{"id":"port-fairy-land-act-1983","name":"Port Fairy Land Act 1983","slug":"port-fairy-land-act-1983","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"vic","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":173923,"registerId":"vic-port-fairy-land-act-1983-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Port Fairy Land Act 1983","content":"Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documentsi\nVersion No. 001\nPort Fairy Land Act 1983\nAct No. 10008/1983\nVersion as at 17 August 2001\nTABLE OF PROVISIONS\nSection Page\n1. Short title 1\n2. Commencement 1\n3. Certain land to be deemed to be unalienated Crown land 2\n4. Authority and Direction to Registrar-General to make necessary\nentries 2\n5. No compensation payable by the Crown 2\n__________________\nSCHEDULE 3\n═══════════════\nENDNOTES 4\n1. General Information 4\n2. Table of Amendments 5\n3. Explanatory Details 6\n\nVictorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents1\nVersion No. 001\nPort Fairy Land Act 1983\nAct No. 10008/1983\nVersion as at 17 August 2001\nAn Act to provide for the vesting in the Crown of certain land\nabutting the wharf on the Moyne River at Port Fairy.\nPreamble\nWHEREAS the land which is delineated and\nshown hatched on the plan in the Schedule is part\nof Atkinson's Crown Special Survey granted by the\nCrown in 1843 and in 1852 was conveyed to John\nMills, Peter Nicholson and Robert Woodward on\ntrust for a public wharf:\nAND WHEREAS it is desirable that portion of that\nland be made the subject of a lease together with\nadjoining land of the Crown and that the remainder\nbe retained for use as a public roadway:\nAND WHEREAS it is expedient that for those\npurposes the land be vested in the Crown:\nBE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Queen's Most\nExcellent Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the\nLegislative Council and the Legislative Assembly of Victoria\nin this present Parliament assembled and by the authority of\nthe same follows (that is to say):\n1. Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the Port Fairy Land\nAct 1983.\n2. Commencement\nThis Act shall come into operation on the day on\nwhich it receives the Royal Assent.\n\nVictorian Legislation and Parliamentary DocumentsAct No. 10008/1983\nPort Fairy Land Act 1983\n2\n3. Certain land to be deemed to be unalienated Crown\nland\nThe land which is delineated and shown hatched\non the plan in the Schedule shall be deemed to be\nunalienated land of the Crown freed and\ndischarged from all rights trusts limitations and\nrestrictions whatsoever and from every estate or\ninterest therein.\n4. Authority and Direction to Registrar-General to\nmake necessary entries\nThe Registrar-General is authorized and directed\nto make such entries upon Memorial Book O\nNumber 791 as are necessary in consequence of\nthis Act.\n5. No compensation payable by the Crown\nNo compensation shall be payable by the Crown\nin respect of any act, matter or thing done or\narising out of this Act.\n__________________\ns. 3\n\nVictorian Legislation and Parliamentary DocumentsAct No. 10008/1983\nPort Fairy Land Act 1983\n3\nSCHEDULE\nLand in the Parish of Belfast being part of the land described in Memorial\nBook O Number 791\n═══════════════\nSch.\n\nVictorian Legislation and Parliamentary DocumentsAct No. 10008/1983\nPort Fairy Land Act 1983\n4\nENDNOTES\n1. General Information\nThe Port Fairy Land Act 1983 was assented to on 13 December 1983 and\ncame into operation on 13 December 1983: section 2.\nEndnotes\n\nVictorian Legislation and Parliamentary DocumentsAct No. 10008/1983\nPort Fairy Land Act 1983\n5\n2. Table of Amendments\nThere are no amendments made to the Port Fairy Land Act 1983 by Acts\nand subordinate instruments.\nEndnotes\n\nVictorian Legislation and Parliamentary DocumentsAct No. 10008/1983\nPort Fairy Land Act 1983\n6\n3. Explanatory Details\nNo entries at date of publication.\nEndnotes","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Insufficient text was provided to make a definitive assessment. However, single-site land Acts of this nature from the 1980s typically remain narrowly focused on their original purpose and rarely expand in scope through amendment. The Act appears to remain in force as originally made, suggesting no significant scope change."},"complexity_factors":["Narrow, location-specific scope limits broad complexity","Typical single-purpose land administration legislation from this era tends to be straightforward","Insufficient legislative text was provided to assess technical drafting complexity","May reference other Crown land legislation requiring cross-referencing","Historical context (1983) means some referenced laws or land descriptions may have since changed"],"plain_english_summary":"The Port Fairy Land Act 1983 governs specific Crown land in Port Fairy, likely providing for transfer, reservation or rectification of titles for parcels in that coastal town. It chiefly affects local landowners, residents, Moyne Shire Council and anyone with an interest in the named land, because it can change ownership, public use and control of community or privately held sites."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act implements its preamble by vesting the specified land in the Crown and authorising registry entries (preamble; s.3; s.4). It does not itself grant leases but facilitates leasing and roadway use as stated; no substantive expansion or contraction of that stated purpose appears in the operative provisions (s.3–s.5)."},"complexity_factors":["Small number of short, discrete provisions (ss.1–5) limits legal complexity.","Deeming clause extinguishes existing proprietary rights and interests by statute (s.3), which has clear, binary legal effect.","Mandatory administrative step requiring the Registrar‑General to make entries increases implementational tasks but not interpretive complexity (s.4).","Express bar on Crown liability removes a common remedial pathway but may produce downstream factual disputes about prior interests (s.5).","Reliance on the Schedule map/plan to identify affected land creates a practical dependency on cadastral accuracy."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act declares the hatched Port Fairy land to be unalienated Crown land, freeing it from all prior rights and interests (s.3). The preamble says this is to allow part to be leased and the remainder used as a public roadway; the Act directs the Registrar‑General to record the change (s.4) and states the Crown will not pay compensation for acts under the Act (s.5)."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly scoped to its original purpose: vesting a specific parcel of land in the Crown at Port Fairy. There are no amendments and no expansion of scope beyond the original 1983 intent."},"complexity_factors":["Only 5 operative sections plus a Schedule","No defined terms section","No cross-references to other legislation","Simple linear structure with no conditional logic or exceptions","Single purpose with no regulatory machinery","Schedule contains only a plan reference and basic land description"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis is a very specific, one-off piece of Victorian legislation that deals with a small parcel of land in Port Fairy, a town in south-west Victoria. \n\n**The backstory:**\nBack in 1843, the Crown granted a special survey of land to someone named Atkinson. Part of that land (near the wharf on the Moyne River) was later held in trust for public use as a wharf. By 1983, the government wanted to lease out a portion of this land together with neighbouring Crown land, and keep the rest as a public road.\n\n**What the Act actually does:**\n- **Takes the land back** — It declares that the hatched area shown on the plan in the Schedule is now \"unalienated Crown land\" (meaning it belongs to the government again, free of any previous ownership claims, trusts, or restrictions).\n- **Cleans up the paperwork** — It orders the Registrar-General (the government officer who keeps land ownership records) to update the official land register (Memorial Book O Number 791) to reflect this change.\n- **No payout** — It explicitly states that nobody gets compensation from the government for this takeover.\n\n**Who it affects:**\nAnyone with a historical legal interest in that specific piece of land near Port Fairy wharf — though given it's from 1983 and the land was already held in public trust, this likely affected local government or historical trustees rather than private homeowners.\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis is an example of a \"private Act\" — legislation written to solve one specific problem for one specific piece of land. It cleared the way for the government to manage Port Fairy's waterfront more flexibly, allowing commercial leasing alongside public access."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/port-fairy-land-act-1983","history":"/api/acts/port-fairy-land-act-1983/history","analysis":"/api/acts/port-fairy-land-act-1983/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/port-fairy-land-act-1983/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/port-fairy-land-act-1983/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/port-fairy-land-act-1983/documents"}}