17Notice of proposed target organisms

17 Notice of proposed target organisms

(1) Where the Council has unanimously recommended to the Authority that organisms of a particular kind should be target organisms, the Authority shall publish in the Gazette and in such newspapers or journals as the Authority considers appropriate a notice that the Authority is contemplating declaring those organisms to be target organisms. (2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), a notice under that subsection shall be published in each State and the Australian Capital Territory by being published in at least one newspaper circulating generally in that State or Territory. (3) A notice under subsection (1) in relation to organisms of a particular kind shall: (a) set out particulars identifying the organisms; (b) set out brief particulars of the reasons why the organisms are believed to be causing harm in the Australian Capital Territory; (c) set out brief particulars of the benefits (if any) resulting from the absence of biological control of the population of the organisms; (d) state that the Council has unanimously recommended that the organisms should be declared to be target organisms; (e) where the recommendation of the Council followed a target application in relation to the organisms—inform the public that copies of the target application can be perused at a place specified in the notice; and (f) invite any persons who object to, or support, the organisms being declared to be target organisms to submit written particulars of the grounds for that objection or support, as the case may be, to the Authority within the period of 6 weeks after the date of the publication of the notice in the Gazette, or within such further period as the Authority (either before or after the expiration of that period) allows. (4) Where the Authority publishes a notice under subsection (1) in relation to a target application, the Authority shall cause copies of the application to be available for perusal at the place specified in the notice in accordance with paragraph (3)(e).