Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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AUSTRALIAN WOOL CORPORATION REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1992 NO. 114

STATUTORY RULES 1992 No. 114

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Primary Industries and Energy

Australian Wool Corporation Act 1991

Australian Wool Corporation Regulations (Amendment)

Section 94 of the Australian Wool Corporation Act 1991 (the Act) provides that the GovernorGeneral may make regulations for the purposes of the Act.

Under the Act the Australian Wool Corporation (AWC) is required to hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) of wool-tax payers. The major purposes of an AGM are to provide woolgrowers the opportunity to review the performance of the AWC over the previous financial year, and to allow them to vote on a number of issues including the rate of wool tax which they think is appropriate for the purposes of the AWC for the next financial year.

A woolgrower cannot vote at an AGM unless entered on the register of wool-tax payers. Section 40 of the Act provides for regulations to be made for procedures to be followed in the establishment and maintenance of a register of wool-tax payers for the purposes of AGMs. The entry of applications to the register is the main issue under consideration in these amendments. These regulations will allow the AWC additional flexibility in processing applications forwarded prior to but received after the cut-off date.

Section 47 provides for regulations to cover administrative matters related to the running of an AGM. In particular, it details that regulations can be made on procedures to be undertaken by the AWC in notifying registered persons of a forthcoming AGM. The changes envisaged to the entering of applications on the register will have implications for the timeframe in which notices can then be sent to those wool-tax payers on the register.

The details of the proposed amendments to the Regulations are as follows:

Regulation 1 provides for amendments to the AWC Regulations.

Regulation 2 inserts an extra regulation 5DA, entitled "Late registration"

New regulation 5DA allows the AWC to process the registration of an applicant after the register has officially closed. This can occur if the application was sent before the day of closure, and if the AWC is satisfied the applicant is eligible to be entered on the register. The entry will be taken to have been made on the day before the register closed.

Regulation 3 inserts an extra provision into existing regulation 5F, "Notifying registered wool-tax payers of a general meeting"

New subregulation 5F(1A) provides that if the AWC processes the registration of a wool-tax payer after the cut-off period for application for registration, and for that reason the normal 28 day limit for sending notices of a forthcoming meeting cannot be met, then the AWC must give the notices and other documents to the registered tax payer as soon as practicable.