{"id":"tas:sr-2002-090","name":"Local Government (Kentish Council Dismissal) Order 2002","slug":"local-government-kentish-council-dismissal-order-2002","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"tas","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"90 of 2002","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":318554,"registerId":"tas-tas:sr-2002-090-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-08","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title","content":"### 1 Short title\n\n> This order may be cited as the [Local Government (Kentish Council Dismissal) Order 2002](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/sr-2002-090) .","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"### 2 Commencement\n\n> This order takes effect on the day on which its making is notified in the *Gazette*.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Interpretation","content":"### 3 Interpretation\n\n> The [Acts Interpretation Act 1931](/view/html/inforce/2026-04-12/act-1931-059) applies to the interpretation of this order as if it were by-laws.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Dismissal of councillors","content":"### 4 Dismissal of councillors\n\n> All the councillors of the Kentish Council are dismissed from office.\n\nDisplayed and numbered in accordance with the *[Rules Publication Act 1953](/view/html/inforce/current/act-1953-050)*.\n\nNotified in the *Gazette* on 21 August 2002\n\nThis order is administered in the Department of Premier and Cabinet.","sortOrder":3}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a specific, one-off dismissal order with a narrow, clearly defined purpose. It has not grown beyond its original intent — it did exactly what it said on the tin (sacked the councillors) and has no ongoing regulatory function."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short: only 4 substantive sections","No defined terms in the legislation itself","No cross-references to other legislation except the standard interpretation act","No conditional logic, exceptions, or procedural requirements","Single operative provision with absolute, unconditional language ('All the councillors...are dismissed')","No schedules, tables, or annexures"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a short, sharp piece of Tasmanian law that **sacked every single elected councillor on the Kentish Council** (the local government body for the Kentish area in Tasmania) in 2002.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Dismisses all councillors** — Every elected member of the Kentish Council was removed from office immediately when this order was published in the government Gazette.\n- **Takes effect immediately** — The dismissal happened as soon as the order was officially notified (published), not after a waiting period.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- The elected councillors of Kentish Council (who lost their positions)\n- The residents of the Kentish municipal area (who temporarily lost their elected local representatives)\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis is an example of **ministerial intervention** in local government — where the state government steps in to remove locally elected officials. This power is typically used in cases of serious dysfunction, financial mismanagement, or corruption, though this order itself doesn't state the reason. It shows that while councils are \"local\" government, they ultimately operate under state control and can be overridden by state authorities.\n\n**Key legal note:** The order applies standard interpretation rules from the *Acts Interpretation Act 1931* (a law that explains how to read legislation) to this order, treating it as if it were council by-laws (local regulations)."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The order appears to serve its original and singular purpose: the dismissal of the Kentish Council. There is no evidence of scope creep or amendment beyond its original intent. It remains unchanged since its commencement on 21 August 2002."},"complexity_factors":["Very narrow and specific in scope — a single, one-time administrative action","Limited legislative text available for analysis; the document is largely metadata and status information rather than substantive provisions","Straightforward exercise of an existing statutory power under local government legislation","No ongoing obligations or rights created for the general public beyond the immediate dismissal event"],"plain_english_summary":"This Tasmanian government order dismissed the elected councillors of Kentish Council in August 2002 and placed the council under state administration.\n\nIt removed local representation for Kentish residents and ratepayers until an appointed administrator ran the council, illustrating the state’s power to override local democracy; the order remains in force as a legal record since 21 August 2002."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"other","section":"Status Information - Currency of version","severity":"medium","reasoning":"A dismissal order is a discrete, instantaneous administrative action. Once the council is dismissed, the order is functus officio — it has no ongoing legal operation. Treating it as perpetually 'current' legislation implies it continues to have legal effect, yet there is nothing left for it to operate upon. This creates a logical absurdity: legislation that is nominally current but substantively spent from the moment of its commencement.","confidence":0.75,"description":"The version is stated as 'current from 21 August 2002 to date', meaning a dismissal order — a one-time, spent administrative act — has been maintained as live, current legislation for over two decades with no sunset or expiry provision."},{"type":"other","section":"Authorisation - File last modified 23 July 2024","severity":"low","reasoning":"A dismissal order creates a single, irreversible legal fact. Any 2024 modification cannot alter the historical fact of the 2002 dismissal. The modification therefore either changed purely administrative metadata (raising questions about why this triggers a legislative file modification) or purported to alter spent operative provisions, which would be legally meaningless or potentially absurd.","confidence":0.6,"description":"The file was modified in 2024 for legislation whose sole operative effect was exhausted in August 2002, raising the question of what substantive legal content could possibly have been amended 22 years after the only legally meaningful event already occurred."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"low","section_a":"Currency of version — 'current from 21 August 2002 to date'","section_b":"Nature of a dismissal order as a spent, one-time instrument","confidence":0.7,"description":"The instrument is simultaneously characterised as perpetually 'current' legislation and as a one-time dismissal order whose operative effect was entirely exhausted upon commencement. These two characterisations are irreconcilable: a spent instrument cannot logically be 'current' in any substantive sense."}]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument's scope is limited to dismissing all Kentish Council councillors and setting interpretive and commencement rules; it does not expand beyond that action or create ongoing powers, nor does it specify replacements or financial arrangements."},"complexity_factors":["Single, definitive substantive action: wholesale dismissal of councillors (s 4)","Commencement tied to Gazette notification, creating a clear effective date (s 2)","Interpretation rule: the Acts Interpretation Act 1931 applies, affecting construction but not content (s 3)","Very short, self-contained instrument with no procedural detail on reconstitution, replacement elections, or appeals (absence increases implementation uncertainty)","Administrative responsibility stated (Department of Premier and Cabinet), reducing ambiguity about which agency implements the order"],"plain_english_summary":"This order removes all elected councillors of the Kentish Council from office, taking effect on the day it is notified in the Gazette (ss 2, 4). The Acts Interpretation Act 1931 applies to how the order is read (s 3). The Department of Premier and Cabinet administers the order; the instrument itself does not set out how councillors are replaced, any financial consequences, or appeal rights."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/local-government-kentish-council-dismissal-order-2002","history":"/api/acts/local-government-kentish-council-dismissal-order-2002/history","analysis":"/api/acts/local-government-kentish-council-dismissal-order-2002/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/local-government-kentish-council-dismissal-order-2002/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/local-government-kentish-council-dismissal-order-2002/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/local-government-kentish-council-dismissal-order-2002/documents"}}