Part 7Funding the operation and maintenance of the Scheme

Part 7—Funding the operation and maintenance of the Scheme Division 1—Funding the Scheme 46—Money required for operation and maintenance (1) The Minister and the Trust must determine at least three months before the commencement of each contribution year the amount of money that the Trust will require (in addition to the funds that are already available to it) to operate and maintain the Scheme infrastructure in accordance with this Act and to carry out its other functions under this Act during that year. (2) The amount determined under subsection (1) may include an amount to cover a shortfall in the Trust's budget from the previous contribution year. (3) If the Minister and the Trust fail to reach agreement at least three months before the commencement of the contribution year on the amount required, the amount required will be taken to be the amount determined by the Minister as being the amount that is likely, in his or her opinion, to be required for those purposes. (4) The amount must include (but is not limited to) the following components: (a) the amount required to cover the cost of maintaining, repairing and replacing the Scheme infrastructure during the relevant contribution year; and (b) the amount required to cover the cost of pumping water into the disposal basins and any related expenses that are not covered in the component referred to in paragraph (a); and (c) a contribution to the future cost of the maintenance, repair and replacement of the Scheme infrastructure. (5) The amount of the component referred to in subsection (4)(c) must be calculated to spread the burden of future costs as far as possible equally amongst those who are presently, and those who in the future will be, liable for the maintenance of the Scheme. (6) The Minister must determine the amount required to cover the costs of, and relating to, the recovery from the persons liable under section 55 of the amount paid by the Treasurer to the Trust under section 47 in respect of the relevant contribution year. (7) On or before 15 August in each year (or, in respect of the 2000/2001 contribution year, some other date agreed between the Minister and the Treasurer), the Minister must inform the Treasurer in writing of the amount determined under subsection (1) or (3) in respect of the immediately following contribution year. 47—Payment by the Treasurer (1) The Treasurer must pay to the Trust from the Consolidated Account (which is appropriated to the necessary extent) the amount determined under section 46 that will be required by the Trust for the relevant contribution year. (2) The amount must be paid— (a) in respect of the 2000/2001 contribution year—in such instalments and on or before such dates as are agreed by the Minister and the Treasurer; (b) in respect of all other contribution years—in equal quarterly instalments on or before the first days of October, January, April and July in the relevant year. 48—Recovery of money paid by Treasurer to Trust (1) Subject to subsection (2), the following amounts may be recovered by the Minister from the owners and occupiers of irrigated properties in shares determined in accordance with the regulations: (a) an amount equivalent to the amount paid, or to be paid, by the Treasurer to the Trust under section 47 for the relevant contribution year; and (b) an amount equivalent to the amount determined by the Minister under section 46(6) to cover recovery costs for that contribution year; and (c) an amount (if any) payable by the Minister as a Goods and Services Tax or any other tax imposed by or under an Act of the Commonwealth in respect of the amount paid to the Minister in pursuance of a liability under section 55. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the owner or occupier of an irrigated property to which a water licence referred to in Schedule 2 was applicable on 10 April 2000 if a risk management allocation is not, and never has been, attached to any land comprising the irrigated property. (3) Subject to subsection (6), regulations may only be made by the Governor under subsection (1) on the recommendation of the Minister and the Trust. (4) Regulations made under subsection (1) may provide that the shares payable by the owners and occupiers of irrigated properties will be based on one or more of the following factors: (a) the category or categories of the irrigated land of the irrigated property; (b) the quantity of water used to irrigate the irrigated land of the property; (c) the extent (if any) to which irrigation of the irrigated land of the irrigated property increases salinity levels in the River Murray; (d) the waterlogging and salinity risk management allocation attached to the irrigated land comprising the whole or part of the irrigated property; (e) such other factor or factors as are specified in the regulations. (5) The first regulations made under subsection (1) will be taken to have been made on the recommendation of the Minister and the Trust as required by subsection (3). (6) The Governor may make regulations under subsection (1) varying the regulations under that subsection on the recommendation of the Minister alone without the recommendation of the Trust if— (a) the Minister and the Trust cannot agree on the recommendation to be made to the Governor; or (b) in the Minister's opinion, the regulations need to be varied because they are causing, or are likely to cause, substantial unfairness to one or more persons. (7) The amount determined under the regulations as being payable in respect of an irrigated property must be increased or reduced under section 49 to take account of any under payment or over payment in respect of the previous contribution year or years in relation to the irrigated property. 49—Adjustment of contributions (1) Where— (a) the share payable in a contribution year by an owner and occupier of an irrigated property depends on the quantity of water used to irrigate the land in the corresponding water usage year; and (b) the quantity actually used in that year differs from the quantity on which the share was based, the share must be redetermined after the end of the water usage year based on the actual quantities used and the share determined under section 48 in respect of that irrigated property for the following contribution year must be adjusted to take account of an underpayment or overpayment in respect of the previous year. (2) The regulations may provide that a share (based on the quantity of water used) initially payable by an owner and occupier of an irrigated property in respect of a contribution year may be based on the quantity of water used to irrigate the property in the water usage year corresponding to the immediately preceding contribution year or on an estimation by the Trust of the water to be used in the current water usage year. 50—Payment in respect of the unauthorised use of water (1) The use of water to irrigate an irrigated property to which, or to part of which, a risk management allocation is attached is unauthorised for the purposes of this Part if the use of the water constitutes an overuse in the relevant water usage year under section 51. (2) If in a water usage year the quantity of water used to irrigate an irrigated property to which a water licence referred to in Schedule 2 was applicable on 10 April 2000 but to which a risk management allocation has never been attached exceeds the risk management allocation appearing opposite that water licence in Schedule 2, the use of all of the water used to irrigate that property in that year is unauthorised for the purposes of this Part. (3) Subsection (2) does not apply in relation to an irrigated property in relation to a water usage year if, in the opinion of the Trust, the excessive use of water is trifling. (4) The use of any water to irrigate an irrigated property that is not referred to in subsection (1) or (2) is unauthorised for the purposes of this Part. (5) An amount determined in accordance with the regulations may be recovered by the Minister in respect of the unauthorised use of water from the owner and occupier of the land on which the water was used (the amount may be a share of the amounts referred to in section 48(1)). (6) Subject to subsection (9), regulations may be made by the Governor under subsection (5) only on the recommendation of the Minister and the Trust. (7) Regulations under subsection (5) may— (a) be based on one or more of the factors referred to in section 48(4) or such other factors as are specified in the regulations; (b) impose a penalty for the unauthorised use of water. (8) The first regulations made under subsection (5) will be taken to have been made on the recommendation of the Minister and the Trust as required by subsection (6). (9) The Governor may make regulations under subsection (5) varying the regulations under that subsection on the recommendation of the Minister alone without the recommendation of the Trust if— (a) the Minister and the Trust cannot agree on the recommendations to be made to the Governor; or (b) in the Minister's opinion, the regulations need to be varied because they are causing, or are likely to cause, substantial unfairness to one or more persons. 51—Computing overuse of water (1) Subject to this section, if the total quantity of water used to irrigate a particular category of land comprising the whole or part of an irrigated property over a period comprising a block of three consecutive water usage years exceeds the quantity prescribed by subsection (2), the owner or occupier of the land will be taken to have overused water on that category of land in the last of those years to the extent of the excess. (2) The quantity of water for the purposes of subsection (1) is the quantity of water authorised for irrigation of the land during the relevant block of three consecutive water usage years by the waterlogging and salinity risk management allocation (if any) attached to the land. (3) By way of explanation— (a) the first block of three consecutive years is comprised of the first, second and third water usage years of the operation of the Scheme; (b) the second block is comprised of the second, third and fourth water usage years of the Scheme; (c) the third block is comprised of the third, fourth and fifth water usage years, and so on. (4) In order to avoid an owner and occupier being charged more than once in respect of the unauthorised use of water, where— (a) the quantity of water used to irrigate land in a particular water usage year (the relevant year) will be included to determine the question of the overuse of water in respect of two or three blocks of consecutive years under subsection (1) (for example the second water usage year will be included in determinations in respect of the first and second blocks of consecutive years and the third and subsequent water usage years will be included in determinations in respect of three blocks of consecutive years); and (b) the quantity of water used in the relevant year exceeded the risk management allocation attached to the land for the corresponding contribution year; and (c) the quantity of water used in the relevant year has already been taken into account in determining that an overuse of water has occurred in one of the blocks of three consecutive water usage years of which the relevant year is a component year, the quantity of water used in the relevant year for the purpose of determining whether water has been overused in a subsequent block of consecutive years of which the relevant year is a component year will be taken to be equivalent to the risk management allocation for the contribution year corresponding to the relevant water usage year. (5) The third water usage year of the Scheme and each subsequent water usage year will be the last year of a block of three years comprising that year and the two preceding years in respect of an irrigated property even though the land comprising the property was not an irrigated property until the last of those years. (6) For the purposes of this section— (a) there will be taken to be a risk management allocation of zero in respect of land to which a risk management allocation is not attached; and (b) where during a particular period an owner or occupier uses water to irrigate more than one category of land, an overuse of water on a category of land having a lower risk will be reduced by the equivalent under use (if any) during that period on a category of land having a higher risk; and (c) if the overuse of water occurs on land that has not been classified under section 33, the overuse will be taken to have occurred on land having the highest degree of risk. (7) If the Trust has made a dry year declaration under section 53 in respect of a water usage year, the quantity of water used to irrigate land in that year will be notionally reduced in accordance with the declaration for the purposes of determining the overuse of water under this section. 52—Rules for computing water used where certificate of zero impact applies Where a certificate of zero impact is in force under section 36 in relation to land, the following rules apply when determining the contribution payable by the owner and occupier of the land to the costs of the Scheme and when computing the quantity of water used on the land for the purposes of sections 50 and 51: (a) where— (i) the certificate of zero impact has been in force during the whole of a water usage year; and (ii) all the water used to irrigate that land during that year has been used in accordance with the terms, conditions and limitations of the certificate, the quantity of water used to irrigate the land during that year will be taken to be zero; (b) where— (i) the certificate has not been in force during the whole of the water usage year; or (ii) some or all of the water used to irrigate the land during that year has been used in contravention of the terms, conditions or limitations of the certificate, the quantity of water used to irrigate the land during that year will be taken to be the quantity of water actually used for that purpose. 53—Dry year declarations (1) Where, in the opinion of the Trust, the recharge to the ground water mound or to the underground water lying above the layer of Blanchetown Clay in the Scheme Area in a water usage year has been significantly reduced because of low rainfall or for any other reason, the Trust may issue a dry year declaration stating the extent to which the quantities of water used to irrigate land in that year will be notionally reduced for the purpose of determining amounts payable by owners and occupiers under this Part. (2) The Trust must serve a copy of the declaration on each member of the Trust. 54—Irrigation declarations (1) If a waterlogging and salinity risk management allocation is attached to the irrigated land of an irrigated property, the owner of the property must provide the Trust with an irrigation declaration in relation to each contribution year in a form approved by the Trust. (2) The declaration must include information required by the regulations for the administration of this Part or for the administration of any other Part of this Act. (3) If an owner fails to complete and return an irrigation declaration to the Trust as required by the regulations, a notional declaration including such information as the Trust considers appropriate will be taken to have been returned by the owner to the Trust in accordance with the regulations. Division 2—Recovery of money from owners and occupiers 55—Liability to pay Minister (1) The following persons are jointly and severally liable to pay to the Minister the share determined under section 48, and the amount determined under section 50 (if any), in respect of each irrigated property for each contribution year: (a) the owner or owners of the property at 12.01 a.m. on the first day of the contribution year; and (b) the occupier or occupiers (if not also the owner or owners) of the property at that time. (2) An owner and occupier of an irrigated property who are liable under subsection (1) must, as between each other (subject to an agreement between them to the contrary), contribute equally to the amount payable to the Minister under this section and two or more co-owners or co-occupiers must contribute as between each other in proportion to the value of their respective interests in the land. (3) A subsequent owner of an irrigated property is liable to pay to the Minister an amount, or a part of an amount, in respect of that property that has not been paid under subsection (1). (4) A subsequent owner who has paid the whole or part of an amount under subsection (3) is entitled to recover— (a) the amount paid from the person primarily liable or, if there are two or more such persons, from any one or more of them; (b) a part of the amount paid from his or her co-owner (if any) that is in proportion to the value of their respective interests in the land. (5) A subsequent owner who has paid an amount to his or her co-owner under subsection (4)(b) is entitled to recover that amount from the person primarily liable or, if there are two or more such persons, from any one or more of them. (6) In this section— subsequent owner of an irrigated property includes a person who has ceased to be an owner of the property. 56—Notice to persons liable of amount payable (1) The Minister may serve notice on each person who is primarily liable under section 55 setting out— (a) the amount, or amounts, payable to the Minister by the person under section 55(1); and (b) a brief statement of the manner in which the amount or amounts was or were determined; and (c) the amount (if any) by which the amount determined in accordance with the regulations under section 48 has been increased or reduced pursuant to section 49. (2) The notice must state that the amount, or amounts, may be paid in equal quarterly instalments and must set out the days on or before which each instalment is payable. (3) The first instalment is payable on or before 1 November of the contribution year or on or before the expiration of the period of 30 days following service of the notice whichever is the later. (4) The other instalments are payable on or before 1 February, 1 May and 1 August respectively in the contribution year. (5) However, despite subsections (2), (3) and (4), the amount, or amounts, payable to the Minister in respect of the 2000/2001 contribution year will be payable in equal instalments on or before the dates fixed by the Minister for the purpose and specified in the notice (the date for payment of the first instalment being not less than 30 days after the date on which the notice is issued). 57—Interest (1) Interest accrues— (a) on an unpaid instalment; and (b) on unpaid interest, in accordance with the regulations. (2) A person who is liable to pay an amount under section 55 is also liable to pay interest that accrues, or has accrued, on or in relation to that amount under this section. 58—Amount first charge on land (1) An amount that is unpaid under section 55 and unpaid interest in relation to that amount are a first charge on the land comprising the irrigated property in relation to which the instalment is payable. (2) Where the whole or part of an irrigation district under the Irrigation Act 1994 comprises part of the Scheme Area and the irrigation authority for the district is to be taken by virtue of section 4(1) to be the owner of the district, a part of an unpaid instalment or interest in relation to the district is a first charge on each irrigated property within the meaning of the Irrigation Act 1994 comprising the district. (3) The part of an unpaid instalment or interest that is a first charge on an irrigated property referred to in subsection (2) bears the same proportion to the unpaid instalment or interest as the value of the property bears to the aggregate value of all irrigated properties in the irrigation district. (4) If the owner of an irrigated property that is subject to a first charge referred to in subsection (2) is not liable under another provision of this Division for the amount of the charge, he or she— (a) is liable under this subsection to the Minister for that amount; and (b) is entitled to recover the amount from the person primarily liable. 59—Sale of land for non-payment (1) Where an instalment, or interest in relation to an instalment, is a first charge on land under section 58 and has been unpaid for one year or more, the Minister may sell the land. (2) Before the Minister sells land in pursuance of this section, he or she must serve notice on the owner of the land— (a) stating the period for which the instalment or interest has been in arrears; and (b) stating the total liability for instalments and interest presently outstanding and charged on the land; and (c) stating that if the total amount is not paid in full within one month of service of the notice (or such longer time as the Minister may allow), the Minister intends to sell the land for non-payment of that amount. (3) A copy of a notice must be served on the registered mortgagee or encumbrancee of the land (if any). (4) If the outstanding amount is not paid in full within the time allowed under subsection (2), the Minister may proceed to sell the land. (5) The sale will, except in the case of land held from the Crown under a lease, licence or agreement to purchase, be by public auction (and the Minister may set a reserve price for the purposes of the auction). (6) An auction under this section must be advertised on at least two separate occasions in a newspaper circulating generally throughout the State. (7) If, before the date of the auction, the outstanding amount and the costs incurred by the Minister in proceeding under this section are paid to the Minister, the Minister must withdraw the land from auction. (8) If— (a) an auction fails; or (b) the land is held from the Crown under a lease, licence or agreement to purchase, the Minister may sell the land by private contract for the best price that he or she can reasonably obtain. (9) Any money received by the Minister in respect of the sale of land under this section will be applied as follows: (a) firstly—in paying the costs of the sale and any other costs incurred in proceeding under this section; (b) secondly—in discharging the liability to the Minister for the total amount referred to in subsection (2) and any other liabilities to the Crown in respect of the land; (c) thirdly—in discharging any liability to the Crown for rates, charges or taxes (including rates, charges or taxes that are a first charge on the land); (d) fourthly—in discharging any liability to a council under the Local Government Act 1999 for rates or any other liability to a council in respect of the land; (e) fifthly—in discharging any liabilities secured by registered mortgages, encumbrances or charges; (f) sixthly—in discharging any other mortgages, encumbrances and charges of which the Minister has notice; (g) seventhly—in payment to the former owner of the land. (10) If the former owner cannot be found after making reasonable inquiries as to his or her whereabouts, an amount payable to the former owner must be dealt with in accordance with section 6 of the Unclaimed Money Act 2021 as money the owner of which cannot be found. (11) Where land is sold by the Minister in pursuance of this section, an instrument of transfer executed by the Minister will operate to vest title to the land in the purchaser. (12) The title vested in a purchaser under subsection (11) will be free of all mortgages, encumbrances and charges and all leases and licences. (13) An instrument of transfer passing title to land in pursuance of a sale under this section must, when lodged with the Registrar-General for registration or enrolment, be accompanied by a statutory declaration made by the Minister stating that the requirements of this section in relation to the sale of the land have been observed. (15) In this section— an instalment includes part of an instalment. 60—Money recovered to be paid to Treasurer The Minister must pay money recovered under this Division to the Treasurer.