95YDeclarations in relation to State or Territory authorities

95Y Declarations in relation to State or Territory authorities

(1) The Minister must not make or approve a declaration of a State or Territory authority under section 95X unless:

(a) the appropriate Minister of the State or Territory concerned has agreed to the declaration being made; or

(b) the Council has, on the request (the current request) of an Australian government, recommended the declaration and the Minister has consulted the appropriate Minister of the State or Territory concerned.

Role of Council

(2) The Council must not recommend a declaration of a State or Territory authority in relation to goods or services unless it is satisfied that:

(a) at least one Australian government has notified the State or Territory concerned that the government is not satisfied that there is effective supervision of the prices charged by the authority for the supply of those goods or services; and

(b) there is not such effective supervision; and

(c) the supply of those goods or services by the authority has a significant direct or indirect impact on qualifying trade or commerce.

(3) The Council must also not recommend a declaration of a State or Territory authority in relation to goods or services if:

(a) in the 5 year period before it received the current request, it was satisfied (when considering a previous request) that there was effective supervision of prices charged by the authority for the supply of those goods or services; and

(b) it is satisfied that there has not been a substantial change in the mechanism for that supervision since it was satisfied as mentioned in paragraph (a).

(4) In deciding whether there is effective supervision of prices charged by a State or Territory authority, if the State or Territory concerned is a party to the National Competition Policy Agreement, the Council must apply the relevant principles set out in the agreement.

Definitions

(5) In this section:

Australian government means the Commonwealth, a State, the Australian Capital Territory or the Northern Territory.

qualifying trade or commerce means trade or commerce described in paragraph 95C(1)(g) or trade and commerce between Australia and another place.