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New South Wales act
What this law does (mechanically)
Vests two specific parcels of land in the Crown, removing previous estates, interests and trusts over those parcels (s 3; Schedules One and Two). The trustees named under the original settlement are required to execute transfers to the Crown on request, and the Crown pays the costs of those conveyances (s 3).
Requires the Governor to build and outfit a non-infectious diseases hospital called “The David Berry Hospital” on the site described in Schedule One (or another suitable nearby site) within ten years, and to maintain the existing temporary hospital in Berry until the new hospital is complete (s 6).
Sets out how the lands can be used or disposed of: the site in Schedule One is to be available as the hospital site or otherwise dealt with; the other lands may be reserved or dedicated for public uses (including wharves, railways, recreation reserves, roads) or vested with the Sydney Harbour Trust Commissioners, or sold or leased by the Governor on such terms as he thinks fit (s 4).
Directs that proceeds and revenues from those lands are to be paid into the Treasury and form part of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (s 4(2)).
Charges the Consolidated Revenue Fund with an amount equal to the value of the Schedule Two lands as certified periodically by the Government land valuator, up to a ceiling of one hundred thousand pounds (s 5).
Requires that, after meeting the outlay of building the hospital from the charged amount, net revenues from the lands be applied first to maintaining the hospital and, subject to that, to establishing and maintaining agricultural and veterinary technical institutions in the Berry district; total annual expenditure under that rule must not exceed 3.5% per annum of the value of the Schedule Two land (s 7).
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Direct links to the current provisions in David Berry Hospital Act 1906.
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View on official registerSourced from legislation.nsw.gov.au, CC BY 4.0.
Provides that until land revenues are sufficient to cover maintenance and repair of the hospital, those costs are a charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund and may be offset against later revenues from the lands (s 8).
Preserves any liability the trustees of the will may have under the will (s 9).
Gives the Governor power to make regulations for governing the hospital and to impose penalties up to twenty pounds for breaches, recoverable in the Local Court (s 10).
Who this affects and who decides
Why the law matters (official purpose-claims and an analytical test of mechanics)
The text implements the testator’s settlement by providing Crown ownership of identified lands and creating a dedicated hospital site; the Act explicitly directs building and maintenance of a hospital and the funding priority for hospital maintenance (s 6, s 7). That is the Act’s declared purpose.
Costs and funding: the Act charges the Consolidated Revenue Fund up to the certified value of Schedule Two (s 5). The Crown pays conveyancing costs to clear title (s 3). Until land income covers maintenance, the Consolidated Revenue Fund bears ongoing maintenance costs (s 8). Thus taxpayers ultimately pay any gap between land income and hospital costs, subject to the s 5 valuation ceiling.
Incentives and trade-offs: by vesting the land in the Crown and allowing the Governor wide powers to lease, sell or dedicate the land (s 4), the statute converts previously held private or trust assets into public assets whose future use and commercialisation are discretionary. That creates incentives for the Crown to manage the land to produce revenue for the hospital (s 4, s 7), but also gives the Governor discretion that may affect future private development opportunities (s 4(c)–(d)).
Opportunity costs and substitution effects: allowing sale or lease (s 4) and vesting parts with the Sydney Harbour Trust Commissioners (s 4(b)) means land that might have been used under earlier private trusts can be converted to other public uses or monetised; revenues are ring-fenced for hospital maintenance and, secondarily, agricultural/veterinary institutions, subject to the 3.5% cap (s 7).
Implementation and administrative risk: key operational points depend on ministerial/ executive decisions and an official valuation (s 4, s 5). The Governor has broad discretion about terms of sale/lease and regulation of the hospital (s 4, s 10), and the Government land valuator’s periodic certification determines the statutory charge cap (s 5). Those delegated decisions create implementation choices that will shape outcomes.
Compliance burden and private effect: trustees and persons with interests in the named lands lose property interests when the Crown vests the lands free of trusts (s 3). Trustees must execute conveyances on request (s 3). The Act saves any liabilities trustees may still hold under the will (s 9), so some obligations may remain.
Concrete behaviour changes
Key statutory references: s 3 (vesting and conveyance), s 4 (permitted dealings and revenue to Treasury), s 5 (charge on Consolidated Revenue and valuation ceiling), s 6 (hospital construction and temporary maintenance), s 7 (application of revenues and 3.5% cap), s 8 (temporary charge on Consolidated Revenue), s 9 (saving trustees’ liabilities), s 10 (regulations and penalties), Schedules One & Two (land descriptions).