENERAL OUTLINE

The purpose of this Bill is to amend the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust Act 2001 (`the Act')
in order to extend the date by which the Act is to be repealed to 19 September 2033.

FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT

The Bill will have no financial impact.




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NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL CLAUSES

Clause 1 - Short title
1.    This clause provides that the short title by which the Act may be cited is the Sydney
      Harbour Federation Trust Amendment Act 2007.

Clause 2 - Commencement
2.    This clause provides that the provisions of the Bill will commence on the day on which it
      receives the Royal Assent.

Clause 3 - Schedule(s)
3.    This clause provides that each Act specified in a Schedule is amended or repealed as set
      out in the Schedule concerned and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect
      according to its terms.

Schedule 1 - Amendment of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust Act 2001

Item 1- Paragraph 64(1)(b)
4.    Currently, paragraph 64(1)(b) prohibits the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust (the Trust),
       except with the Minister's written approval, from entering into a lease or licence of Trust
       land for a period that ends after the end of 10 years from the commencement of the
       Sydney Harbour Federation Trust Act 2001 (the Act) (the Act commenced on
       20 September 2001).

5.     The purpose of this item is to amend paragraph 64(1)(b) to extend the period for which
       the Trust must obtain the Minister's written approval for a lease or licence of Trust land
       from "10 years" to "19 September 2033", and is required as a consequence of item 3
       below (which extends the period by which the Act is to be repealed from 10 years after
       the commencement of the Act (2011) to 19 September 2033).

Item 2 - At the end of paragraph 64(1)(b)
6.     This item inserts a note at the end of paragraph 64(1)(b) to clarify that the Act
       commenced on 20 September 2001.

Item 3 - Subsection 66(1)
7.     This item amends subsection 66(1) to extend the period by which the Act is to be
       repealed from "10 years after the commencement of the Act (2011)" to
       "19 September 2033". The Australian Government's original intention was for the Trust
       to be a transitional body to manage Commonwealth lands in and around the Sydney
       Harbour region and maximise public access until 2011 when suitable land would be
       transferred to New South Wales for inclusion in the national parks and reserve system.
       The extension of the life of the Trust supports a recent agreement between the
       Commonwealth and New South Wales to transfer Crown land at North Head to the trust
       until 2032. This extension of the date by which the Act is to be repealed will ensure that
       the Trust is in existence when the North Head site is transferred back to New South
       Wales.

Item 4 - At the end of subsection 66(1)
8.     This item inserts a note at the end of subsection 66(1) of the Act to clarify that the Act
       commenced on 20 September 2001.




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