{"id":"C1952A00039","name":"Wool Tax Act (No. 2) 1952","slug":"wool-tax-act-no-2-1952","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"39 of 1952","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":4556,"registerId":"commonwealth-C1952A00039-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Wool Tax Act (No. 2) 1952","content":"WOOL TAX (No. 2).\n\nNo. 39 of 1952.\n\nAn Act to impose a Tax upon certain Wool produced in, and exported from, Australia.\n\n\\[Assented to 17th June, 1952.\\]\n\nBE it enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:—\n\nShort title.\n\n1. This Act may be cited as the Wool Tax Act (No. 2) 1952.\n\nCommencement.\n\n2. This Act shall come into operation on the first day of July, One thousand nine hundred and fifty-two.\n\nAct to be read with Assessment Act.\n\n3. The Wool Tax Assessment Act 1936–1952 shall be read as one with this Act.\n\nImposition of tax.\n\n4. A tax is imposed on all wool—\n\n(a) produced in Australia; and\n\n(b) on or after the day on which this Act comes into operation, exported from Australia,\n\nbeing wool other than wool which has been received by a wool-broker or dealer.\n\nRates of tax up to 30th June, 1953.\n\n5. The rates of tax on wool exported from Australia on or before the thirtieth day of June, One thousand nine hundred and fifty-three, are the rates specified in the First Schedule to this Act.\n\nRates of tax from 1st July, 1953.\n\n6.—(1.) The rates of tax on wool exported from Australia on or after the first day of July, One thousand nine hundred and fifty-three, shall be such rates as are from time to time prescribed.\n\n \n\n(2.) The rates of tax prescribed under the last preceding sub\\-section shall be not less than the rates specified as minimum rates in the Second Schedule to this Act and not greater than the rates specified as maximum rates in that Schedule.\n\nRegulations.\n\n7.—(1.) The Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, for prescribing the rates of tax in accordance with the last preceding section.\n\n(2.) Before making regulations under this section, the Governor-General shall take into consideration any recommendations with respect to the rates of the tax made to the Minister by the Board after consultation between the members of the Board appointed to the Board on the nomination of an organization and that organization.\n\nTHE SCHEDULES.\n\n—–\n\nFIRST SCHEDULE. Section 5.\n\n—–\n\nRates of Tax.\n\n| | s. | d. |\n| ---------------------------------------------------- | --- | --- |\n| For each bale of wool............................ | 4 | 0 |\n| For each fadge or butt of wool...................... | 2 | 0 |\n| For each bag of wool............................ | 0 | 8 |\n\nSECOND SCHEDULE. Section 6.\n\n—–\n\nMaximum and Minimum Rates of Tax.\n\n```html\n

Minimum Rates.

Maximum Rates

s.

d.

s.

d.

For each bale of wool.............

2

0

..

5

0

For each fadge or butt of wool........

1

0

..

2

6

For each bag of wool..............

0

4

..

0

10

\n```","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"other","section":"Section 4","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Section 4 imposes tax on exported wool BUT expressly excludes wool received by a wool-broker or dealer. In 1952 virtually all Australian wool was sold through wool brokers prior to export. If the exclusion applies to any wool that has ever passed through a broker or dealer (as opposed to only domestic-consumption wool), the tax base may be near-empty, making the operative provision largely ineffective. The drafting does not qualify 'received' with any temporal or purpose limitation.","confidence":0.72,"description":"The tax exemption for wool 'received by a wool-broker or dealer' is logically inverted for the Act's stated purpose. The long title declares the Act imposes tax on wool 'exported from Australia', but wool sold domestically through brokers and dealers is the mainstream trade channel. This carve-out means the most commercially significant wool — sold at auction through brokers — is untaxed, while only fringe export flows outside the broker/dealer system are caught. The exemption may swallow the rule."},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"Section 7(2)","severity":"high","reasoning":"Section 7(2) creates a mandatory procedural obligation ('shall take into consideration') referencing a 'Board' and an 'organization' that are wholly undefined in this Act. While these terms may be defined in the incorporated Wool Tax Assessment Act 1936–1952 (read together under s.3), on the face of this Act the precondition is unidentifiable. If the Assessment Act definition is repealed or altered, or if a court reads this Act in isolation, the precondition becomes impossible to satisfy, potentially invalidating any regulations made.","confidence":0.65,"description":"The Governor-General is required to consult 'the Board' and consider its recommendations before making regulations, but 'the Board' is not defined anywhere in this Act. The Act provides no mechanism for identifying who constitutes the Board, how members are appointed, or what 'an organization' means, making the mandatory pre-condition to regulation-making impossible to satisfy on the face of this Act alone."},{"type":"retroactive_impossibility","section":"Section 5 & First Schedule","severity":"low","reasoning":"While this was not a defect at enactment, the Act specifies monetary amounts in a currency unit that ceased to exist. This is a retroactive impossibility created by subsequent events. In practice the Act would have been amended or repealed before 1966, but on its face as presented here it contains rates that cannot be applied in any post-1966 legal context without external conversion legislation.","confidence":0.8,"description":"The First Schedule specifies rates in pre-decimal currency (shillings 's.' and pence 'd.'). The Act commenced 1 July 1952 and purports to apply rates 'on or before the thirtieth day of June, 1953'. Australia decimalised its currency on 14 February 1966. The rates expressed in shillings and pence became literally incalculable as legal tender amounts after decimalisation, with no conversion mechanism in this Act."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"high","section_a":"Section 5","section_b":"Section 6(1)","confidence":0.82,"description":"Section 5 imposes rates on wool exported 'on or before' 30 June 1953, and Section 6(1) imposes prescribed rates on wool exported 'on or after' 1 July 1953. These two provisions share the boundary date but use asymmetric language: wool exported on exactly 30 June 1953 is clearly caught by Section 5, and wool exported on exactly 1 July 1953 is clearly caught by Section 6. There is no gap. However, there is a structural tension: Section 5 says those ARE the rates (fixed), while Section 6 says rates 'shall be such rates as are from time to time prescribed' — meaning if no regulations are ever made under s.7, there are no rates at all from 1 July 1953 onwards, despite s.6(1) purporting to impose tax. The imposition provision (s.4) is thus rendered inoperative for post-1 July 1953 exports in the absence of regulations."},{"severity":"low","section_a":"Section 6(2)","section_b":"Second Schedule","confidence":0.45,"description":"Section 6(2) requires prescribed rates to be 'not less than the minimum rates' and 'not greater than the maximum rates' in the Second Schedule. For fadges or butts, the minimum rate is 1s. 0d. and the maximum is 2s. 6d. However, the First Schedule (the transitional fixed rate in s.5) sets the rate for fadges or butts at 2s. 0d., which falls within the Second Schedule band. This is internally consistent. But for bags, the First Schedule rate is 0s. 8d., while the Second Schedule minimum is 0s. 4d. and maximum is 0s. 10d. — also consistent. The apparent tension is that the fixed transitional rates in the First Schedule are themselves not constrained by the Second Schedule bands (s.6(2) only applies to prescribed rates), meaning the legislated transitional rate for a bale (4s. 0d.) exceeds the Second Schedule maximum of 5s. 0d. — technically within range — but the fadge rate of 2s. 0d. is below the Second Schedule maximum of 2s. 6d. There is no actual contradiction here numerically, but the Act creates two parallel rate-setting regimes with no requirement that they be consistent, which could cause confusion about which band governs future rates relative to the transitional benchmark."}]},"summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Act is narrow and focused entirely on its original purpose: imposing an export tax on wool not passing through brokers or dealers, and setting the rates for that tax. There is no evidence of scope creep — the legislation does exactly what its long title promises and nothing more."},"complexity_factors":["Short Act with only 7 operative sections","Relies heavily on a companion Act (Wool Tax Assessment Act 1936–1952) for administrative detail, creating a cross-reference dependency","Two-schedule structure with different rate regimes for two distinct time periods adds mild complexity","Delegated rate-setting power in s.6 introduces conditional logic (rates must fall within prescribed min/max bands)","Reference to an undefined 'Board' and its consultation process requires knowledge of external legislative context","Pre-decimal currency (shillings and pence) requires period-specific knowledge to interpret monetary values","Exemption carve-out for wool received by a wool-broker or dealer requires understanding of trade definitions"],"plain_english_summary":"## Wool Tax Act (No. 2) 1952 — Plain English Summary\n\nThis Act imposes a **tax on wool** that is produced in Australia and then **exported overseas**. Think of it as an export levy on raw wool leaving the country.\n\n### Who does it affect?\n- **Wool producers** (farmers/graziers) who export their wool directly overseas\n- Notably, wool that has already passed through a **wool-broker or dealer** is **exempt** from this tax — so the tax only catches wool going straight to export without going through the normal domestic wool trade\n\n### What does it actually do?\n- **Imposes the tax**: Any wool grown in Australia and exported on or after 1 July 1952 is subject to this tax\n- **Sets initial rates** (in the old pre-decimal currency of shillings and pence) based on how the wool is packaged:\n - Per **bale**: 4 shillings\n - Per **fadge or butt** (a different type of wool packaging container): 2 shillings\n - Per **bag**: 8 pence\n- **After 30 June 1953**, the exact tax rates can be adjusted by regulation (a rule made by the government without needing a new Act of Parliament), but must stay within the minimum and maximum bands set out in the Second Schedule:\n - Bales: minimum 2s, maximum 5s\n - Fadges/butts: minimum 1s, maximum 2s 6d\n - Bags: minimum 4d, maximum 10d\n\n### How are future rates set?\nThe **Governor-General** (acting on government advice) can make regulations to set the rates within those bands. Importantly, before doing so, the Governor-General **must consider recommendations** from \"the Board\" — an industry body that consults with nominated wool industry organisations. This gives the wool industry a formal voice in setting the tax rate.\n\n### Why does it matter?\nThis Act is one of a suite of wool tax laws from the early 1950s designed to fund wool industry programs (likely research, promotion, or stabilisation schemes). It works **alongside** the Wool Tax Assessment Act 1936–1952, which handles the administrative machinery of collection — this Act simply imposes the tax and sets the rates."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/wool-tax-act-no-2-1952","history":"/api/acts/wool-tax-act-no-2-1952/history","analysis":"/api/acts/wool-tax-act-no-2-1952/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/wool-tax-act-no-2-1952/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/wool-tax-act-no-2-1952/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/wool-tax-act-no-2-1952/documents"}}