What it does
The Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland Act 1971 is the constituent statute for the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (the Association). The Act preserves the Association as a body corporate with perpetual succession, a common seal, and full capacity to sue and be sued, to hold and dispose of property, and to carry out its objects (s 5). The Act also addresses the vesting and management of land, particularly land formerly held by the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds Trust, which was divested from the Trust and vested in the Association under s 10 for an estate in fee simple, subject to existing encumbrances and to the Act itself. The land is held by the Association on behalf of its members, used at the direction of the Council for the Association’s objects and for other purposes that the Council considers not detrimental to the public interest (s 12). The Act sets out how the Association may deal with its land, including selling, mortgaging, and leasing, but imposes significant constraints. A sale of land requires prior approval of the Governor in Council, and any sale without that approval is void (s 13(2), (2B)). A separate regime in Part 3A (ss 17D-17G) applies to “prescribed land” (land designated by regulation). For prescribed land, the Association cannot grant a mortgage, charge, or lien except to Queensland Treasury Corporation, and any purported grant to anyone else is void (s 17E(1), (2)). If an insolvency event occurs (defined broadly in s 17F(1)), all prescribed land automatically vests in the State for an estate in fee simple, with no compensation payable to the Association or any other person (s 17F(2), (3)). The Act also provides a mechanism for varying the terms of trusts affecting property held by the Association, through a scheme approved by the Minister and gazetted (s 16). The Association must produce annual audited financial reports (s 17A), cannot pay dividends to members (s 17), and may be wound up under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 with a prohibition on distribution of surplus assets to members (s 17C). Council members enjoy statutory protection from civil liability for honest and non-negligent acts (s 19). The Act expressly excludes the Association from certain parts of the Corporations Act 2001 (s 5A), meaning it is not subject to provisions concerning directors’ duties, meetings, and financial reporting under that Act.