Extract from Hansard  Legislative Council 5 June 2001
Ian Gilfillan Australian Democrats Member of the Legislative Council		Parliament Index 2001 Autumn Sitting Index Browse by Subject   Search all Democrats material About the SA Parliament Hansard on line
		Attorney General News

REAL PROPERTY (FEES) AMENDMENT BILL

The Hon. IAN GILFILLAN: .... In speaking to this bill, however, I note that the Attorney-General has requested that we deal with it by 7 June, which happens to be my birthday.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. IAN GILFILLAN: We might celebrate it by passing the bill. It is of some concern that this is one of five bills that we have recently been asked to deal with in such a way and, given the size of some of them, the Attorney will understand that there has been some delay in dealing with this bill. However, I note that we are responding within the proposed deadline and I hope that the Attorney will be just as accommodating when we deal with various Democrats bills before the Council.

They were, almost, words put in my mouth but I believe that the sentiments are very soundly based. The bill seeks to amend the Real Property (Fees) Act 1886. The amendment deals with the charging of fees for the registration of transfers of land. This currently occurs on an ad valorem basis and has done so for over 25 years. However, parliamentary counsel has raised concern that the act's regulation making power does not support the charging of fees on an ad valorem basis. The bill seeks to ensure that this method of fee determination is reflected in the act.

I also note that the proposed legislation is retrospective, having the commencement date of 1 January 1975. This ensures that no questions are raised regarding the practices of the past 25 years. It is somewhat extraordinary that we are working over, retrospectively, decisions that have been made in the past 25 or 26 years, but it is clearly a matter of commonsense. It would be catastrophic, if we had to take any other course, if there was a serious challenge to the validity of those decisions made over those years. I clearly indicate Democrats support for the bill.

[National] [Search] [Browse] [People] [Party] [Parliament] [Election]
[News & Media] [Support Us] [Contact Us] [Main Page]

As of 1/1/2001 this site is a Disability Access Approved Site