Parliamentary record : Part I debates (27 February 1990)
Debates for 5th Assembly 1987 - 1990; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 5th Assembly 1987 - 1990
1990-02-27
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Debates
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Darwin
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https://hdl.handle.net/10070/220388
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/699398
DEBATES - Tuesday 27 February 1990 However, for the reasons which I will now outline, there is no option but to take such a course of action. The Plumbers and Drainers Licensing Act is administered by the Department of Lands and Housing. A function of the act is to establish a Plumbers and Drainers Licensing Board and for the minister to appoint, by notice in the NT Government Gazette, 5 persons to be members of the board. Board members are appointed for a period not exceeding 3 years. This period of appointment for the entire board expired on 30 June 1989. Instruments appointing members of the board, the chairman and the deputy chairman were signed by me on 21 August 1989. Those people were advised that this had occurred. Unfortunately, the necessary action to gazette those appointments, as required by sections 7 and 11 of the act, was not taken by the department. This oversight was not discovered until recently. The board was also unaware of this situation and, believing itself to be legally constituted, held 2 meetings late last year on 29 September and 30 November. The Parliamentary Counsel and the Department of Law have both advised that, as the board was not gazetted at the time of those meetings, all decisions taken at the meetings were invalid. The advice further suggested that members of the board, as private individuals, might be liable to legal action from people who felt aggrieved at decisions taken by the board when it was not properly constituted. In these circumstances, it is obvious that the decisions taken by the board at those 2 meetings must be validated as a matter of urgency, not only to ratify those deci sions but a1 so to ensure that people who made them in good faith have the statutory protection which they would normally enjoy. This legislation will achieve those aims. I should point out also to honourable members that the new board has now been appointed. The required instruments of appointment were gazetted on 14 February 1990 in NT Government Gazette No G6. I commend the bill to honourable members. Debate adjourned. LOCAL COURT (CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS) BILL (Serial 260) Bill presented and read a first time. Mr MANZIE (Attorney-Genera 1): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time. This bill contains further consequential amendments required as a result of the Local Court Act. As I have indicated earlier, a rules committee chaired by a magistrate has been established to recommend a new set of rules of procedure for the court under the new act. A draft was released for public comment on 6 October 1989 and is still being considered. Now that the shape of the act and rules have been outlined, the need for a number of further amendments has become clear. I will speak only on a few specific matters. Under section 16 of the Adult Guardianship Act, the Local Court is empowered to appoi nt an adult guardian to manage the estate of a person under a disability. At present, this power is limited to situations where the estate consists of social security benefits or property worth $2000 or less. All other applications to appoint estate managers must go to the Supreme Court. The figure of $2000 was the old small c1 aims 1 imit. Thi s limit is to be increased by adopting a more flexible test. Rather than just 8815