Queensland Bills Queensland Bills[Index] [Search] [Download] [Related Items] [Help]
This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Queensland
South-East Queensland
(Distribution and Retail
Restructuring) and Natural
Resources Provisions Bill
2009
Queensland
South-East Queensland (Distribution and
Retail Restructuring) and Natural
Resources Provisions Bill 2009
Contents
Page
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 1 Introduction
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2 Commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Part 2 Purposes and application of Act
3 Purposes of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4 Achievement of purposes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Part 3 Interpretation
Division 1 Key definitions
5 Who are a distributor-retailer's participating local governments. . 12
6 What is a distributor-retailer's geographic area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Division 2 Dictionary
7 Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 1 Establishment, functions and powers
8 Establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
9 Legal status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
10 Expiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
11 Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
12 Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
13 Powers and functions in or out of Queensland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Part 2 Application of particular other Acts to distributor-retailers
14 Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements Act 1982. . . . . . . . . . . 16
15 Financial Accountability Act 2009. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Contents
16 Crime and Misconduct Act 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
17 Right to information Act 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
18 Land Act and Land Title Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
19 Deletion of commercially sensitive matters from annual report . . 17
Part 3 Participation agreements for distributor-retailers
20 Requirement for agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
21 Planning and reporting requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
22 Particular matters agreement may provide for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
23 Minister's default power to make agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
24 When agreement takes effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
25 Tabling of agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
26 Effect as a contract. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
27 Act prevails over agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
28 General power to amend by agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
29 Ministerial approval required for change in particular matters . . . 21
30 Tabling of amended agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Part 4 Boards of distributor-retailers
Division 1 Establishment, membership and related matters
31 Requirement to have board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
32 Role of boards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
33 Appointment of members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
34 Criteria for appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
35 Chairperson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
36 Terms and ending of appointments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Division 2 Business
37 Conduct of business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
38 Time and place of meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
39 Presiding at meetings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
40 Conduct of meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
41 Minutes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
42 Disclosure of interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Division 3 Financial management
43 Approval required for profit distribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Part 5 Chief executive officer
44 Appointment of chief executive officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
45 Term of appointment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Page 2
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Contents
46 Conditions of appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
47 Qualifications for appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
48 Chief executive officer's responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Part 6 Reserve powers of participating local governments
49 Reserve power to give directions in public interest . . . . . . . . . . . 31
50 Publication of directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
51 Local government directions relevant to duty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Part 7 Miscellaneous provisions
52 Authentication of documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
53 Delegation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 1 Transfer schemes
Division 1 Making of transfer schemes
54 Power to make transfer scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
55 Period of transfer schemes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
56 Particular matters scheme may provide for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Division 2 Approval of transfer scheme
57 Request for approval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
58 Requirements for certification statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
59 Deciding request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
60 Notice and taking effect of approved scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Division 3 Miscellaneous provision
61 Discharge of liabilities by transfer scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Part 2 Ministerial powers for transition
62 Transfer notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
63 Period of transfer notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
64 Effect of transfer notice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
65 Transfer direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Part 3 Provisions facilitating transition
Division 1 General provisions
66 Chapter applies despite other laws and instruments . . . . . . . . . . 42
67 Decisions not reviewable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
68 Effect on legal relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
69 Disclosure and use for transition of information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
70 Registering authority to register or record transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
71 Non-liability for State taxes, charges or fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Page 3
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Contents
Division 2 Provisions for other laws and instruments
Subdivision 1 Acquisition of Land Act
72 Existing acquisitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
73 Acquisitions interrupted by transfer scheme or notice . . . . . . . . . 46
74 Provisions for distributor-retailer becoming constructing authority 47
Subdivision 2 Land Act
75 Terminating trust land and granting freehold interest . . . . . . . . . . 48
76 Granting Land Act lease. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Subdivision 3 Development approvals and infrastructure agreements
77 Matters relating to the Integrated Planning Act 1997 . . . . . . . . . . 50
Subdivision 4 Reconfigurations
78 Reconfiguring a lot after transfer scheme or notice takes effect. . 51
Part 4 Workforce provisions
Division 1 Staff support framework
79 Staff support framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
80 Staff support framework prevails over transfer scheme or notice. 54
Division 2 Preservation of rights of employees
81 Application of div 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
82 Continuity of employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
83 Preservation of rights of transferred employees during
transitional period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Part 5 Provisions for separate transfers of land and attached
assets
84 Application of pt 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
85 References to land with asset attached . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
86 Entry to and use of land and structures by asset owner . . . . . . . 58
87 Compensation to land owner for entry and use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
88 Land owner's obligations for asset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
89 Registration of information about asset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Part 6 Provisions for easements
90 Application of pt 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
91 Rights, liabilities and obligations under easement . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
92 Registration of information about easement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Chapter 4 Customer water and wastewater code
Part 1 General provisions about code
93 Minister's power to make code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Page 4
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Contents
94 Particular matters code may provide for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Part 2 Process for making or amending code
95 Public notice about availability of draft code. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
96 Preparing and approving final code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
97 Amendment of code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
98 No regulatory impact statement for code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Part 3 Review of code
99 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Chapter 5 Miscellaneous provisions
100 Liability for Commonwealth and State tax equivalents . . . . . . . . . 65
101 Approved forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
102 Regulation-making power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Chapter 6 Transitional provisions
103 Appointment of first chief executive officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
104 Interim participation agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
105 Application of customer service standards until code
commences ............................... 68
106 Provision for market rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
107 Amendment under Act of Statutory Bodies Financial
Arrangements Regulation 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 1 Amendment of this Act
108 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
109 Amendment of long title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
110 Amendment of s 1 (Short title) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
111 Amendment of s 77 (Matters relating to the Integrated Planning
Act 1997) ......................................... 70
112 Amendment of s 78 (Reconfiguring a lot after transfer scheme
or notice takes effect) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Part 2 Amendment of Land Act 1994
113 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
114 Amendment of s 154 (Minister may approve additional purposes) 71
115 Amendment of s 477 (Change of purpose for special lease) . . . . 72
Part 3 Amendment of Local Government (Aboriginal Lands) Act
1978
116 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
117 Insertion of new s 3A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Page 5
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Contents
3A Extension of term . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Part 4 Amendment of South East Queensland Water
(Restructuring) Act 2007
118 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
119 Replacement of ch 2 hdg (New water entities). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
120 Replacement of ch 3 hdg (The project) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
121 Replacement of ch 4 hdg (Other matters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Part 5 Amendment of Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements
Regulation 2007
122 Regulation amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
123 Amendment of sch 2 (Statutory bodies that may borrow under
part 5 of the Act). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
124 Amendment of sch 4 (Statutory bodies allocated category
2 investment power) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
125 Amendment of sch 8 (Statutory bodies that may enter into
derivative transactions). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Part 6 Amendment of Valuation of Land Act 1944
126 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
127 Amendment of s 75M (Valuation operations may be based on
existing local government boundaries) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
128 Insertion of new pt 9, div 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Division 4 Transitional provision for South-East
Queensland (Distribution and Retail
Restructuring) Act 2009
103 Provision for applying Act to local government
areas in existence on 27 July 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Part 7 Amendment of Water Act 2000
129 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
130 Insertion of new s 360TA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
360TA Delegation to commission staff of
information-seeking function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
131 Amendment of s 360ZCY (Content of market rules) . . . . . . . . . . 77
Part 8 Amendment of Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act
2008
132 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
133 Amendment of s 13 (Requirement for service provider to give
information) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
134 Replacement of s 14 (Annual reports) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
14 Reports and other publications by regulator. . . . . . . . 79
Page 6
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Contents
135 Amendment of s 20 (Who must apply for registration as a
service provider). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
136 Amendment of s 201 (Preparing particular plans) . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
137 Amendment of s 263 (Auditor's responsibility to inform regulator) 80
138 Amendment of s 302 (Regulator may seek advice about
scheme manager) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
139 Amendment of s 419 (General powers after entering places) . . . 81
140 Replacement of s 435 (Application of pt 5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Division 1 Preliminary
435 Application of pt 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Division 2 Enforcement provisions'.
141 Amendment of s 436 (Power about preventing or minimising
adverse affects--general) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
142 Replacement of s 441 (Sections 441-449 not used) . . . . . . . . . . 83
Division 3 Cost recovery
441 Definitions for div 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
442 Who is a prescribed person for a water supply
incident ............................ 84
443 Regulator may give notice for recovery of costs. . . . . 85
444 Regulator may recover costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
445 Sections 445-449 not used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
143 Replacement of ch 5, pt 8, hdg (Show cause and compliance
notices) ....................................... 87
144 Replacement of s 468 (Sections 468-474 not used) . . . . . . . . . . 87
Division 3 Cost recovery
468 Regulator may engage expert and recover costs. . . . 87
469 Sections 469-474 not used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
145 Amendment of s 571 (Regulator may make guidelines). . . . . . . . 88
146 Amendment of s 572 (Chief executive may make guidelines) . . . 89
147 Amendment of s 574 (Documents regulator and chief executive
must keep available for inspection and purchase) . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
148 Amendment of s 579 (Regulator may share particular
information) ................................... 89
149 Amendment of s 629 (Notice requiring entity to have approved
drinking water quality management plan). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
150 Amendment of s 633 (Application of particular
provisions--other schemes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
151 Omission of ch 9, pt 6, hdg (Regulation-making power for
transitional purposes) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Page 7
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Contents
152 Insertion of new ch 10A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Chapter 10A Transitional provision for South-East
Queensland (Distribution and Retail
Restructuring) Act 2009
637 Provision for recovery of costs for particular
investigations ........................... 91
153 Amendment of sch 3 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Schedule Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Page 8
2009
A Bill
for
An Act to further restructure the water industry in south-east
Queensland and to make consequential amendments to the
South East Queensland Water (Restructuring) Act 2007 and the
Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements Regulation 2007 and
to amend the Land Act 1994, the Local Government (Aboriginal
Lands) Act 1978, the Valuation of Land Act 1944, the Water Act
2000 and the Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008 for
particular purposes
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 1 Introduction
[s 1]
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
Chapter 1 Preliminary 2
Part 1 Introduction 3
1 Short title 4
This Act may be cited as the South-East Queensland 5
(Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural 6
Resources Provisions Act 2009. 7
2 Commencement 8
(1) Sections 108 to 110 commence on the day after the date of 9
assent of this Act. 10
(2) Sections 111 and 112 commence on the day after the repeal of 11
the Integrated Planning Act 1997 under the Sustainable 12
Planning Act 2009. 13
Part 2 Purposes and application of 14
Act 15
3 Purposes of Act 16
The purposes of this Act are to do the following for the SEQ 17
region-- 18
(a) improve water supply coordination and management; 19
Page 10
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 2 Purposes and application of Act
[s 4]
(b) deliver improved and more efficient water services and 1
wastewater services to customers; 2
(c) improve the management of water and wastewater 3
infrastructure. 4
4 Achievement of purposes 5
(1) The purposes are achieved by-- 6
(a) continuing the SEQ region water industry restructure 7
started under the 2007 restructuring Act; and 8
(b) providing for the making of a customer water and 9
wastewater code for the provision of water services and 10
wastewater services to customers in the SEQ region. 11
(2) This Act provides for the continued restructure by-- 12
(a) creating new integrated retail and distribution authorities 13
(called `distributor-retailers') to deliver the services to 14
customers within a particular area for each (called its 15
`geographic area'); and 16
Note-- 17
The following authorities have already been created under the 2007 18
restructuring Act-- 19
· Queensland Bulk Water Supply Authority 20
· Queensland Bulk Water Transport Authority 21
· Queensland Bulk Water Manufactured Water Authority 22
· SEQ Water Grid Manager. 23
(b) providing for particular matters relating to 24
distributor-retailers to be fixed by agreement with the 25
local governments for their geographic area (called their 26
`participating local governments'); and 27
(c) facilitating the transfer to distributor-retailers of 28
infrastructure and functions their participating local 29
governments as service providers for the services. 30
Page 11
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 1 Preliminary
Part 3 Interpretation
[s 5]
Part 3 Interpretation 1
Division 1 Key definitions 2
5 Who are a distributor-retailer's participating local 3
governments 4
A distributor-retailer's participating local governments are-- 5
(a) for the Northern SEQ Distributor-Retailer 6
Authority--Sunshine Coast Regional Council and 7
Moreton Bay Regional Council; and 8
(b) for the Central SEQ Distributor-Retailer 9
Authority--Brisbane City Council, Ipswich City 10
Council, Scenic Rim Regional Council, Lockyer Valley 11
Regional Council and Somerset Regional Council; and 12
(c) for the Southern SEQ Distributor-Retailer 13
Authority--Gold Coast City Council, Redland City 14
Council and Logan City Council. 15
6 What is a distributor-retailer's geographic area 16
A distributor-retailer's geographic area is the area that 17
consists of the local government areas of all of its 18
participating local governments. 19
Division 2 Dictionary 20
7 Dictionary 21
The dictionary in the schedule defines particular words used 22
in this Act. 23
Page 12
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 1 Establishment, functions and powers
[s 8]
Chapter 2 New authorities for water 1
distribution and retailing 2
Part 1 Establishment, functions and 3
powers 4
8 Establishment 5
The following (each a distributor-retailer) are established-- 6
(a) the Northern SEQ Distributor-Retailer Authority; 7
(b) the Central SEQ Distributor-Retailer Authority; 8
(c) the Southern SEQ Distributor-Retailer Authority. 9
9 Legal status 10
A distributor-retailer-- 11
(a) is not a body corporate; and 12
(b) is not constituted by its board or participants; and 13
(c) does not represent the State. 14
10 Expiry 15
(1) A distributor-retailer expires at the end of 99 years after its 16
establishment. 17
(2) When a distributor-retailer expires-- 18
(a) its assets and liabilities become the assets and liabilities 19
of its participants; and 20
(b) the participants become the successor in law of the 21
assets and liabilities rateably in accordance with their 22
participation rights under the distributor-retailer's 23
participation agreement. 24
Page 13
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 1 Establishment, functions and powers
[s 11]
(3) A regulation may provide for any matter necessary or 1
convenient to give effect to this section, including, for 2
example, a provision about all or any of the following when a 3
distributor-retailer expires (the former entity)-- 4
(a) the process concerning the distribution of its assets and 5
liabilities; 6
(b) the transfer of the employment of the former entity's 7
employees and of their rights; 8
(c) the application of instruments relating to the former 9
entity; 10
(d) the former entity's records; 11
(e) the performance of the former entity's functions 12
immediately before the expiry. 13
11 Functions 14
(1) A distributor-retailer's primary functions are to do the 15
following for its geographic area-- 16
(a) purchase water from the water grid manager under the 17
2007 restructuring Act; 18
(b) distribute water; 19
(c) provide the following services (relevant services) to 20
customers-- 21
(i) water services; 22
(ii) wastewater services; 23
(d) charge customers for relevant services; 24
(e) manage customer enquiries, service requests and 25
complaints; 26
(f) anything else likely to complement or enhance a 27
function mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (e). 28
(2) The primary functions are a distributor-retailer's geographic 29
area functions. 30
Page 14
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 1 Establishment, functions and powers
[s 12]
(3) A distributor-retailer may perform business or other functions 1
it considers appropriate that are connected with or arise from 2
it providing relevant services. 3
12 Powers 4
(1) A distributor-retailer has all the powers of an individual and 5
may, for example-- 6
(a) enter into contracts; and 7
(b) acquire, hold, dispose of and deal with property; and 8
(c) employ staff; and 9
(d) appoint agents and attorneys; and 10
(e) engage consultants; and 11
(f) fix charges and other terms for services and other 12
facilities it supplies; and 13
(g) do anything else necessary or convenient to be done for 14
its functions. 15
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), a distributor-retailer has the 16
powers given to it under an Act. 17
(3) Despite subsections (1) and (2), a distributor-retailer's powers 18
are subject to any limitations under the Acts mentioned in part 19
2. 20
(4) However, an exercise of a power in contravention of a 21
limitation or restriction under an Act does not invalidate or 22
otherwise affect the exercise of the power. 23
(5) A distributor-retailer may sue and be sued in the name it is 24
given under section 8. 25
13 Powers and functions in or out of Queensland 26
A distributor-retailer may perform its functions or exercise its 27
powers inside or outside Queensland. 28
Page 15
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 2 Application of particular other Acts to distributor-retailers
[s 14]
Part 2 Application of particular other 1
Acts to distributor-retailers 2
14 Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements Act 1982 3
(1) A distributor-retailer is a statutory body under the Statutory 4
Bodies Financial Arrangements Act 1982 (the SBFA). 5
(2) The SBFA, part 2B sets out the way in which a 6
distributor-retailer's powers under this Act are affected by that 7
Act. 8
(3) Despite the SBFA, section 31(2) a distributor-retailer may 9
operate an account with an overdraft facility without the 10
Treasurer's approval under the SBFA. 11
15 Financial Accountability Act 2009 12
(1) A distributor-retailer is a statutory body under the Financial 13
Accountability Act 2009 (the FAA). 14
(2) However, the provisions of a standard under the FAA about 15
resource management or any other matter prescribed under a 16
regulation do not apply to a distributor-retailer. 17
Editor's note-- 18
See the Financial and Performance Management Standard 2009, part 2, 19
division 4 (General resource management). 20
(3) For applying the FAA, a reference in that Act to a statutory 21
body reporting to a Minister is taken to be a reference to the 22
distributor-retailer reporting, in the way provided for under its 23
participation agreement, to its participating local 24
governments. 25
(4) However, subsection (3) does not apply if the reporting is for 26
the purpose of tabling in the Legislative Assembly. 27
(5) Any operational or strategic planning requirements under a 28
standard under the FAA are taken to have been complied with 29
by a distributor-retailer if it complies with its planning and 30
reporting requirements. 31
Page 16
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 2 Application of particular other Acts to distributor-retailers
[s 16]
16 Crime and Misconduct Act 2001 1
A distributor-retailer is a unit of public administration under 2
the Crime and Misconduct Act 2001. 3
17 Right to information Act 2009 4
A distributor-retailer is taken to be an agency under the Right 5
to Information Act 2009. 6
18 Land Act and Land Title Act 7
For the Land Act and the Land Title Act, a distributor-retailer 8
is taken to be a person authorised by law to provide a public 9
utility service. 10
19 Deletion of commercially sensitive matters from annual 11
report 12
(1) This section applies if under another Act, an annual report 13
relating to a distributor-retailer must be made public. 14
(2) The board may ask the relevant Minister to delete from the 15
copies of the annual report a matter that is of a commercially 16
sensitive nature. 17
(3) Despite the other Act, the Minister may delete the matter from 18
the copies of the annual report that are laid before the 19
Legislative Assembly or otherwise made public. 20
(4) In this section-- 21
annual report includes any documents accompanying the 22
report. 23
Page 17
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 3 Participation agreements for distributor-retailers
[s 20]
Part 3 Participation agreements for 1
distributor-retailers 2
20 Requirement for agreement 3
(1) A distributor-retailer must, as soon as practicable after the 4
date of assent of this Act, enter into an agreement (a 5
participation agreement) with its participating local 6
governments about the following matters concerning the 7
distributor-retailer-- 8
(a) the persons who are to have the right to participate in its 9
profits; 10
Note-- 11
For the distribution of assets and liabilities when the 12
distributor-retailer expires, see section 10(2) (Expiry). 13
(b) the way in which distributions of its profits are to be 14
approved for section 43; 15
(c) its internal management; 16
(d) its corporate planning requirements; 17
(e) its requirements about reporting to its participants; 18
(f) the proportions in which the local governments are to 19
receive tax equivalents the distributor-retailer pays 20
under section 100; 21
(g) any other matter concerning distributor-retailers 22
prescribed under a regulation. 23
(2) Rights mentioned in subsection (1)(a) are the participation 24
rights in the distributor-retailer. 25
(3) Those who hold the participation rights are the 26
distributor-retailer's participants. 27
(4) The requirements mentioned in subsection (1)(d) and (e) are 28
the distributor-retailer's planning and reporting 29
requirements. 30
Page 18
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 3 Participation agreements for distributor-retailers
[s 21]
21 Planning and reporting requirements 1
(1) A distributor-retailer's participation agreement must-- 2
(a) require the distributor-retailer to prepare a plan about its 3
future direction, goals and priorities for at least 5 years 4
after the agreement takes effect; and 5
(b) state the matters that the plan must provide for; and 6
(c) ensure the distributor-retailer's participating local 7
governments are given enough information to allow 8
them to make an informed assessment of the 9
distributor-retailer's operations; and 10
(d) state the types of information that must be given to 11
comply with paragraph (c). 12
(2) Subsection (1) does not limit what may be provided for under 13
the distributor-retailer's planning and reporting requirements. 14
22 Particular matters agreement may provide for 15
Without limiting section 20(1), the participation agreement 16
for a distributor-retailer may provide for all or any of the 17
following-- 18
(a) the issuing, registration and transfer of its participation 19
rights; 20
Note-- 21
See however, section 29 (Ministerial approval required for 22
change in particular matters). 23
(b) classes of participants; 24
(c) the obligations of participants in their capacity as 25
participants; 26
(d) the voting rights of participants; 27
(e) the membership, powers and procedures of its board. 28
Page 19
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 3 Participation agreements for distributor-retailers
[s 23]
23 Minister's default power to make agreement 1
(1) This section applies if a distributor-retailer and its 2
participating local governments have not complied with 3
section 20 by 30 April 2010. 4
(2) The Minister may make a participation agreement for the 5
distributor-retailer. 6
Note-- 7
See also section 104 (Interim participation agreement). 8
24 When agreement takes effect 9
(1) A participation agreement, other than one under section 23, 10
takes effect only on the latest of the following days-- 11
(a) the day the Minister gives the parties to the agreement a 12
notice that the Minister has approved it; 13
(b) if the agreement states a later day of effect--the later 14
day. 15
(2) A participation agreement made under section 23 takes effect 16
according to its terms. 17
25 Tabling of agreement 18
(1) If the Minister approves or makes a participation agreement, 19
the Minister must within 14 sitting days, table a copy of the 20
agreement in the Legislative Assembly. 21
(2) A failure to comply with subsection (1) does not stop the 22
agreement taking effect. 23
26 Effect as a contract 24
(1) When a participation agreement for a distributor-retailer takes 25
effect, it has effect as a contract between all of the following 26
entities from time to time-- 27
(a) the parties to the agreement; 28
Page 20
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 3 Participation agreements for distributor-retailers
[s 27]
(b) all other entities who are or become participants in the 1
distributor-retailer; 2
(c) each member of the board. 3
(2) The entities are taken to have agreed to observe and perform 4
the contract so far as it applies to them. 5
27 Act prevails over agreement 6
If a provision of a participation agreement is inconsistent with 7
a provision of this Act, the provision of this Act prevails to the 8
extent of the inconsistency. 9
28 General power to amend by agreement 10
(1) Subject to section 29, a participation agreement for a 11
distributor-retailer may be amended-- 12
(a) by agreement between all of its participants; or 13
(b) if the participation agreement provides for another way 14
in which it can be amended--in accordance with the 15
other way. 16
(2) For subsection (1), it does not matter that a participating local 17
government for the distributor-retailer is not or has ceased to 18
be a participant. 19
(3) If a local government is a participant, it may agree to the 20
amendment only if it has passed a resolution to that effect. 21
(4) If a participation agreement is amended under subsection (1), 22
the distributor-retailer must give the Minister a copy of the 23
amended agreement as soon as practicable. 24
29 Ministerial approval required for change in particular 25
matters 26
(1) A change to a participation agreement about a restricted 27
matter concerning a distributor-retailer has no effect unless 28
the Minister has-- 29
Page 21
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 3 Participation agreements for distributor-retailers
[s 30]
(a) been given a copy of the proposed amended agreement; 1
and 2
(b) by notice to the distributor-retailer approved the change. 3
(2) A person can not become a participant in a distributor-retailer 4
unless-- 5
(a) the distributor-retailer's participation agreement or a 6
change to the agreement approved under subsection (1), 7
provides for the person to be, or to become, a 8
participant; or 9
(b) the Minister has approved the person to be a participant 10
in the distributor-retailer and the person's proposed 11
participation rights in it. 12
(3) In this section-- 13
restricted matter, concerning a distributor-retailer, means-- 14
(a) the participants in the distributor-retailer, including-- 15
(i) who may become a participant; and 16
(ii) any change in participants; and 17
(iii) who may cease to be a participant; or 18
(b) the participation rights in the distributor-retailer or how 19
the rights may be transferred or otherwise dealt with; or 20
(c) any provision of its participation agreement that 21
provides for how it can be amended other than by 22
agreement between all of the distributor-retailer's 23
participants; or 24
(d) its planning and reporting requirements. 25
30 Tabling of amended agreement 26
(1) This section applies if the Minister-- 27
(a) under section 28, is given an amended participation 28
agreement; or 29
(b) gives an approval under section 29(1)(b). 30
Page 22
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 4 Boards of distributor-retailers
[s 31]
(2) The Minister must within 21 sitting days, table a copy of the 1
amended agreement in the Legislative Assembly. 2
(3) A failure to comply with subsection (2) does not stop the 3
amended agreement from taking effect. 4
Part 4 Boards of distributor-retailers 5
Division 1 Establishment, membership and 6
related matters 7
31 Requirement to have board 8
Each distributor-retailer must have a board. 9
32 Role of boards 10
(1) The board is responsible for the way the distributor-retailer 11
performs its functions and exercises its powers. 12
(2) The board's role includes-- 13
(a) deciding the strategies and the operational, 14
administrative and financial policies to be followed by 15
the distributor-retailer; and 16
(b) ensuring the distributor-retailer performs its functions 17
and exercises its powers in a proper, effective and 18
efficient way; and 19
(c) ensuring, so far as practicable, the distributor-retailer 20
complies with its planning and reporting requirements. 21
33 Appointment of members 22
(1) A board is to consist of at least 3 members. 23
Page 23
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 4 Boards of distributor-retailers
[s 34]
(2) The members must be appointed by the distributor-retailer's 1
participants. 2
(3) A person can not be appointed as a member if the person-- 3
(a) is a public service employee; or 4
(b) is a councillor of a participating local government for 5
the distributor-retailer (a relevant local government); or 6
(c) is a member of the Queensland Water Commission; or 7
(d) is an insolvent under administration; or 8
(e) has a conviction, other than a spent conviction, for an 9
indictable offence; or 10
(f) is a member of a board of-- 11
(i) another distributor-retailer; or 12
(ii) a new water entity under the 2007 restructuring 13
Act. 14
(4) At least 3 of the members must be persons who are not 15
associated employees. 16
(5) No more than 2 associated employees may be members. 17
(6) An associated employee may be appointed as a member only 18
if all relevant local governments have by resolution agreed to 19
the appointment. 20
(7) Subject to section 36, a member holds office for the term 21
stated in the member's appointment. 22
(8) If otherwise qualified, a member is eligible for reappointment. 23
34 Criteria for appointment 24
(1) In considering whether to appoint a person as a member of a 25
board, regard must be had to the person's previous experience 26
and ability to contribute to-- 27
(a) the carrying out of the board's role under section 32; and 28
Page 24
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 4 Boards of distributor-retailers
[s 35]
(b) the strategic oversight of the distributor-retailer's 1
functions and to bring an independent judgement to bear 2
on its decision-making. 3
(2) Subsection (1) does not limit the matters that may be 4
considered. 5
35 Chairperson 6
(1) A distributor-retailer must have a member of its board as its 7
chairperson. 8
(2) The chairperson must be-- 9
(a) appointed in the way provided for under the 10
distributor-retailer's participation agreement; or 11
(b) if the participation agreement does not provide for how 12
the appointment is to happen--elected by the board. 13
(3) However, the chairperson can not be an associated employee. 14
36 Terms and ending of appointments 15
(1) This section applies to a person's appointment to the office of 16
a member of a board or chairperson of a board. 17
(2) The person holds the office on the terms of appointment 18
provided for under the relevant distributor-retailer's 19
participation agreement, subject to this Act. 20
(3) Except as provided for under the participation agreement, the 21
person is not entitled to receive any payment, any interest in 22
property or other valuable consideration or benefit-- 23
(a) by way of remuneration as holder of the office; or 24
(b) in connection with retirement from the office or other 25
ending of the office. 26
(4) The appointment ends if the person becomes someone who, 27
under section 33(3), can not be appointed as a member. 28
Page 25
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 4 Boards of distributor-retailers
[s 37]
Division 2 Business 1
37 Conduct of business 2
Subject to this division, a board may conduct its business, 3
including its meetings, in the way it considers appropriate. 4
38 Time and place of meetings 5
(1) Board meetings are to be held at the times and places the 6
board decides. 7
(2) The chairperson of a board may at any time call a meeting of 8
the board. 9
(3) The chairperson of a board must call a meeting of the board if 10
asked in writing to do so by at least 2 members of the board. 11
39 Presiding at meetings 12
(1) The chairperson of a board is to preside at all meetings of the 13
board at which the chairperson is present. 14
(2) If the chairperson is absent from a board meeting, including 15
because of a vacancy in the office, a member chosen by the 16
members present is to preside at the meeting. 17
40 Conduct of meetings 18
(1) If the membership of a board includes associated employees, 19
a quorum of the board must include at least 1 person who is 20
not a associated employee. 21
(2) A question at a board meeting is decided by a majority of the 22
votes of the members present when the question is decided. 23
(3) Each member present at the meeting has a vote on each 24
question to be decided and if the votes are equal the member 25
presiding also has a casting vote. 26
Page 26
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 4 Boards of distributor-retailers
[s 41]
(4) A board may hold meetings or allow members to take part in 1
its meetings by using any technology that reasonably allows 2
members to hear and take part in discussions as they happen. 3
Example of use of technology-- 4
teleconferencing 5
(5) A member who takes part in a meeting under subsection (4) is 6
taken to be present at the meeting. 7
(6) A resolution is validly made by a board even if it is not passed 8
at a board meeting, if-- 9
(a) notice of the resolution is given under procedures 10
approved by the board; and 11
(b) a majority of the board members give written agreement 12
to the resolution. 13
41 Minutes 14
(1) A board must keep minutes of its meetings. 15
(2) A board must keep a record of any resolutions made under 16
section 40(6). 17
42 Disclosure of interests 18
(1) This section applies to a member of a board (the interested 19
member) if-- 20
(a) the member has an interest in an issue being considered 21
or about to be considered by the board; and 22
(b) the interest could conflict with the proper performance 23
of the member's duties about the consideration of the 24
issue. 25
(2) After the relevant facts come to the interested member's 26
knowledge, the member must disclose the nature of the 27
interest to a board meeting. 28
(3) Unless the board otherwise directs, the interested member 29
must not-- 30
Page 27
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 4 Boards of distributor-retailers
[s 42]
(a) be present when the board considers the issue; or 1
(b) take part in a decision of the board about the issue. 2
(4) The interested member must not be present when the board is 3
considering whether to give a direction under subsection (3). 4
(5) If there is another person who must under subsection (2) also 5
disclose an interest in the issue, the other person must not-- 6
(a) be present when the board is considering whether to 7
give a direction under subsection (3) about the interested 8
member; or 9
(b) take part in making the decision about giving the 10
direction. 11
(6) If-- 12
(a) because of this section a board member is not present at 13
a board meeting for considering or deciding an issue or 14
for considering or deciding whether to give a direction 15
under subsection (3); and 16
(b) there would be a quorum if the member were present; 17
the remaining members present are a quorum of the board for 18
considering or deciding the issue or for considering or 19
deciding whether to give the direction at the meeting. 20
(7) If there are no members who may remain present for 21
considering or deciding an issue, the distributor-retailer's 22
participants may, by each signing consent to a proposed 23
resolution, consider and decide the issue. 24
(8) A disclosure under subsection (2) must be recorded in the 25
board's minutes. 26
Page 28
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 5 Chief executive officer
[s 43]
Division 3 Financial management 1
43 Approval required for profit distribution 2
A distributor-retailer must not distribute any of its profits 3
unless the distribution has been approved in the way provided 4
for under its participation agreement. 5
Part 5 Chief executive officer 6
44 Appointment of chief executive officer 7
(1) Each distributor-retailer must have a chief executive officer. 8
(2) The chief executive officer is to be appointed by the board. 9
(3) The chief executive officer is an employee of the 10
distributor-retailer. 11
45 Term of appointment 12
(1) Subject to this section, the chief executive officer holds office 13
for the term stated in his or her contract of employment. 14
(2) If otherwise qualified, the chief executive officer is eligible for 15
reappointment. 16
(3) The board may at any time end the appointment for any 17
reason or none. 18
(4) The ending of the appointment under subsection (3) does not 19
affect any rights to compensation to which the chief executive 20
officer is entitled under the contract of employment. 21
(5) The chief executive officer may resign by giving a signed 22
notice of resignation to the board at least the required period 23
before the notice is to take effect. 24
Page 29
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 5 Chief executive officer
[s 46]
(6) The chief executive officer's appointment ends if he or she 1
stops being qualified to be the chief executive officer. 2
(7) In this section-- 3
required period means the period stated in the chief 4
executive's contract of employment or otherwise agreed with 5
the board. 6
46 Conditions of appointment 7
For matters not provided for under this Act or stated in the 8
contract of employment, the chief executive officer holds 9
office on the terms of appointment decided by the board. 10
47 Qualifications for appointment 11
A person can not be appointed or continue in office as the 12
chief executive officer if the person-- 13
(a) is an insolvent under administration; or 14
(b) has a conviction, other than a spent conviction, for an 15
indictable offence; or 16
(c) is not able to manage a corporation because of the 17
Corporations Act, part 2D.6; or 18
(d) is named in the register held by ASIC under the 19
Corporations Act, section 1274AA. 20
48 Chief executive officer's responsibilities 21
A distributor-retailer's chief executive officer is, under its 22
board, responsible for managing the distributor-retailer's 23
affairs under this Act and other relevant legislation and the 24
board's policies. 25
Page 30
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 6 Reserve powers of participating local governments
[s 49]
Part 6 Reserve powers of 1
participating local 2
governments 3
49 Reserve power to give directions in public interest 4
(1) A distributor-retailer's participating local governments may 5
give it a written direction (a local government direction) 6
about the way the distributor-retailer is to perform its 7
functions. 8
(2) However, the direction may be given only if the majority of 9
the local governments fixed under the distributor-retailer's 10
participation agreement-- 11
(a) is satisfied the direction is necessary and in the public 12
interest of the distributor-retailer's geographic area and 13
the SEQ region; and 14
(b) has asked the board to advise the local governments 15
whether, in its opinion, complying with the direction is 16
consistent with the performance of the 17
distributor-retailer's functions; and 18
(c) has decided by resolution to give the direction. 19
(3) The board must ensure the direction is complied with. 20
50 Publication of directions 21
The participating local governments that give a local 22
government direction must within 21 days after the direction 23
is given ensure a copy-- 24
(a) is given to the Minister; and 25
(b) is open to inspection at the local government's public 26
offices; and 27
(c) is published in a newspaper circulating in all of the 28
distributor-retailer's geographic area. 29
Page 31
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 2 New authorities for water distribution and retailing
Part 7 Miscellaneous provisions
[s 51]
51 Local government directions relevant to duty 1
In deciding, for this Act or any other relevant law, whether or 2
not a board member has exercised an appropriate degree of 3
care and diligence in discharging the member's duties, regard 4
must be had to any relevant local government direction. 5
Part 7 Miscellaneous provisions 6
52 Authentication of documents 7
A document made by a distributor-retailer is sufficiently made 8
if it is signed by-- 9
(a) its chief executive officer; or 10
(b) the chairperson of its board; or 11
(c) another person authorised by its board. 12
53 Delegation 13
(1) A distributor-retailer may delegate any of its functions to a 14
member of its board, its chief executive officer or any of its 15
appropriately qualified employees. 16
(2) However, a function can not be delegated under subsection (1) 17
to a person to whom a circumstance mentioned in section 47 18
applies. 19
(3) A board may delegate any of its functions to-- 20
(a) a committee of members of the board; or 21
(b) the distributor-retailer's chief executive officer. 22
(4) The chief executive officer of a distributor-retailer may 23
delegate his or her functions to an appropriately qualified 24
employee of the distributor-retailer. 25
Page 32
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 1 Transfer schemes
[s 54]
Note-- 1
For general laws about delegation, see the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, 2
section 27A. 3
(5) In this section-- 4
appropriately qualified includes having qualifications, 5
experience or standing appropriate for the functions. 6
functions includes powers. 7
Chapter 3 Transfer from local 8
governments to 9
distributor-retailers 10
Part 1 Transfer schemes 11
Division 1 Making of transfer schemes 12
54 Power to make transfer scheme 13
(1) A distributor-retailer and its participating local governments 14
may enter into an agreement or agreements (each a transfer 15
scheme) about-- 16
(a) the transfer of assets, employees, instruments or 17
liabilities to any of the following to allow the 18
distributor-retailer to perform its geographic area 19
functions-- 20
(i) the local governments; 21
(ii) a joint local government under the Local 22
Government Act 1993 or the Local Government 23
Act 2009 all or part of the area of which includes 24
the SEQ region; 25
Page 33
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 1 Transfer schemes
[s 55]
(iii) the Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage 1
Board constituted under the Metropolitan Water 2
Supply and Sewerage Act 1909; and 3
(b) any other incidental, consequential or supplemental 4
matter the distributor-retailer and the local governments 5
consider necessary for the transfer. 6
(2) However, a transfer scheme has no effect unless it has been 7
approved by the Minister and has taken effect under division 8
2. 9
(3) The matters mentioned in subsection (1) are the transition to a 10
distributor-retailer from its participating local governments. 11
55 Period of transfer schemes 12
(1) A transfer scheme can not take effect after 30 September 13
2010. 14
(2) However, subsection (1) does not affect the giving of effect to 15
a transfer scheme after 30 September 2010 or anything done 16
under a transfer scheme before or after that date. 17
56 Particular matters scheme may provide for 18
(1) A transfer scheme may provide for all or any of the 19
following-- 20
(a) the joint transfer to a distributor-retailer of an asset or 21
liability of any of its participating local governments 22
and the terms of the joint transfer; 23
(b) the following for trust land for which any of the local 24
governments is a trustee-- 25
(i) the removal of the local government as the trustee; 26
(ii) the appointment of the distributor-retailer as the 27
trustee or of the distributor-retailer and local 28
government as joint trustees; 29
Page 34
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 1 Transfer schemes
[s 56]
(iii) changing the purpose for which the trust land was 1
reserved or granted in trust, including to a purpose 2
other than a community purpose; 3
(c) whether and, if so, the extent to which the 4
distributor-retailer is the successor in law of all or any of 5
the local governments; 6
(d) a legal proceeding that is being or may be taken by or 7
against all or any of the local governments to be 8
continued or taken by or against the distributor-retailer; 9
(e) the application of instruments to the distributor-retailer, 10
including-- 11
(i) whether the distributor-retailer is a party to an 12
instrument; and 13
(ii) whether an instrument is taken to have been made 14
by the distributor-retailer or given to, by or in 15
favour of the distributor-retailer or all or any of the 16
local governments; and 17
(iii) whether a reference to an authorisation in an 18
instrument is a reference to the distributor-retailer 19
or all or any of its participating local governments; 20
and 21
(iv) whether under an instrument, an amount is or may 22
become payable to or by the distributor-retailer or 23
other property is or may be transferred to or by the 24
distributor-retailer or all or any of the local 25
governments; 26
(f) the transfer to the distributor-retailer of an employee of 27
all or any of the local governments and the employees's 28
work entitlements and conditions of employment; 29
(g) subject to part 4, matters about employees of a local 30
government transferred under paragraph (f) and their 31
rights; 32
(h) the records of the distributor-retailer or the local 33
governments. 34
Page 35
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 1 Transfer schemes
[s 57]
(2) A transfer scheme may transfer an asset attached to land 1
without transferring the land, even though the asset would 2
otherwise be a part of the land. 3
(3) This section does not limit section 54. 4
(4) In this section-- 5
authorisation includes accreditation, allocation, approval, 6
certificate, entitlement, exemption, licence, manual, notice, 7
permit and plan. 8
instrument includes an application or authority under an Act. 9
Division 2 Approval of transfer scheme 10
57 Request for approval 11
(1) A distributor-retailer's participating local governments may 12
ask the Minister for approval of a transfer scheme for the 13
distributor-retailer. 14
(2) The request must be written and accompanied by-- 15
(a) a copy of the scheme; and 16
(b) a certification made by all of the local governments that 17
complies with section 58. 18
58 Requirements for certification statement 19
(1) The certification must be in the approved form and state-- 20
(a) that the local governments have carried out a due 21
diligence process directed at identifying-- 22
(i) all of their essential assets, liabilities and 23
instruments relating to the provision of water 24
services and wastewater services to customers in 25
the distributor-retailer's geographic area (the 26
functions); and 27
Page 36
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 1 Transfer schemes
[s 58]
(ii) whether anything proposed to be done under the 1
transfer scheme would materially prejudice the 2
interests of a third party; and 3
(b) that the transfer scheme-- 4
(i) only transfers assets, liabilities and instruments 5
identified under the process relating to the 6
performance of the functions; and 7
(ii) transfers all of the essential assets, liabilities and 8
instruments of the local governments identified 9
under the process that-- 10
(A) are necessary to perform the functions; and 11
(B) can be lawfully and practically transferred 12
under a transfer scheme; and 13
(iii) identifies any assets that are to be jointly owned by 14
the distributor-retailer and any of the local 15
governments; and 16
(iv) does not to the local governments' knowledge 17
materially prejudice the interests of any third party, 18
or if it does, that party's consent to the prejudice 19
has been obtained; and 20
(v) does not transfer an employee inconsistently with 21
section 83 or the staff support framework; and 22
(c) that the local governments have consulted with the State 23
archivist about the way in which records are to be dealt 24
with under the scheme; and 25
(d) either-- 26
(i) that the transfer scheme does not depart in any 27
substantial way from any model transfer scheme 28
prepared by the Minister and notified on the 29
website of the Queensland Water Commission; or 30
(ii) if there is a substantial departure from the 31
model--that the departure is necessary for the 32
Page 37
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 1 Transfer schemes
[s 59]
transition to the distributor-retailer from the local 1
governments; and 2
(e) the reasons for any departure mentioned in paragraph 3
(d)(ii). 4
(2) For subsection (1)(b)(iv), a third party's interests are not 5
materially prejudiced merely because of a transfer to the 6
distributor-retailer. 7
(3) The consultation with the State archivist may be carried out 8
by a representative for all of the local governments. 9
59 Deciding request 10
(1) The Minister must consider the request and decide whether or 11
not to approve the transfer scheme. 12
(2) The Minister may approve the transfer scheme only if it 13
complies with division 1. 14
60 Notice and taking effect of approved scheme 15
(1) If the Minister approves the transfer scheme, the Minister 16
must within 21 days publish a gazette notice about the 17
approval. 18
(2) The notice must state where information about the transfers 19
under the scheme may be obtained. 20
(3) However, the notice need not state where information may be 21
obtained if the Minister considers that there is a need to 22
protect confidentiality or privacy relating to the information. 23
(4) The transfer scheme takes effect on the day the notice is 24
gazetted or, if a later day is stated in the notice, on that day. 25
Page 38
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 2 Ministerial powers for transition
[s 61]
Division 3 Miscellaneous provision 1
61 Discharge of liabilities by transfer scheme 2
(1) The transfer of a liability of a local government under a 3
transfer scheme discharges the local government from the 4
liability to the extent provided for under the transfer scheme. 5
(2) Subject to section 64(2), a transfer scheme has effect despite 6
any other law or other instrument. 7
Part 2 Ministerial powers for 8
transition 9
62 Transfer notice 10
(1) The Minister may, by gazette notice (a transfer notice), do 11
any of the following for the transition to a distributor-retailer 12
from its participating local governments-- 13
(a) anything that may be done by any of them under a 14
transfer scheme; 15
(b) rectify or undo anything the Minister considers a 16
transfer scheme ought not to have done or ought to have 17
done differently. 18
Example for paragraph (b)-- 19
transfer back to a participating local government an asset the 20
Minister considers ought not to have been transferred under a 21
transfer scheme 22
(2) A transfer notice may include conditions applying to 23
something done under the notice. 24
(3) If the Minister is satisfied it would be inappropriate for a 25
particular matter to be stated in a transfer notice (for example, 26
because of the size or nature of the matter), the Minister may 27
Page 39
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 2 Ministerial powers for transition
[s 63]
provide for the matter by including a reference in the transfer 1
notice to another document that is-- 2
(a) signed by the Minister; and 3
(b) kept available at a place stated in the transfer notice for 4
inspection by the persons to whom the matter relates. 5
(4) A transfer notice has effect on the day it is published in the 6
gazette or a later day stated in it. 7
63 Period of transfer notices 8
(1) A transfer notice can not take effect before 1 July 2010 or 9
after 30 June 2011. 10
(2) However, subsection (1) does not affect the giving of effect to 11
a transfer scheme after 30 June 2011 or anything done under a 12
transfer scheme before or after that date. 13
64 Effect of transfer notice 14
(1) The transfer under a transfer notice of a liability discharges 15
the person from whom the liability is transferred from the 16
liability to the extent provided for under the transfer notice. 17
(2) A transfer notice has effect despite any other law, transfer 18
scheme or other instrument. 19
65 Transfer direction 20
(1) The Minister may give a direction (a transfer direction) to 21
any of the following (a relevant entity) to do anything the 22
Minister considers necessary to achieve the transition to a 23
distributor-retailer from its participating local governments-- 24
(a) the distributor-retailer; 25
(b) the board; 26
(c) any of the distributor-retailer's participating local 27
governments. 28
Page 40
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 2 Ministerial powers for transition
[s 65]
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), a transfer direction may be 1
about-- 2
(a) executing an instrument; or 3
(b) disclosing information; or 4
(c) for the distributor-retailer, according particular terms 5
and conditions of employment to its employees affected 6
by the transfer during a stated period after its 7
establishment consistent with the staff support 8
framework; or 9
(d) anything the Minister considers necessary to remedy a 10
contravention of the staff support framework. 11
(3) A transfer direction must be in writing and signed by the 12
Minister. 13
(4) If a relevant entity is given a transfer direction-- 14
(a) the entity must comply with the direction; and 15
(b) if the entity is the distributor-retailer--its board must 16
take the action necessary to ensure the 17
distributor-retailer complies with the direction. 18
Maximum penalty--1000 penalty units. 19
(5) In this section-- 20
board includes, for a local government, its councillors. 21
Page 41
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 3 Provisions facilitating transition
[s 66]
Part 3 Provisions facilitating 1
transition 2
Division 1 General provisions 3
66 Chapter applies despite other laws and instruments 4
A thing may be done under this chapter despite any other law 5
or instrument. 6
Example-- 7
A transfer scheme or transfer notice may transfer a trustee lease under 8
the Land Act without the written approvals that would otherwise be 9
required for a transfer under section 58 of that Act. 10
67 Decisions not reviewable 11
(1) A decision under this chapter-- 12
(a) is final and conclusive; and 13
(b) can not be challenged, appealed against, reviewed, 14
quashed, set aside or called into question in any other 15
way, under the Judicial Review Act 1991 or otherwise 16
(whether by the Supreme Court, another court, a tribunal 17
or another entity); and 18
(c) is not subject to any writ or order of the Supreme Court, 19
another court, a tribunal or another entity on any ground. 20
(2) In this section-- 21
decision includes a decision or conduct leading up to or 22
forming part of the process of making a decision. 23
68 Effect on legal relationships 24
(1) Nothing done under this chapter including a thing done by or 25
in compliance with, a transition document-- 26
Page 42
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 3 Provisions facilitating transition
[s 68]
(a) makes a relevant entity liable for a civil wrong or a 1
contravention of a law or for a breach of a contract or 2
confidence; or 3
(b) makes a relevant entity in breach of any instrument, 4
including an instrument prohibiting, restricting or 5
regulating the assignment, novation or transfer of a right 6
or liability or the disclosure of information; or 7
(c) is taken to fulfil a condition that-- 8
(i) allows a person to terminate an instrument or 9
obligation or modify the operation or effect of an 10
instrument or obligation; or 11
(ii) allows a person to enforce an obligation contained 12
in an instrument or requires a person to perform an 13
obligation contained in an instrument; or 14
(iii) requires any money to be paid before its stated 15
maturity; or 16
(d) releases a surety or other obligee, wholly or partly, from 17
an obligation. 18
(2) If apart from this subsection, the advice, consent or approval 19
of a person would be necessary to do something under this 20
chapter, the advice is taken to have been obtained or the 21
consent or approval is taken to have been given 22
unconditionally. 23
Example-- 24
A contract entered into by a local government provides that it agrees not 25
to transfer a particular asset without a particular person's consent and 26
that if the consent is given, it may be subject to particular conditions. 27
If the asset is transferred to a distributor-retailer under a transfer scheme 28
or transfer notice, the consent required under the contract is taken to 29
have been given unconditionally. 30
(3) If apart from this Act, giving notice to a person would be 31
necessary to do something under this chapter, the notice is 32
taken to have been given. 33
(4) In this section-- 34
Page 43
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 3 Provisions facilitating transition
[s 69]
relevant entity means-- 1
(a) the State or an employee or agent of the State; or 2
(b) a participating local government for a distributor-retailer 3
or any of the local government's councillors, employees 4
or agents; or 5
(c) a distributor-retailer, a member of a board or an 6
employee or agent of a distributor-retailer. 7
69 Disclosure and use for transition of information 8
(1) A person may disclose information in the possession or 9
control of a local government for the purpose of the transition 10
to its distributor-retailer to-- 11
(a) a person involved in the transition; or 12
(b) a member of the board or an employee or agent of the 13
distributor-retailer. 14
(2) A distributor-retailer or its board must comply with a request 15
by the Minister for the disclosure of information under 16
subsection (1) to a person. 17
(3) A person may use information in the possession or control of 18
a distributor-retailer for the purpose of the transition from its 19
participating local governments. 20
(4) Also, to remove any doubt, it is declared that a person may 21
disclose or use information in compliance with a transition 22
document. 23
(5) A person who acting honestly discloses or uses information 24
under this section is not liable civilly, criminally or under an 25
administrative process for the disclosure or use. 26
70 Registering authority to register or record transfer 27
(1) A registering authority must, on written application by a 28
transferee entity, register or record in the appropriate way the 29
Page 44
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 3 Provisions facilitating transition
[s 71]
transfer of an asset, liability or instrument under a transfer 1
scheme or transfer notice to the transferee entity. 2
(2) A regulation may exempt the transferee entity or the transferor 3
to the transferee entity from complying with a relevant 4
procedure required by the registering authority or under 5
another law for the purpose of registering or recording the 6
transfer. 7
Example of what may be a relevant procedure-- 8
The registering authority may require the transferee entity to complete 9
and submit a particular form. 10
(3) Subject to subsection (2) the transferee entity must comply 11
with the procedures. 12
(4) In this section-- 13
registering authority means the registrar or another entity 14
required or authorised by law to register or record transactions 15
affecting or relating to assets, liabilities or instruments. 16
transferee entity means the entity to which an asset, liability 17
or instrument is transferred under a transfer scheme or transfer 18
notice. 19
71 Non-liability for State taxes, charges or fees 20
(1) A local government or distributor-retailer is not liable to pay 21
any of the following relating to anything done under a 22
transition document-- 23
(a) a tax under the Duties Act 2001 or another Act; 24
(b) a charge or fee under the Land Act, Land Title Act, 25
Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 26
1995, Water Act or another Act. 27
(2) In this section-- 28
tax includes duty, impost and levy. 29
Page 45
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 3 Provisions facilitating transition
[s 72]
Division 2 Provisions for other laws and 1
instruments 2
Subdivision 1 Acquisition of Land Act 3
72 Existing acquisitions 4
(1) This section applies to land acquired by a local government as 5
a constructing authority under the Acquisition of Land Act. 6
(2) If the land is transferred to a distributor-retailer under this 7
chapter, the distributor-retailer is, for section 41 of that Act, 8
taken to be the constructing authority that acquired that land 9
on the day it was acquired. 10
73 Acquisitions interrupted by transfer scheme or notice 11
(1) This section applies if-- 12
(a) a participating local government of a distributor-retailer 13
has-- 14
(i) served a notice of intention to resume to take land 15
as a constructing authority under the Acquisition of 16
Land Act; or 17
(ii) entered into an agreement to take land; and 18
(b) because of a transfer scheme or transfer notice, the local 19
government can not continue the taking. 20
(2) The distributor-retailer may by notice given to each affected 21
person decide to continue the taking. 22
(3) The notice must state-- 23
(a) that the distributor-retailer has become the constructing 24
authority for the taking; and 25
(b) its address for service of documents. 26
(4) On the giving of the notice, for the Acquisition of Land Act-- 27
Page 46
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 3 Provisions facilitating transition
[s 74]
(a) the distributor-retailer becomes the constructing 1
authority for the taking; and 2
(b) the local government's rights and obligations 3
concerning the taking end. 4
(5) However, the purpose of the taking does not change. 5
(6) In this section-- 6
affected person, for the taking, means-- 7
(a) each person-- 8
(i) on whom the local government served a notice of 9
intention to resume the land; or 10
(ii) with whom the local government has entered into 11
an agreement to take the land; and 12
(b) anyone else the distributor-retailer considers is 13
financially affected by the taking. 14
74 Provisions for distributor-retailer becoming constructing 15
authority 16
(1) This section applies if under section 73, a distributor-retailer 17
becomes the constructing authority for the taking of land 18
instead of a local government. 19
(2) The local government must give the distributor-retailer the 20
documents relating to the taking. 21
(3) Despite the Acquisition of Land Act, section 12(1) the land 22
taken under a gazette resumption notice under that Act vests 23
in the distributor-retailer. 24
(4) The distributor-retailer-- 25
(a) has for the taking the same powers and obligations 26
under the Acquisition of Land Act as the local 27
government; and 28
(b) does not represent the State for section 12 of that Act. 29
Page 47
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 3 Provisions facilitating transition
[s 75]
(5) The right under the Acquisition of Land Act of a person who 1
was served with a notice to take or who entered into an 2
agreement to take the land does not change. 3
(6) A reference to the local government in a document relating to 4
the taking is, if the context permits, taken to be a reference to 5
the distributor-retailer. 6
(7) Without limiting subsection (6), if the local government was 7
taking the land under an agreement to take-- 8
(a) a reference in the agreement to the local government is 9
taken to be a reference to the distributor-retailer; and 10
(b) the agreement gives rise to the same rights and liabilities 11
as would have arisen if the local government were a 12
party to the agreement. 13
Subdivision 2 Land Act 14
75 Terminating trust land and granting freehold interest 15
(1) This section applies if-- 16
(a) a transferred asset is attached to land that is trust land 17
under the Land Act; and 18
(b) the Land Act Minister is satisfied the part of the land on 19
which the transferred asset is situated is of adequate area 20
to be allocated as freehold land, having regard to the 21
location of the transferred asset and the use made of the 22
adjoining land. 23
(2) The Land Act Minister may under that Act, on application to 24
the Land Act chief executive by the distributor-retailer to 25
whom the transferred asset was transferred-- 26
(a) if the land is a reserve--revoke all or part of the reserve; 27
or 28
(b) if the land is a deed of grant in trust--require the trustee 29
to surrender all or part of the deed of grant in trust. 30
Page 48
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 3 Provisions facilitating transition
[s 76]
(3) If the Land Act Minister acts under subsection (2), the 1
Governor in Council may under the Land Act, issue a deed of 2
grant for the land to the distributor-retailer. 3
(4) For the purposes of the Land Act, chapter 4, part 1, division 2, 4
freehold title may be granted without competition. 5
(5) An evaluation under the Land Act, section 16 is not required 6
for the allocation of the land. 7
(6) The Land Act Minister must decide the purchase price for the 8
land. 9
(7) Before approving a plan of subdivision identifying the area of 10
the revocation, the Land Act Minister may require the 11
distributor-retailer and the trustee of the reserve to agree to a 12
plan of subdivision to define the boundaries of the land. 13
(8) The following provisions of the Land Act do not apply to a 14
revocation of all or part of a reserve-- 15
(a) sections 34A, 34B and 34E; 16
(b) section 34H relating to an improvement that is a 17
transferred asset. 18
(9) In this section-- 19
transferred asset means an asset transferred under a transfer 20
scheme or transfer notice without the transfer of land to which 21
the asset is attached or a change in the trusteeship. 22
76 Granting Land Act lease 23
(1) This section applies if-- 24
(a) a transferred asset is attached to land that is a reserve or 25
unallocated State land; and 26
(b) the Land Act Minister is satisfied the part of the land on 27
which the transferred asset is situated (the relevant part) 28
is not of adequate area to be allocated as freehold land, 29
having regard to the location of the transferred asset and 30
the use made of the adjoining land. 31
Page 49
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 3 Provisions facilitating transition
[s 77]
(2) The Land Act Minister may, on application to the Land Act 1
chief executive by the distributor-retailer to whom the 2
transferred asset was transferred, grant under the Land Act to 3
the distributor-retailer a lease over the relevant part. 4
(3) If the land is a reserve and the Land Act Minister grants a 5
State lease over the relevant part, that Minister may, before 6
granting the lease, require the distributor-retailer and the 7
trustee of the reserve to agree to a plan of survey identifying 8
the relevant part. 9
(4) If the Land Act Minister decides to grant a lease under this 10
section, it must be for the maximum term permitted under the 11
Land Act. 12
(5) For the Land Act, chapter 5, part 1, division 1, the annual rent 13
for the lease is the minimum rent applicable for the category 14
of the lease. 15
(6) An evaluation under the Land Act, section 16 is not required 16
for the allocation of the land. 17
(7) In this section-- 18
transferred asset means an asset transferred under a transfer 19
scheme or transfer notice without the transfer of land to which 20
the asset is attached or a change in the trusteeship. 21
Subdivision 3 Development approvals and 22
infrastructure agreements 23
77 Matters relating to the Integrated Planning Act 1997 24
(1) This section applies to the transfer of development 25
infrastructure under this chapter from a local government to a 26
distributor-retailer. 27
(2) The transfer does not affect the validity of any of the 28
following done before the transfer relating to the development 29
infrastructure-- 30
Page 50
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 3 Provisions facilitating transition
[s 78]
(a) an infrastructure charge or cost levied by the local 1
government under IPA, chapter 5, part 1; 2
(b) a condition imposed by the local government under IPA, 3
chapter 5, part 1 or section 6.1.31; 4
(c) any other decision, charge, condition, contribution or 5
agreement (each a relevant action) made, levied or 6
imposed by the local government under IPA. 7
(3) A relevant action is enforceable by-- 8
(a) the local government; or 9
(b) the distributor-retailer as if it were the local government. 10
(4) An amount payable to the local government under a relevant 11
action continues to be payable to it as if the development 12
infrastructure had not been transferred. 13
(5) A legal proceeding that could have been started or continued 14
by or against the local government relating to the relevant 15
action may be started or continued by or against the local 16
government as if the development infrastructure had not been 17
transferred. 18
(6) In this section-- 19
development infrastructure see IPA, schedule 10. 20
IPA means the Integrated Planning Act 1997. 21
Subdivision 4 Reconfigurations 22
78 Reconfiguring a lot after transfer scheme or notice takes 23
effect 24
(1) This section applies if a transition document transfers or 25
requires the transfer from a local government to a 26
distributor-retailer of-- 27
(a) part of a lot, as described in a plan of subdivision for 28
reconfiguring the lot, on which a transferred asset is 29
situated; or 30
Page 51
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 3 Provisions facilitating transition
[s 78]
(b) part of a lot that is transferred land as described in a plan 1
of subdivision for reconfiguring the lot; or 2
(c) part of a lot that is adjacent to transferred land as 3
described in a plan of subdivision for reconfiguring the 4
lot. 5
(2) The distributor-retailer may lodge in the land registry under 6
the Land Title Act the plan of subdivision for reconfiguring 7
the lot to give effect to the transfer or requirement. 8
(3) The following do not apply to the reconfiguring of the lot-- 9
(a) Integrated Planning Act 1997; 10
(b) a State planning regulatory provision. 11
(4) Despite the Land Title Act, section 50 the plan of subdivision 12
for reconfiguring the lot does not require the agreement, 13
approval or consent of any entity. 14
(5) In this section-- 15
reconfiguring a lot see the Integrated Planning Act 1997, 16
section 1.3.5. 17
State planning regulatory provision see the Integrated 18
Planning Act 1997, schedule 10. 19
transferred asset means an asset transferred under a transition 20
document without the transfer of land to which the asset is 21
attached. 22
transferred land means land transferred under a transition 23
document. 24
Page 52
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 4 Workforce provisions
[s 79]
Part 4 Workforce provisions 1
Division 1 Staff support framework 2
79 Staff support framework 3
(1) The industrial relations Minister may approve a framework (a 4
staff support framework) directed at ensuring-- 5
(a) the proper transition of employees transferred under a 6
transfer scheme or transfer notice to a 7
distributor-retailer; and 8
(b) the appropriate and fair treatment of other employees 9
affected by the transition to a distributor-retailer from its 10
participating local governments. 11
(2) As soon as practicable after the approval of a staff support 12
framework, the Minister administering this Act (the Act 13
Minister) must-- 14
(a) notify the making of the approval; and 15
(b) give a copy of the framework to each affected entity; 16
and 17
(c) publish a copy of the framework in the way the Act 18
Minister considers appropriate. 19
Example-- 20
The Act Minister may publish the framework on the 21
department's website. 22
(3) The notice made under subsection (2)(a) (the approval notice) 23
is subordinate legislation. 24
(4) When the approval notice is gazetted, the staff support 25
framework is taken to have had effect from the date the 26
framework states that it commences (the date of effect). 27
(5) The approval notice must state the date of effect. 28
Page 53
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 4 Workforce provisions
[s 80]
(6) Subsection (4) applies despite the Statutory Instruments Act 1
1992, section 34. 2
(7) It is the responsibility of the affected entity to ensure, to the 3
extent the staff support framework applies to the entity, that 4
the entity acts in conformity with the framework. 5
(8) In this section-- 6
affected entity, for a staff support framework, means all of the 7
following-- 8
(a) a distributor-retailer or local government to which the 9
framework applies; 10
(b) an industrial organisation that represents the employees 11
of an entity mentioned in paragraph (a). 12
industrial relations Minister means the Minister 13
administering the Industrial Relations Act 1999. 14
80 Staff support framework prevails over transfer scheme or 15
notice 16
If a provision of a staff support framework is inconsistent with 17
a provision of a transfer scheme or transfer notice, the 18
provision of the framework prevails to the extent of the 19
inconsistency. 20
Division 2 Preservation of rights of employees 21
81 Application of div 2 22
This division applies to the transfer of an employee of a local 23
government (the former employer) to a distributor-retailer 24
(the new employer) under a transition document. 25
82 Continuity of employment 26
(1) The transfer does not-- 27
Page 54
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 4 Workforce provisions
[s 83]
(a) interrupt continuity of service, except that the employee 1
is not entitled to claim the benefit of a right or 2
entitlement more than once for the same period of 3
service; or 4
(b) constitute a termination of employment by the former 5
employer or a retrenchment or redundancy; or 6
(c) entitle the employee to a payment or other benefit 7
because he or she is no longer employed by the former 8
employer; or 9
(d) require the former employer to make any payment for 10
the employee's accrued rights to recreation, sick, long 11
service or other leave irrespective of any arrangement 12
between the former employer and the employee. 13
(2) The transfer has effect despite any other law, contract or other 14
instrument. 15
83 Preservation of rights of transferred employees during 16
transitional period 17
(1) This section applies, subject to a staff support framework, for 18
the period (the transitional period) from an employee's 19
transfer to the new employer until whichever of the following 20
happens first-- 21
(a) the employee becomes covered by a new agreement 22
made under IRA that provides that it replaces some or 23
all of the transferred conditions; 24
(b) if the employee's transferred conditions are not derived 25
from a prescribed industrial instrument--a new contract 26
of employment is agreed between the new employer and 27
the employee that provides that it replaces the 28
transferred conditions. 29
(2) Subject to subsection (3), the employee's terms and 30
conditions of employment during the transitional period-- 31
Page 55
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 4 Workforce provisions
[s 83]
(a) are the same terms and conditions (the transferred 1
conditions) as applied to the employee immediately 2
before the transfer; and 3
(b) are not decided by reference to any other law or 4
instrument about minimum terms and conditions of 5
employment. 6
(3) During the transitional period-- 7
(a) if the employee has transferred conditions derived from 8
any of the following, the employee may enforce the 9
transferred conditions as if they were derived from an 10
industrial instrument under IRA-- 11
(i) a prescribed industrial instrument; 12
(ii) a notional agreement preserving State award 13
derived only from a State law; 14
(iii) a transitional minimum wage instrument or 15
transitional national minimum wage order under 16
FWTCAA; 17
(iv) a national minimum wage order under FWA; 18
(v) the NES; 19
(vi) the Queensland minimum wage under IRA; and 20
(b) if the employee has transferred conditions derived from 21
a prescribed industrial instrument-- 22
(i) the employee is taken to be employed by the new 23
employer under an industrial instrument for IRA, 24
chapter 3; and 25
(ii) the transferred conditions are taken to include any 26
dispute resolution clause that, under any relevant 27
transfer scheme or transfer notice, applies to the 28
new employer and the employee during the period. 29
(4) The dispute resolution clause applies to the exclusion of any 30
other provision about dispute resolution that would otherwise 31
apply under the transferred conditions. 32
Page 56
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 5 Provisions for separate transfers of land and attached assets
[s 84]
(5) In this section-- 1
FWA means the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cwlth). 2
FWTCAA means the Fair Work (Transitional Provisions and 3
Consequential Amendments) Act 2009 (Cwlth). 4
IRA means the Industrial Relations Act 1999. 5
NES means the National Employment Standards under FWA. 6
notional agreement preserving State award see FWTCAA. 7
prescribed industrial instrument means any of the 8
following-- 9
(a) an industrial instrument under IRA, including a 10
substitute State instrument under IRA, chapter 20, part 11
7; 12
(b) a continuing schedule 6 instrument under FWTCAA 13
(c) a fair work instrument under FWA; 14
(d) an agreement-based transitional instrument under 15
FWTCAA; 16
(e) the following award-based transitional instruments 17
under FWTCAA-- 18
(i) a notional agreement preserving State awards 19
derived from a State award; and 20
(ii) an award. 21
Part 5 Provisions for separate 22
transfers of land and attached 23
assets 24
84 Application of pt 5 25
(1) This part applies if-- 26
Page 57
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 5 Provisions for separate transfers of land and attached assets
[s 85]
(a) a local government owns land or is the trustee of trust 1
land to which an asset is attached; and 2
(b) the land or asset is transferred or the local government is 3
removed as trustee for the trust land and a 4
distributor-retailer is appointed as trustee under a 5
transfer scheme or transfer notice; and 6
(c) after the transfer or change in the trusteeship, one entity 7
(the asset owner) owns the asset and another entity (the 8
land owner) owns or occupies the land to which the 9
asset is attached. 10
(2) To remove any doubt, it is declared that this part applies to 11
anyone who owns or occupies the land at any time after the 12
transfer. 13
85 References to land with asset attached 14
A reference in this part to land to which an asset is attached is 15
a reference to the parcel of land for which there is an 16
instrument of title that includes the particular area covered by 17
the asset. 18
86 Entry to and use of land and structures by asset owner 19
(1) This section applies for the following places-- 20
(a) the land to which an asset is attached (the relevant 21
land); 22
(b) any other land owned or occupied by the land owner that 23
forms a contiguous parcel of land with the relevant land; 24
(c) any structure on the relevant land. 25
(2) An employee or agent of the asset owner may enter the place 26
at all reasonable times if the entry is-- 27
(a) necessary to do something relating to the asset for the 28
performance of the asset owner's functions as a 29
distributor-retailer; or 30
Page 58
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 5 Provisions for separate transfers of land and attached assets
[s 87]
(b) necessary for the continued use of the asset in a way it 1
was lawfully used before the transfer. 2
Examples of things for which entry may be necessary-- 3
· carrying facilities into, through, across or under the land 4
· performing work on the land 5
· inspecting, operating, changing, maintaining, removing, repairing 6
or replacing the asset 7
(3) Also, the asset owner may allow other persons to enter the 8
place at the times stated and as otherwise provided for in the 9
transfer scheme or transfer notice. 10
(4) This section does not apply to the entry of a structure or the 11
part of a structure used for residential purposes. 12
(5) To remove any doubt, it is declared that this section does not 13
limit the making of other agreements between the asset owner 14
and land owner about entry to or use of the place. 15
87 Compensation to land owner for entry and use 16
If the land owner incurs loss or damage because of the asset 17
owner's exercise of a power under section 86, the land owner 18
is entitled to be paid compensation by the asset owner-- 19
(a) as worked out under the transfer scheme or transfer 20
notice; or 21
(b) as otherwise agreed between them. 22
88 Land owner's obligations for asset 23
The land owner can not, without the asset owner's written 24
consent-- 25
(a) interfere with the asset; or 26
(b) take any step to change the use of the land to which the 27
asset is attached; or 28
(c) carry out material works or make material 29
improvements to the land; or 30
Page 59
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 6 Provisions for easements
[s 89]
(d) grant rights to anyone else relating to the land that are 1
inconsistent with the asset owner's rights under section 2
86 or use of the asset. 3
Maximum penalty--50 penalty units. 4
89 Registration of information about asset 5
(1) The asset owner may give a written request to the registrar to 6
record the following information-- 7
(a) that this part applies to the land to which the asset is 8
attached; 9
(b) a description of the asset; 10
(c) the name of the asset owner. 11
(2) On receiving the request, the registrar must make a record in a 12
way that a search of a relevant register kept by the registrar 13
under the Land Act or the Land Title Act will show the 14
information. 15
(3) On written request from the asset owner, the registrar must 16
cancel the record. 17
Part 6 Provisions for easements 18
90 Application of pt 6 19
(1) This part applies if-- 20
(a) a participating local government for a distributor-retailer 21
is the grantee under an easement; and 22
(b) the purpose for which the easement was created includes 23
water supply or sewerage purposes. 24
(2) In this section-- 25
Page 60
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Transfer from local governments to distributor-retailers
Part 6 Provisions for easements
[s 91]
easement includes a public utility easement under the Land 1
Act or the Land Title Act. 2
91 Rights, liabilities and obligations under easement 3
(1) To the extent the easement relates to the purposes, the 4
distributor-retailer-- 5
(a) may exercise the same rights as the local government; 6
and 7
(b) is subject to the same liabilities and obligations as the 8
local government. 9
(2) However, the rights may be exercised only for the 10
construction, installation, repair, replacement or removal of 11
infrastructure relating to the purposes. 12
(3) This section does not remove or otherwise affect the local 13
government's rights, liabilities and obligations under the 14
easement. 15
(4) The distributor-retailer and the local government may make 16
an agreement about the joint use of the easement. 17
92 Registration of information about easement 18
(1) The local government or the distributor-retailer may give a 19
written request to the registrar to record the following 20
information-- 21
(a) that this part applies to the easement; 22
(b) an identifying number of the easement; 23
(c) the distributor-retailer's name. 24
(2) On receiving the request, the registrar must make a record in a 25
way that a search of a relevant register kept by the registrar 26
under the Land Act or the Land Title Act will show the 27
information. 28
(3) On written request from the local government or the 29
distributor-retailer, the registrar must cancel the record. 30
Page 61
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Customer water and wastewater code
Part 1 General provisions about code
[s 93]
Chapter 4 Customer water and 1
wastewater code 2
Part 1 General provisions about code 3
93 Minister's power to make code 4
(1) Subject to part 2, the Minister may make a customer water and 5
wastewater code to provide for rights and obligations of 6
distributor-retailers and their customers. 7
(2) The code does not have effect until it has been approved by 8
the Governor in Council. 9
(3) The code is subordinate legislation. 10
94 Particular matters code may provide for 11
(1) The code may provide for all or any of the following-- 12
(a) rights and obligations of distributor-retailers and their 13
customers relating to the availability of water services 14
and wastewater services; 15
(b) minimum and guaranteed service standards for water 16
services and wastewater services; 17
(c) the imposition of a civil penalty for failure to comply 18
with the service standards of no more than the monetary 19
amount of 20 penalty units; 20
(d) the terms of supply contracts for the services; 21
(e) the marketing conduct of distributor-retailers relating to 22
customers; 23
(f) meters and metering; 24
(g) dispute resolution processes for customers; 25
(h) an entity to administer the code. 26
Page 62
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Customer water and wastewater code
Part 2 Process for making or amending code
[s 95]
(2) In this section-- 1
meter includes equipment related to the meter for measuring 2
and recording the taking of or interfering, as defined under the 3
Water Act, with water. 4
Part 2 Process for making or 5
amending code 6
95 Public notice about availability of draft code 7
(1) If the Minister proposes to make the code, the Minister 8
must-- 9
(a) prepare a draft of the proposed code; and 10
(b) publish a notice about the draft in a newspaper 11
circulating in all of the SEQ region; and 12
(c) give each distributor-retailer and each local government 13
in the SEQ region a copy of the notice. 14
(2) The notice must state-- 15
(a) where copies of the draft may be inspected and on 16
payment of a fee, purchased; and 17
(b) that written submissions may be made by anyone about 18
the draft; and 19
(c) a day (the final submission day) by which submissions 20
must be made, and the person to whom, and the place 21
where, the submissions must be made. 22
(3) The final submission day must not be earlier than 28 days 23
after the day the notice is published. 24
(4) The Minister must, from the publication of the notice to the 25
final submission day, cause the draft to be published on the 26
department's website. 27
Page 63
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Customer water and wastewater code
Part 2 Process for making or amending code
[s 96]
96 Preparing and approving final code 1
In preparing the final code to be made, the Minister must 2
consider all submissions about the draft code made under 3
section 95 before the final submission day stated in the notice 4
published under that section. 5
97 Amendment of code 6
(1) The Minister may amend the code. 7
(2) Sections 95 and 96 apply to the amendment as if a reference in 8
the sections to the code were a reference to the amending 9
code. 10
(3) However, the sections do not apply if-- 11
(a) the amending code is only to-- 12
(i) correct a minor error in the code; or 13
(ii) make another change that is not a change of 14
substance; or 15
(b) the code states that an amendment of a stated type may 16
be made to the code without complying with the 17
sections and the amendment is of the stated type. 18
98 No regulatory impact statement for code 19
A regulatory impact statement under the Statutory 20
Instruments Act 1992 need not be prepared for making or 21
amending the code. 22
Page 64
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 5 Miscellaneous provisions
[s 99]
Part 3 Review of code 1
99 Review 2
(1) The Minister must within 3 years after the code commences 3
start a review of the code. 4
(2) The review may be carried out in the way the Minister 5
considers appropriate. 6
(3) However, the process for the review must involve public 7
submissions. 8
(4) The review must start by the Minister publishing a notice in a 9
newspaper circulating in all of the State-- 10
(a) explaining the process that the Minister has decided for 11
the review; and 12
(b) stating requirements for making submissions for the 13
review. 14
Chapter 5 Miscellaneous provisions 15
100 Liability for Commonwealth and State tax equivalents 16
(1) The Treasurer may issue a manual (the tax equivalents 17
manual) that-- 18
(a) fixes tax equivalents to be paid by a distributor-retailer 19
to its participating local governments, in full or in a 20
stated part; and 21
(b) appoints a person to be the tax assessor under the tax 22
equivalents manual. 23
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the tax equivalents manual 24
may provide for all or any of the following-- 25
Page 65
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 5 Miscellaneous provisions
[s 101]
(a) rulings by the tax assessor on issues about tax 1
equivalents, including the application of rulings under a 2
Commonwealth Act about Commonwealth tax; 3
(b) the lodging of returns by distributor-retailers; 4
(c) assessing returns; 5
(d) the functions and powers of the tax assessor; 6
(e) objections and appeals against assessments and rulings. 7
(3) A distributor-retailer must, as required under the tax 8
equivalents manual, pay tax equivalents to its participating 9
local governments in the proportions provided for under its 10
participation agreement. 11
(4) The Treasurer must table a copy of the tax equivalents manual 12
and each amendment of the manual in the Legislative 13
Assembly within 14 sitting days after the manual is issued or 14
the amendment made. 15
(5) The tax equivalents manual may be made together with or 16
form part of a tax equivalents manual issued by the Treasurer 17
under an Act about local government. 18
(6) In this section-- 19
government tax means tax imposed under a Commonwealth 20
Act or a State Act. 21
tax equivalents, to be paid by a distributor-retailer to its 22
participating local governments, means amounts representing 23
the value of benefits the distributor-retailer derives because it 24
is not liable to pay a government tax that it would be liable to 25
pay if it were not a distributor-retailer. 26
Treasurer means the Minister administering the 2007 27
restructuring Act. 28
101 Approved forms 29
The commissioner under the Water Act may approve forms 30
for use under this Act. 31
Page 66
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 6 Transitional provisions
[s 102]
102 Regulation-making power 1
(1) The Governor in Council may make regulations under this 2
Act. 3
(2) A regulation may-- 4
(a) apply a provision of the Corporations Act to a 5
distributor-retailer, with or without change; and 6
(b) provide, in relation to distributor-retailers, boards, 7
officers or employees of distributor-retailers, for any 8
matter that the Corporations Act provides for 9
corporations; and 10
(c) provide for any matter for which a participation 11
agreement, transfer scheme, transfer direction or the 12
code may provide. 13
(3) A regulation mentioned in subsection (2)(b) may provide for 14
the matter with or without change from the way the matter is 15
dealt with under the Corporations Act. 16
(4) A regulation may prescribe a penalty of no more than 20 17
penalty units for contravention of a regulation. 18
Chapter 6 Transitional provisions 19
103 Appointment of first chief executive officer 20
(1) Despite section 44(2), a distributor-retailer's participating 21
local governments may appoint its first chief executive officer. 22
(2) If the participating local governments act under subsection 23
(1), this Act applies to the appointee as if he or she had been 24
appointed under section 44. 25
104 Interim participation agreement 26
(1) Until 1 July 2010, a distributor-retailer's participating local 27
governments may make an agreement (the interim 28
Page 67
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 6 Transitional provisions
[s 105]
agreement) about the following matters for the 1
distributor-retailer-- 2
(a) who are to be its participants; 3
(b) who are to be the members of its board; 4
(c) a process for making board decisions; 5
(d) any other matter for which a participation agreement 6
may or must provide that the participating local 7
governments consider is appropriate. 8
(2) The participating local governments must give the Minister a 9
copy of the interim agreement as soon as practicable after 10
making it. 11
(3) The interim agreement takes effect as the distributor-retailer's 12
participation agreement until the earlier of the following-- 13
(a) 1 July 2010; 14
(b) a participation agreement for the distributor-retailer 15
takes effect under section 23 or 24. 16
(4) Chapter 2, part 3, does not apply to the making of the interim 17
agreement. 18
(5) Despite section 33, the interim agreement may provide for-- 19
(a) the board to have only 2 members; or 20
(b) an appointment to the board that contravenes section 21
33(4) to (6). 22
(6) However, a person appointed under the interim agreement as a 23
board member ceases to hold office on 30 June 2010. 24
(7) Subsection (6) does not stop the person from being appointed 25
as a board member from 1 July 2010 if the person is eligible to 26
be so appointed under this Act and the participation 27
agreement for the distributor-retailer. 28
105 Application of customer service standards until code 29
commences 30
(1) This section applies only if the code has not commenced. 31
Page 68
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 1 Amendment of this Act
[s 106]
(2) From 1 July 2010 a distributor-retailer must comply with any 1
relevant customer service standards as if it were the service 2
provider that made them. 3
(3) In this section-- 4
relevant customer service standards, for a distributor-retailer, 5
means any customer service standards under the Water Supply 6
Act in force on the commencement relating the 7
distributor-retailer's geographic area. 8
106 Provision for market rules 9
(1) This section applies only until 1 July 2010. 10
(2) A distributor-retail is not a grid participant under the market 11
rules under the Water Act. 12
107 Amendment under Act of Statutory Bodies Financial 13
Arrangements Regulation 2007 14
The amendment of the Statutory Bodies Financial 15
Arrangements Regulation 2007 under this Act does not affect 16
the power of the Governor in Council to further amend the 17
regulation or to repeal it. 18
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a 19
regulation 20
Part 1 Amendment of this Act 21
108 Act amended 22
This part amends this Act. 23
Page 69
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 1 Amendment of this Act
[s 109]
109 Amendment of long title 1
Long title, from `and to make'-- 2
omit. 3
110 Amendment of s 1 (Short title) 4
Section 1, `and Natural Resources Provisions'-- 5
omit. 6
111 Amendment of s 77 (Matters relating to the Integrated 7
Planning Act 1997) 8
(1) Section 77, heading, `Integrated Planning Act 1997'-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`Sustainable Planning Act 2009 or the repealed Integrated 11
Planning Act 1997'. 12
(2) Section 77(2)(a), (b) and (c)-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`(a) an infrastructure charge or cost levied by the local 15
government under SPA, chapter 8, part 1 or repealed 16
IPA, chapter 5, part 1; 17
(b) a condition imposed by the local government under 18
SPA, chapter 8, part 1 or section 848 or repealed IPA, 19
chapter 5, part 1 or section 6.1.31; 20
(c) any other decision, charge, condition, contribution or 21
agreement (each a relevant action) made, levied or 22
imposed by the local government under SPA or repealed 23
IPA.'. 24
(3) Section 77(6), definition development infrastructure, `IPA, 25
schedule 10'-- 26
omit, insert-- 27
`SPA, schedule 3'. 28
Page 70
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 2 Amendment of Land Act 1994
[s 112]
(4) Section 77(6), definition IPA-- 1
omit, insert-- 2
`repealed IPA means the repealed Integrated Planning Act 3
1997. 4
SPA means the Sustainable Planning Act 2009.'. 5
112 Amendment of s 78 (Reconfiguring a lot after transfer 6
scheme or notice takes effect) 7
(1) Section 78(3)(a)-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`(a) Sustainable Planning Act 2009;'. 10
(2) Section 78(5), definition reconfiguring a lot, `Integrated 11
Planning Act 1997, section 1.3.5'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`Sustainable Planning Act 2009, section 10(1)'. 14
(3) Section 78(5), definition State planning regulatory provision, 15
`Integrated Planning Act 1997, schedule 10'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`Sustainable Planning Act 2009, schedule 3'. 18
Part 2 Amendment of Land Act 1994 19
113 Act amended 20
This part amends the Land Act 1994. 21
114 Amendment of s 154 (Minister may approve additional 22
purposes) 23
(1) Section 154(3)-- 24
Page 71
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 2 Amendment of Land Act 1994
[s 115]
omit. 1
(2) Section 154(2)-- 2
renumber as section 154(3). 3
(3) Section 154-- 4
insert-- 5
`(2) However, the Minister may approve an application by a lessee 6
that a lease be used for an additional purpose only if-- 7
(a) the additional purpose is complementary to, and does 8
not interfere with, the purpose for which the lease was 9
originally issued; or 10
(b) the additional purpose relates to the production of 11
energy from a renewable source, including, for example, 12
the sun or wind.'. 13
(4) Section 154(7) and (8), `(2)(b) to (d)'-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`(3)(b) to (d)'. 16
115 Amendment of s 477 (Change of purpose for special 17
lease) 18
Section 477, `154(3)'-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`154(2)'. 21
Page 72
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 3 Amendment of Local Government (Aboriginal Lands) Act 1978
[s 116]
Part 3 Amendment of Local 1
Government (Aboriginal Lands) 2
Act 1978 3
116 Act amended 4
This part amends the Local Government (Aboriginal Lands) 5
Act 1978. 6
117 Insertion of new s 3A 7
After section 3-- 8
insert-- 9
`3A Extension of term 10
`(1) Despite section 3(3)(b) and schedule 1, on the date of assent 11
of the South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail 12
Restructuring) Act 2009 (the enactment day), the term of the 13
leases granted under section 3 is extended to the day that is 50 14
years after the enactment day. 15
`(2) Subject to subsection (1), the leases continue in force from the 16
enactment day on the same conditions and reservations 17
applying to the leases immediately before the enactment day.'. 18
Part 4 Amendment of South East 19
Queensland Water 20
(Restructuring) Act 2007 21
118 Act amended 22
This part amends the South East Queensland Water 23
(Restructuring) Act 2007. 24
Page 73
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 4 Amendment of South East Queensland Water (Restructuring) Act 2007
[s 119]
119 Replacement of ch 2 hdg (New water entities) 1
Chapter 2, heading-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`Chapter 2 Water grid manager and 4
bulk water supply 5
authorities'. 6
120 Replacement of ch 3 hdg (The project) 7
Chapter 3, heading-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`Chapter 3 Project for bulk water 10
supply authorities'. 11
121 Replacement of ch 4 hdg (Other matters) 12
Chapter 4, heading-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`Chapter 4 Other matters for the 15
project'. 16
Page 74
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 5 Amendment of Statutory Bodies Financial Arrangements Regulation 2007
[s 122]
Part 5 Amendment of Statutory 1
Bodies Financial Arrangements 2
Regulation 2007 3
122 Regulation amended 4
This part amends the Statutory Bodies Financial 5
Arrangements Regulation 2007. 6
123 Amendment of sch 2 (Statutory bodies that may borrow 7
under part 5 of the Act) 8
Schedule 2-- 9
insert-- 10
11
`South-East Queensland any distributor-retailer established
(Distribution and Retail under the authorising Act'.
Restructuring) Act 2009
124 Amendment of sch 4 (Statutory bodies allocated category 12
2 investment power) 13
Schedule 4-- 14
insert-- 15
16
`South-East Queensland any distributor-retailer established
(Distribution and Retail under the authorising Act'.
Restructuring) Act 2009
125 Amendment of sch 8 (Statutory bodies that may enter 17
into derivative transactions) 18
Schedule 8-- 19
insert-- 20
Page 75
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 6 Amendment of Valuation of Land Act 1944
[s 126]
1
`South-East Queensland any distributor-retailer established
(Distribution and Retail under the authorising Act'.
Restructuring) Act 2009
Part 6 Amendment of Valuation of 2
Land Act 1944 3
126 Act amended 4
This part amends the Valuation of Land Act 1944. 5
127 Amendment of s 75M (Valuation operations may be based 6
on existing local government boundaries) 7
Section 75M(1), `31 August 2009'-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`31 August 2010'. 10
128 Insertion of new pt 9, div 4 11
Part 9-- 12
insert-- 13
`Division 4 Transitional provision for 14
South-East Queensland 15
(Distribution and Retail 16
Restructuring) Act 2009 17
`103 Provision for applying Act to local government 18
areas in existence on 27 July 2007 19
`For all operation and administrative purposes of this Act, 20
section 75M applies as if the amendment of that section under 21
Page 76
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 7 Amendment of Water Act 2000
[s 129]
the South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail 1
Restructuring) Act 2009, section 127 had commenced on 31 2
August 2009.'. 3
Part 7 Amendment of Water Act 2000 4
129 Act amended 5
This part amends the Water Act 2000. 6
130 Insertion of new s 360TA 7
Chapter 2A, part 5, div 1-- 8
insert-- 9
`360TA Delegation to commission staff of 10
information-seeking function 11
`(1) The commission may delegate its function under section 12
360T(1) to an appropriately qualified public service officer or 13
employee employed under section 360B. 14
`(2) In this section-- 15
function includes power.'. 16
131 Amendment of s 360ZCY (Content of market rules) 17
Section 360ZCY(b)-- 18
omit, insert-- 19
`(b) may-- 20
(i) empower the administrator to delegate the 21
administrator's function of administering the rules; 22
or 23
Page 77
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 8 Amendment of Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008
[s 132]
(ii) include any other matter the Minister considers 1
appropriate to facilitate the operation of the 2
market.'. 3
Part 8 Amendment of Water Supply 4
(Safety and Reliability) Act 2008 5
132 Act amended 6
This part amends the Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) 7
Act 2008. 8
133 Amendment of s 13 (Requirement for service provider to 9
give information) 10
(1) Section 13, heading `service provider'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`responsible entity'. 13
(2) Section 13(1) to (4), `service provider'-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`responsible entity'. 16
(3) Section 13(5), definition service provider-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`responsible entity means each of the following-- 19
(a) a distribution service provider under the Water Act; 20
(b) a grid service provider under the Water Act; 21
(c) a recycled water provider or other declared entity for a 22
recycled water scheme; 23
(d) a service provider; 24
Page 78
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 8 Amendment of Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008
[s 134]
(e) the SEQ Water Grid Manager; 1
(f) the scheme manager for a multiple-entity recycled water 2
scheme.'. 3
134 Replacement of s 14 (Annual reports) 4
Section 14-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`14 Reports and other publications by regulator 7
`(1) The regulator may prepare reports under this part about the 8
regulator's activities. 9
`(2) The regulator may-- 10
(a) include in a report any information the regulator obtains 11
under this Act (relevant information); and 12
(b) publish relevant information by way of television, 13
newspaper, radio, the internet or another form of 14
communication. 15
`(3) However, subsection (2) does not apply to-- 16
(a) personal information under the Information Privacy Act 17
2009, other than information identifying an individual 18
as a service provider; or 19
(b) information that, under section 580, the regulator must 20
take all reasonable steps to ensure not to disclose.'. 21
135 Amendment of s 20 (Who must apply for registration as a 22
service provider) 23
Section 20(1), `of a water'-- 24
omit, insert-- 25
`of a water or sewerage'. 26
Page 79
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 8 Amendment of Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008
[s 136]
136 Amendment of s 201 (Preparing particular plans) 1
Section 201(5)-- 2
insert-- 3
`(g) if recycled water is supplied under the recycled water 4
scheme to premises by way of a reticulation system used 5
only to provide recycled water for outdoor use or for use 6
in flushing toilets or in laundries--include details of an 7
education and risk awareness program for customers of 8
the scheme.'. 9
137 Amendment of s 263 (Auditor's responsibility to inform 10
regulator) 11
Section 263(1)(b), `affect'-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`effect'. 14
138 Amendment of s 302 (Regulator may seek advice about 15
scheme manager) 16
(1) Section 302, heading `seek advice about scheme manager'-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`request information about a recycled water scheme'. 19
(2) Section 302-- 20
insert-- 21
`(2) Also, the regulator may by notice require a responsible entity 22
to give the regulator, within a stated reasonable period, 23
information about the scheme. 24
`(3) When making the requirement, the regulator must warn the 25
responsible entity it is an offence to fail to comply with the 26
requirement unless the responsible entity has a reasonable 27
excuse. 28
Page 80
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 8 Amendment of Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008
[s 139]
`(4) A responsible entity must comply with the requirement unless 1
the responsible entity has a reasonable excuse. 2
Maximum penalty--200 penalty units. 3
`(5) If a responsible entity is an individual, it is a reasonable 4
excuse for failing to comply with the requirement that giving 5
the information might tend to incriminate the responsible 6
individual. 7
`(6) In this section-- 8
responsible entity, in relation to a recycled water scheme, 9
means-- 10
(a) a recycled water provider or other entity proposed to be 11
declared to be part of the scheme; or 12
(b) the proposed scheme manager for the scheme.'. 13
139 Amendment of s 419 (General powers after entering 14
places) 15
Section 419(1), `division 2'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`this part'. 18
140 Replacement of s 435 (Application of pt 5) 19
Section 435-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`Division 1 Preliminary 22
`435 Application of pt 5 23
`(1) This part applies if-- 24
(a) the regulator is satisfied or reasonably believes that-- 25
(i) a noncompliance has happened or is likely to 26
happen, in relation to a recycled water scheme or 27
Page 81
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 8 Amendment of Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008
[s 140]
drinking water service, and the noncompliance 1
may have an adverse effect on public health; or 2
(ii) an event has happened or is likely to happen, in 3
relation to a recycled water scheme or drinking 4
water service, that may have an adverse effect on 5
public health; and 6
Example for subparagraph (ii)-- 7
Contaminated water has leaked from an industrial site into 8
a source of drinking water. 9
(b) the regulator is satisfied or reasonably believes that-- 10
(i) urgent action is necessary to prevent or minimise 11
the adverse effect; or 12
(ii) the noncompliance or event has happened on 13
another occasion in relation to the recycled water 14
scheme or drinking water service and action is 15
necessary to prevent the noncompliance or event 16
from happening again. 17
`(2) In this section-- 18
noncompliance means-- 19
(a) a drinking water service provider has not complied 20
with-- 21
(i) the drinking water quality management plan or a 22
condition of the plan for the provider's drinking 23
water service; or 24
(ii) a notice issued to the provider under section 25
630(2); or 26
(b) a scheme manager, recycled water provider or other 27
declared entity (the responsible entity) for a recycled 28
water scheme has not complied with the recycled water 29
management plan for the scheme or a condition of the 30
plan; or 31
Page 82
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 8 Amendment of Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008
[s 141]
(c) a recycled water provider for a recycled water scheme 1
has not complied with an exemption given under this 2
Act for the scheme or a condition of the exemption. 3
`Division 2 Enforcement provisions'. 4
141 Amendment of s 436 (Power about preventing or 5
minimising adverse affects--general) 6
(1) Section 436, heading, `affects'-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
`effects'. 9
(2) Section 436(1),`affect'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`effect'. 12
142 Replacement of s 441 (Sections 441-449 not used) 13
Section 441-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`Division 3 Cost recovery 16
`441 Definitions for div 3 17
`In this division-- 18
cost recovery notice see section 443(2). 19
costs and expenses includes labour, equipment and 20
administrative costs and expenses. 21
event means anything that has happened or is likely to happen, 22
in relation to a recycled water scheme or drinking water 23
service, that may have an adverse effect on public health. 24
noncompliance see section 435(2). 25
prescribed person see section 442(1). 26
Page 83
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 8 Amendment of Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008
[s 142]
water supply incident means-- 1
(a) a noncompliance; or 2
(b) an event. 3
`442 Who is a prescribed person for a water supply 4
incident 5
`(1) Each of the following is a prescribed person for a water 6
supply incident-- 7
(a) for a noncompliance--the relevant provider responsible 8
for the noncompliance; 9
(b) for an event that has happened-- 10
(i) a person who caused or permitted the event to 11
happen; and 12
(ii) a person who at the time of the event was-- 13
(A) the occupier of a place at which the event 14
happened; or 15
(B) the owner, or person in control, of a 16
contaminant involved in the event; 17
(c) for an event that is likely to happen-- 18
(i) a person who would be responsible for causing the 19
event if it were to happen; and 20
(ii) a person who is-- 21
(A) the occupier of a place at which the event is 22
likely to happen; or 23
(B) the owner, or person in control, of a 24
contaminant likely to be involved in the 25
event. 26
`(2) In this section-- 27
contaminant means anything likely to affect a recycled water 28
scheme or drinking water service in a way that would have an 29
adverse effect on public health. 30
Page 84
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 8 Amendment of Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008
[s 142]
relevant provider means-- 1
(a) a drinking water service provider; or 2
(b) a recycled water provider or other declared entity for a 3
recycled water scheme; or 4
(c) a scheme manager for a multiple-entity recycled water 5
scheme. 6
`443 Regulator may give notice for recovery of costs 7
`(1) This section applies if-- 8
(a) the regulator decides to take reasonable steps, or 9
authorises an authorised officer to take reasonable steps, 10
under section 436 in relation to a water supply incident; 11
and 12
(b) the regulator or authorised officer takes the reasonable 13
steps. 14
`(2) The regulator may decide to give a notice (a cost recovery 15
notice) to a person who the regulator is satisfied is a 16
prescribed person for the water supply incident for payment of 17
the costs and expenses reasonably incurred in taking the 18
reasonable steps. 19
`(3) However, subsection (2) does not apply if the water supply 20
incident was caused by a natural disaster. 21
`(4) The cost recovery notice must-- 22
(a) state the following-- 23
(i) the name of the recipient; 24
(ii) a description of the water supply incident; 25
(iii) the place at which the regulator is satisfied the 26
water supply incident happened; 27
(iv) the amount claimed; 28
(v) a description of the costs and expenses giving rise 29
to the amount claimed; 30
Page 85
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 8 Amendment of Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008
[s 142]
(vi) that if the recipient does not pay the amount to the 1
regulator within 30 days after the day the notice is 2
given, the regulator may recover the amount and 3
any interest payable on the amount from the 4
recipient as a debt; 5
(vii) the contact details of the regulator; and 6
(b) include or be accompanied by an information notice for 7
the decision to give the cost recovery notice. 8
`444 Regulator may recover costs 9
`(1) If the recipient of a cost recovery notice does not pay the 10
amount claimed to the regulator within 30 days after the day 11
the notice is given, the regulator may recover the amount and 12
any interest payable on the amount under subsection (4) from 13
the recipient as a debt. 14
`(2) However, the amount is not payable if the recipient is not a 15
prescribed person. 16
`(3) Also, the amount is not payable if-- 17
(a) the water supply incident was caused by a terrorist act or 18
other deliberate act of sabotage by someone other than 19
the recipient; and 20
(b) the recipient had taken all measures it would be 21
reasonable for the recipient to have taken to prevent the 22
incident, having regard to all the circumstances 23
including the inherent nature of the risk and the nature 24
of the recipient's connection with the incident. 25
`(4) An amount that is a debt under subsection (1) bears interest at 26
the rate stated in a regulation. 27
`(5) If a cost recovery notice is given to 2 or more recipients the 28
amount claimed in the notice is payable by the recipients 29
jointly and severally. 30
`(6) To the extent that the recipient pays an amount in compliance 31
with a cost recovery notice but did not cause or permit the 32
Page 86
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 8 Amendment of Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008
[s 143]
water supply incident to happen, the recipient may recover the 1
amount as a debt from another person who caused or 2
permitted the water supply incident to happen. 3
`445 Sections 445-449 not used 4
`See editor's note for section 1.'. 5
143 Replacement of ch 5, pt 8, hdg (Show cause and 6
compliance notices) 7
Chapter 5, part 8, heading-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`Part 8 Notices and cost recovery'. 10
144 Replacement of s 468 (Sections 468-474 not used) 11
Section 468-- 12
omit, insert-- 13
`Division 3 Cost recovery 14
`468 Regulator may engage expert and recover costs 15
`(1) This section applies if the regulator-- 16
(a) reasonably believes a person is contravening, or has 17
contravened, a provision of this Act; and 18
(b) reasonably considers the suspected contravention-- 19
(i) has had, may have had, or may have an adverse 20
effect on public health; or 21
(ii) is a matter about which the regulator requires 22
expert advice including, for example, a matter 23
involving complex operational or technical issues. 24
`(2) The regulator may engage an expert with suitable 25
qualifications, expertise or experience to investigate and give 26
advice about matters relevant to the suspected contravention. 27
Page 87
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 8 Amendment of Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008
[s 145]
`(3) If, after receiving the expert's advice, the regulator reasonably 1
believes the person is contravening or has contravened a 2
provision of this Act, the regulator may give the person a 3
notice claiming a stated amount (the claimed amount) for the 4
reasonable expenses incurred by the regulator in engaging the 5
expert. 6
`(4) The notice must-- 7
(a) state the claimed amount; and 8
(b) include a description of the reasonable expenses giving 9
rise to the claimed amount; and 10
(c) state that if the person does not pay the claimed amount 11
to the regulator within 30 days after the day the notice is 12
given, the regulator may recover the amount, and any 13
interest payable on the amount under subsection (6), 14
from the person as a debt; and 15
(d) if a compliance notice has not been given for the 16
suspected contravention--include or be accompanied by 17
an information notice for the regulator's decision about 18
whether the person is contravening, or has contravened, 19
a provision of this Act. 20
`(5) If the person does not pay the claimed amount to the regulator 21
within 30 days after the day the notice is given, the amount, 22
and any interest payable on the amount under subsection (6), 23
may be recovered by the regulator as a debt. 24
`(6) A claimed amount that is a debt under subsection (5) bears 25
interest at the rate stated in a regulation. 26
`469 Sections 469-474 not used 27
`See editor's note for section 1.'. 28
145 Amendment of s 571 (Regulator may make guidelines) 29
(1) Section 571(1)(a)-- 30
omit. 31
Page 88
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 8 Amendment of Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008
[s 146]
(2) Section 571(1)(b) to (p)-- 1
renumber as section 571(1)(a) to (o). 2
146 Amendment of s 572 (Chief executive may make 3
guidelines) 4
(1) Section 572(a) to (c)-- 5
renumber as section 572(b) to (d). 6
(2) Section 572-- 7
insert-- 8
`(a) preparing a water efficiency management plan;'. 9
147 Amendment of s 574 (Documents regulator and chief 10
executive must keep available for inspection and 11
purchase) 12
Section 574(1)(b)-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
`(b) each annual report prepared by the regulator under 15
section 14.'. 16
148 Amendment of s 579 (Regulator may share particular 17
information) 18
Section 579(1) and (2)-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`(1) The regulator may give the following information to any 21
person or entity to prevent or minimise a risk or potential risk 22
to public health-- 23
(a) information about a responsible entity, including 24
information identifying an individual; 25
(b) information about a drinking water service or recycled 26
water scheme. 27
Page 89
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 8 Amendment of Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008
[s 149]
`(2) In this section-- 1
responsible entity means-- 2
(a) a drinking water service provider; or 3
(b) a recycled water provider or other declared entity for a 4
recycled water scheme; or 5
(c) the scheme manager for a multiple-entity recycled water 6
scheme; or 7
(d) the SEQ Water Grid Manager.'. 8
149 Amendment of s 629 (Notice requiring entity to have 9
approved drinking water quality management plan) 10
Section 629(1), `affect'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`effect'. 13
150 Amendment of s 633 (Application of particular 14
provisions--other schemes) 15
Section 633-- 16
insert-- 17
`(1A) However, subsections (2) and (3) cease to apply to a recycled 18
water scheme if-- 19
(a) a recycled water management plan is approved for the 20
scheme; or 21
(b) the recycled water provider for the scheme is granted an 22
exemption from having an approved recycled water 23
management plan under section 253.'. 24
Page 90
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 8 Amendment of Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008
[s 151]
151 Omission of ch 9, pt 6, hdg (Regulation-making power for 1
transitional purposes) 2
Chapter 9, part 6, heading-- 3
omit. 4
152 Insertion of new ch 10A 5
Before schedule 1-- 6
insert-- 7
`Chapter 10A Transitional provision for 8
South-East Queensland 9
(Distribution and Retail 10
Restructuring) Act 2009 11
`637 Provision for recovery of costs for particular 12
investigations 13
`(1) This section applies if the regulator has, after 13 May 2009 14
but before the commencement, engaged an expert to give the 15
regulator advice about a suspected contravention of a 16
provision of this Act by an entity before the commencement. 17
`(2) Section 468(3) to (6), other than section 468(4)(d), applies for 18
the engagement of the expert as if that section had 19
commenced on 13 May 2009. 20
`(3) To remove any doubt, it is declared that if the regulator claims 21
an amount under section 468(3) because of the operation of 22
subsection (2), the amount, and any interest payable on the 23
amount under section 468(6)-- 24
(a) is a debt owing to the regulator; and 25
(b) may be recovered by the regulator as a debt. 26
`(4) If a notice is given under section 468 because of the operation 27
of subsection (2), chapter 7 does not apply in relation to the 28
notice. 29
Page 91
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts and a regulation
Part 8 Amendment of Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008
[s 153]
`(5) In this section-- 1
commencement means the day this section commences.'. 2
153 Amendment of sch 3 (Dictionary) 3
Schedule 3-- 4
insert-- 5
`SEQ Water Grid Manager means the SEQ Water Grid 6
Manager established under the South East Queensland Water 7
(Restructuring) Act 2007, section 6.'. 8
Page 92
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Schedule
Schedule Dictionary 1
section 7 2
2007 restructuring Act means the South East Queensland 3
Water (Restructuring) Act 2007. 4
Acquisition of Land Act means the Acquisition of Land Act 5
1967. 6
agreement to take, for land, means an agreement to take the 7
land made under the Acquisition of Land Act, section 15. 8
approved form means a form approved under section 101. 9
asset owner, for chapter 3, part 5, see section 84(1)(c). 10
associated employee, for a provision about a 11
distributor-retailer, or a board, means an employee of a 12
participating local government for the distributor-retailer. 13
board-- 14
(a) generally, means a distributor-retailer's board; and 15
(b) for a provision about a particular distributor-retailer, 16
means that distributor-retailer's board; and 17
(c) for a chief executive officer, means the board of the 18
distributor-retailer of which he or she is, or is being 19
appointed to be, the chief executive officer. 20
code means the customer water and wastewater code in effect 21
under chapter 4. 22
customer means a person who receives or wants to receive a 23
supply of water from a water service or the benefit of a 24
wastewater service. 25
distributor-retailer-- 26
(a) generally--see section 8; and 27
(b) for a provision about a local government--means the 28
distributor-retailer for which the local government is a 29
participating local government. 30
Page 93
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Schedule
former employer, for chapter 3, part 4, division 2, see section 1
81. 2
geographic area, for a distributor-retailer, see section 6. 3
geographic area functions, for a distributor-retailer, see 4
section 11(2). 5
indictable offence includes an indictable offence dealt with 6
summarily, whether or not the Criminal Code, section 659 7
applies to the indictable offence. 8
insolvent under administration see the Corporations Act, 9
section 9. 10
instrument includes an oral agreement. 11
Land Act means the Land Act 1994. 12
Land Act chief executive means the chief executive of the 13
department in which the Land Act is administered. 14
Land Act Minister means the Minister administering the Land 15
Act. 16
land owner, for chapter 3, part 5, see section 84(1)(c). 17
Land Title Act means the Land Title Act 1994. 18
local government direction see section 49(1). 19
new employer, for chapter 3, part 4, division 2, see section 81. 20
notice means a notice in writing. 21
participants, for a distributor-retailer, see section 20(3). 22
participating local governments, for a distributor-retailer, see 23
section 5. 24
participation agreement means a participation agreement 25
made under section 20 or 23. 26
participation rights, for a distributor-retailer, see section 27
20(2). 28
planning and reporting requirements, for a 29
distributor-retailer, see section 20(4). 30
record includes any document. 31
Page 94
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
Schedule
registrar means the registrar of titles under the Land Title Act 1
or another person responsible for keeping a register for 2
dealings in land. 3
SEQ region see the Water Act, section 341. 4
service provider see the Water Supply Act, schedule 3. 5
spent conviction means a conviction-- 6
(a) for which the rehabilitation period under the Criminal 7
Law (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act 1986 has expired 8
under that Act; and 9
(b) that is not revived as prescribed by section 11 of that 10
Act. 11
staff support framework see section 79(1). 12
transfer direction see section 65(1). 13
transfer notice see section 62(1). 14
transfer scheme see section 54(1). 15
transition, to a distributor-retailer from its participating local 16
governments, see section 54(3). 17
transition document means a transfer scheme, transfer notice 18
or transfer direction. 19
trust land means land dedicated as a reserve, or granted in fee 20
simple in trust, under the Land Act, chapter 3, part 1. 21
wastewater includes sewage. 22
wastewater service means any of the following-- 23
(a) a sewerage service under the Water Supply Act, 24
schedule 3; 25
(b) services relating to trade waste as defined under the 26
Water Supply Act. 27
Water Act means the Water Act 2000. 28
water service see the Water Supply Act, schedule 3. 29
Water Supply Act means the Water Supply (Safety and 30
Reliability) Act 2008. 31
Page 95
© State of Queensland 2009
AMENDMENTS TO BILL
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
South-East Queensland (Distribution and
Retail Restructuring) and Natural
Resources Provisions Bill 2009
Amendments agreed to during Consideration
1 Clause 1 (Short title)--
Page 10, line 5, after `Queensland'--
insert--
`Water'.
2 Clause 4 (Achievement of purposes)--
Page 11, line 29, `infrastructure and functions'--
omit, insert--
`the infrastructure and functions of'.
3 Clause 11 (Functions)--
Page 15, lines 2 and 3, from `that' to `services'--
omit.
4 Clause 15 (Financial Accountability Act 2009)--
Page 16, lines 16 and 17, `or any other matter prescribed
under a regulation'--
omit.
5 Clause 15 (Financial Accountability Act 2009)--
Page 16, line 25, after `governments'--
insert--
`who are also participants in the distributor-retailer'.
Page 1
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
6 Clause 15 (Financial Accountability Act 2009)--
Page 16, line 30, `it'--
omit, insert--
`the distributor-retailer'.
7 Clause 21 (Planning and reporting requirements)--
Page 19, line 8, after `governments'--
insert--
`who are also participants in the distributor-retailer'.
8 Clause 28 (General power to amend by agreement)--
Page 21, lines 17 to 19--
omit.
9 Clause 34 (Criteria for appointment)--
Page 24, line 27 to page 25, line 3--
omit, insert--
`and ability to--
(a) contribute to the carrying out of the board's role under
section 32; and
(b) contribute to the strategic oversight of the
distributor-retailer's functions; and
(c) bring an independent judgment to bear on the board's
decision-making.'.
10 Clause 49 (Reserve power to give directions in
public interest)--
Page 31, lines 9 to 19--
omit, insert--
`(2) However, the direction may be given only if--
Page 2
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
(a) it has been decided to be given by--
(i) all of the local governments; or
(ii) the type of majority of them (the required
majority) required under the distributor-retailer's
participation agreement; and
(b) all of the local governments or the required majority--
(i) are satisfied the direction is necessary and in the
public interest of the distributor-retailer's
geographic area and the SEQ region; and
(ii) have asked the board to advise all of the local
governments whether, in the board's opinion,
complying with the direction is consistent with the
performance of the distributor-retailer's
functions.'.
11 Clause 54 (Power to make transfer scheme)--
Page 33, line 18, `liabilities to'--
omit, insert--
`liabilities of'.
12 Clause 56 (Particular matters scheme may provide for)--
Page 36, after line 9--
insert--
`trust land includes land dedicated as a reserve, or granted in
fee simple in trust, under the Land Act, chapter 3, part 1.'.
13 Clause 83 (Preservation of rights of transferred
employees during transitional period)--
Page 57, line 13, after `FWTCAA'--
insert--
`;'.
Page 3
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
14 Clause 83 (Preservation of rights of transferred
employees during transitional period)--
Page 57, line 20, `and'--
omit.
15 Clause 94 (Particular matters code may provide for)--
Page 63, lines 3 and 4, from `or interfering' to `water.'--
omit, insert--
`water or interfering with water within the meaning of the
Water Act.'.
16 Clause 100 (Liability for Commonwealth and State tax
equivalents)--
Page 66, line 13, `and each amendment of the manual'--
omit, insert--
`, and each amendment of the manual,'.
17 Clause 104 (Interim participation agreement)--
Page 68, after line 28--
insert--
`(8) Sections 38 to 40 and 42 do not apply to a board appointed
under the interim agreement.'.
18 Clause 105 (Application of customer service standards
until code commences)--
Page 69, line 7, `in force on the commencement relating'--
omit, insert--
`relating to'.
19 Clause 106 (Provision for market rules)--
Page 69, line 11, `distributor-retail'--
Page 4
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
omit, insert--
`distributor-retailer'.
20 Clause 117 (Insertion of new s 3A)--
Page 73, line 12, after `Queensland'--
insert--
`Water'.
21 Clause 123 (Amendment of sch 2 (Statutory bodies that
may borrow under part 5 of the Act))--
Page 75, table after line 11, after `Queensland'--
insert--
`Water'.
22 Clause 124 (Amendment of sch 4 (Statutory bodies
allocated category 2 investment power))--
Page 75, table after line 16, after `Queensland'--
insert--
`Water'.
23 Clause 125 (Amendment of sch 8 (Statutory bodies that
may enter into derivative transactions))--
Page 76, table after line 1, after `Queensland'--
insert--
`Water'.
24 Clause 128 (Insertion of new pt 9, div 4)--
Page 76, line 15, after `Queensland'--
insert--
`Water'.
Page 5
South-East Queensland (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) and Natural Resources
Provisions Bill 2009
25 Clause 128 (Insertion of new pt 9, div 4)--
Page 77, line 1, after `Queensland'--
insert--
`Water'.
26 After clause 129--
insert--
`129A Amendment of s 349 (Eligibility for appointment)
`Section 349(b), after `water service provider'--
insert--
`operating in the SEQ region or any designated region'.'.
27 Clause 152 (Insertion of new ch 10A)--
Page 91, line 9, after `Queensland'--
insert--
`Water'.
28 Schedule (Dictionary)--
Page 95, lines 20 and 21--
omit.
© State of Queensland 2009
[Index] [Search] [Download] [Related Items] [Help]