Div 7Sanctuaries

Division 7—Sanctuaries 44—Establishment of sanctuaries (1) If the Minister is of the opinion that it is desirable to conserve the animals or plants for which any land is a natural habitat or environment and— (a) where the land is reserved for or dedicated to, a public purpose, the person to whom the care, control and management of that land has been committed has consented to a declaration under this section; or (b) where the land is private land, the owner and occupier of the land have consented to a declaration under this section, the Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, declare the land to be a sanctuary. (1a) The declaration of land as a sanctuary under subsection (1) on or after 1 January 1994 is subject to native title existing when the declaration was made. (2) The Minister— (a) may revoke any declaration under this section; and (b) where private land constitutes a sanctuary, and the owner of that land, by instrument in writing, requests that the land should cease to be a sanctuary, must revoke the declaration under which that land is constituted a sanctuary. owner in relation to private land means— (a) in the case of private land that is held in fee simple—the holder of the estate in fee simple; or (b) in the case of private land that is subject to a lease granted under the Crown Land Management Act 2009 or the Pastoral Land Management and Conservation Act 1989—the lessee under that lease. (4) If, before the commencement of Schedule 1 Part 2 of the Crown Land Management Act 2009— (a) a declaration was purportedly made under this section in relation to land subject to a lease under the Crown Lands Act 1929 or the Pastoral Land Management and Conservation Act 1989; and (b) the lessee under that lease consented to the making of the declaration, the declaration will not be taken to be invalid by reason only that the consent of the owner of the land (as defined under subsection (3) as in force before the commencement of Schedule 1 Part 2 of the Crown Land Management Act 2009) was not obtained before the making of the declaration. 45—Protection of animals and plants in sanctuary (1) A person must not take an animal, or the eggs of an animal, or a native plant within a sanctuary except in pursuance of this section. In the case of an animal, or the eggs of an animal, or a native plant of an endangered species, $10 000 or imprisonment for 2 years. In the case of an animal, or the eggs of an animal, or a native plant of a vulnerable species, $7 500 or imprisonment for 18 months. In the case of an animal, or the eggs of an animal, or a native plant of a rare species, $5 000 or imprisonment for 12 months. (2) The Minister may, if satisfied that it is in the interests of conserving wildlife to do so, grant a permit authorising the holder of the permit to take animals, or the eggs of animals, or native plants within a sanctuary in accordance with the terms of the permit. (3) The owner of land constituting a sanctuary, or a person authorised by the owner, may take an animal, or the eggs of an animal that is not a protected animal in the sanctuary without a permit under subsection (2).