EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Select Legislative Instrument 2010 No. 22

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Finance and Deregulation

Lands Acquisition Act 1989

Lands Acquisition Amendment Regulations 2010 (No. 1)

Section 140 of the Lands Acquisition Act 1989 (the Act) provides, in part, that the
Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the 1989 Act, prescribing matters required or permitted by the 1989 Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the 1989 Act.

Section 6 of the 1989 Act defines “Commonwealth Authority” for the purposes of the 1989 Act. That definition includes an authority ‘that is not declared by the regulation to be an exempt authority.’

Schedule 1 to the Lands Acquisition Regulations 1989 (the Principal Regulations) lists authorities which are exempted from the provisions of the 1989 Act. The effect of exempting an authority is that it would not, at any time in the future, have access to the use of the compulsory acquisition powers in the 1989 Act on its behalf, while ever it remains exempt. It will, however, provide a measure of flexibility to operate in the commercial property market.

The purpose of the Regulations is to make the Australian National University (ANU) an exempt body for the purposes of the 1989 Act, giving it the necessary flexibility to perform the functions for which it has been created.

The ANU was exempt from the provisions of the Lands Acquisition Act 1955 (the 1955 Act). It was intended to preserve exemptions under the 1955 Act when the 1989 Act was proclaimed. Unfortunately, the exemption in place for the ANU was inadvertently not preserved.

The ANU wishes to regain the degree of operational flexibility that accompanied the exemption under the 1955 Act and is seeking to have an exemption declared under the 1989 Act. The granting of an exemption would enable the ANU to conduct commercial property transactions under the provisions of the Australian National University Act 1991.

The 1989 Act specifies no conditions that need to be met before the power to make the proposed Regulations may be exercised.

The Regulations are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

The Regulations commence on the day after they are registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.