South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated ActsAN AGREEMENT made this twenty-sixth day of February, One thousand nine hundred
and seventy between THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA (in this Agreement called
"the Commonwealth") of the first part, THE STATE OF NEW SOUTH WALES, THE STATE
OF VICTORIA and THE STATE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA (in this Agreement referred to as
"the States") of the second, third and fourth parts, respectively.
WHEREAS by an Agreement made on the ninth day of September One thousand nine
hundred and fourteen between the Commonwealth and the States and referred to
in the River Murray Waters Act 1915 of the Commonwealth and the
collateral legislation of the States, as amended by Amending Agreements
respectively dated the tenth day of August One thousand nine hundred and
twenty-three, the twenty-third day of July One thousand nine hundred and
thirty-four, the twenty-sixth day of November One thousand nine hundred and
forty-eight, the second day of November One thousand nine hundred and
fifty-four, the eleventh day of September One thousand nine hundred and
fifty-eight and the eighth day of October, One thousand nine hundred and
sixty-three and by a further Amending Agreement made the twenty-sixth day of
February, One thousand nine hundred and seventy, (which Agreement as so
amended is in this agreement called "the River Murray Waters Agreement") it
has been agreed that the works to be provided under the River Murray Waters
Agreement, as set out in clause 20 of that Agreement, will include the
provision of a water storage (in this Agreement called "the Dartmouth
Reservoir") on the Mitta Mitta River upstream of Dartmouth with an active
capacity of approximately three million acre-feet of water at an estimated
cost of Fifty-seven million dollars:
AND WHEREAS, pursuant to clause 32 of the River Murray Waters Agreement, the
cost of carrying out the works mentioned in clause 20 of that Agreement is to
be borne by the Commonwealth and the States in equal shares:
AND WHEREAS the States have sought financial assistance from the Commonwealth
towards meeting their shares of the cost of the construction of the Dartmouth
Reservoir:
AND WHEREAS the Government of the Commonwealth has agreed to submit to its
Parliament legislation providing under section 96 of the Constitution for a
grant of financial assistance to the States in the manner, to the extent, and
on the terms and conditions provided by this Agreement:
AND WHEREAS the Commonwealth and the States have agreed that if a revised
estimated cost of the Dartmouth Reservoir rises above Sixty-two million seven
hundred thousand dollars arrangements under this Agreement will be reviewed.
NOW IT IS HEREBY AGREED as follows:—
(1) The Governments of
the Commonwealth and of the States will, as soon as practicable after the date
of this Agreement, submit to their respective Parliaments legislation
approving this Agreement.
(2) The Government of
the Commonwealth will include in the legislation submitted to its Parliament
for the approval of this Agreement provisions for the grant under
section 96 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution of financial
assistance to the States in the manner, to the extent, and on the terms and
conditions provided by this Agreement.
(1) Except as provided
in clause 1 of this Agreement, this Agreement shall, subject to clause 3
hereof, come into force in respect of a State upon its approval by the
Parliament of the Commonwealth and by the Parliament of the State.
(2) Notwithstanding
that all three of the States are named as parties to this Agreement, this
Agreement shall operate as an agreement between the Commonwealth and each
State in respect of which it has come into force as fully and effectually as
if that State were the only State named as a party to the Agreement.
(3) In this Agreement
the expression "the State" means the relevant State in respect of which this
Agreement has come into force.
Notwithstanding anything hereinbefore provided, the succeeding provisions of
this Agreement shall not have any operation or effect as between the
Commonwealth and a State unless the further Amending Agreement of the River
Murray Waters Agreement as hereinbefore recited has come into effect.
Subject to compliance by the State with the provisions of this Agreement, the
Commonwealth will, in accordance with and subject to the provisions of this
Agreement, provide to the State financial assistance not exceeding an amount
of Seven million eight hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars
($7,837,500) towards meeting the State's obligations under clause 32 of the
River Murray Waters Agreement in respect of the cost of the construction of
the Dartmouth Reservoir.
(1) The Commonwealth
will, at the request of the State from time to time and subject to the
provisions of this Agreement, make payments to the State in pursuance of the
last preceding clause of amounts equal to one-half of the amounts that the
State is required from time to time to provide to The River Murray Commission
established under the River Murray Waters Agreement, under clause 32 of that
Agreement in respect of the cost of the construction of the Dartmouth
Reservoir.
(2) If a revised
estimated cost of the Dartmouth Reservoir rises above Sixty-two million seven
hundred thousand dollars ($62,700,000) the Commonwealth and the State shall
review the arrangements under this Agreement and, except as agreed upon such
review, the Commonwealth shall not be obliged to make payments under
sub-clause (1) of this clause in respect of any costs of constructing the
Dartmouth Reservoir in excess of that sum.
(3) The State will
furnish to the Treasurer of the Commonwealth (in this Agreement called "the
Treasurer") such documents and other evidence in support of each request by
the State for a payment to it by the Commonwealth under sub-clause (1) of this
clause as the Treasurer may from time to time reasonably request, whether the
request by the Treasurer is made before or after the Commonwealth has made a
payment pursuant to the request by the State.
The State will not use or apply any payment made to it by the Commonwealth
under this Agreement except for the purpose of meeting its obligations under
clause 32 of the River Murray Waters Agreement in respect of the cost of the
construction of the Dartmouth Reservoir.
(1) The State will pay
to the Commonwealth interest on so much of a payment made to the State by the
Commonwealth as is for the time being not repaid calculated from the date on
which the payment was made at the rate provided in this clause.
(2) The State shall
pay the interest for the time being accrued under this clause on the fifteenth
day of January and the fifteenth day of July in each year.
(3) The rate at which
interest is payable by the State under this clause in respect of each
Commonwealth payment shall be the rate equal to the rate of yield to maturity
on the long term Commonwealth securities that last became available for public
subscription in Australia before the date of the relevant payment to the
State.
(4) In this clause,
the words "long term Commonwealth securities" mean such of the securities
issued for the purposes of a Commonwealth loan as have the latest maturity
date, being a date not less than ten years from the closing date for
subscriptions to the loan and the words "the rate of yield to maturity" mean
the rate per annum determined by the Treasurer to be the equivalent of the
yield to maturity from the securities to a holder of the securities, having
regard to the issue price, the interest rate, the redemption price and the
period to maturity.
(1) Subject to
sub-clause (2) of this clause, the State will repay to the Commonwealth each
payment made by the Commonwealth under this Agreement by thirty equal
repayments, the first repayment to be made on the fifteenth day of January or
July next following the expiry of ten years from the date on which the
Commonwealth payment was made and subsequent repayments to be made at
half-yearly intervals thereafter until the final repayment has been made.
(2) The State may at
any time after giving to the Treasurer at least one month's notice of its
intention so to do repay to the Commonwealth the whole or any part not being
less than One hundred thousand dollars of the unrepaid balance of a
Commonwealth payment together with interest accrued thereon to the date of
repayment by the State.
(1) The accounts,
books, vouchers, documents and other records of the State relating to the
expenditure of moneys received by the State under this Agreement shall be
subject to audit by the Auditor-General of the State.
(2) Until such time as
the total amount of the financial assistance to be provided to the State under
this Agreement has been provided by the Commonwealth and supporting evidence
to the satisfaction of the Treasurer in relation to all amounts paid is
furnished by the State, a report on the audits in respect of each financial
year shall be furnished by the Auditor-General of the State to the Treasurer
as soon as possible after the completion of the financial year, indicating,
whether the expenditure of moneys is in accordance with this Agreement and
including reference to such other matters arising out of the audits as the
Auditor-General of the State considers should be reported to the Treasurer.
The State will from time to time at the request of the Treasurer furnish to
him such information as he may reasonably require for the purposes of or in
relation to this Agreement.
Any notice, request or other communication to be given or made under this
Agreement by the Commonwealth or the Treasurer to the State shall be deemed to
have been sufficiently given or made if it is in writing signed by the
Treasurer or by any person thereunto authorized in writing by him, and any
notice, application or other communication to be given or made by the State or
the Treasurer of the State to the Commonwealth or to the Treasurer shall be
deemed to have been sufficiently given or made if it is in writing signed by
the Treasurer of the State or any person thereunto authorized in writing by
the Treasurer of the State.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF this Agreement has been executed on the day and year first
above written. | ||
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SIGNED for and on behalf of THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA by the Right
Honourable JOHN GREY GORTON, the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth, in the
presence of C.L. HEWITT. |
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J.G. GORTON |
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SIGNED for and on behalf of THE STATE OF NEW SOUTH WALES by the Honourable
ROBIN WILLIAM ASKIN, the Premier of that State, in the presence of G.M. GRAY |
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R.W. ASKIN |
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SIGNED for and on behalf of THE STATE OF VICTORIA by the Honourable SIR HENRY
EDWARD BOLTE, the Premier of that State, in the presence of I.G. BAKER |
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HENRY BOLTE |
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SIGNED for and on behalf of THE STATE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA by the Honourable
RAYMOND STEELE HALL, the Premier of that State, in the presence of J.S. WHITE |
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STEELE HALL |