IRON BOUNTY.

No. 27 of 1914.

An Act to provide for the Payment of Bounty on the Manufacture of Pig Iron from Australian Ore.

[Assented to 21st December, 1914.]

Preamble.

BE it enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, for the purpose of appropriating the grant originated in the House of Representatives, as follows:—

Short title.

1. This Act may be cited as the Iron Bounty Act 1914.

Repeal.

2. The Manufactures Encouragement Act 1908–1914 is hereby repealed.

Definition of pig iron.

3.—(1.) In this Act, “pig iron” means pig iron made from Australian ore.

(2.) For the purposes of this Act pig iron may be deemed to have been made from Australian ore notwithstanding that it contains, in addition to such ore, an admixture of not more than five per centum of scrap iron.

Authority to pay bounties.

4. The Governor-General may authorize the payment, out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, which is hereby appropriated for the purpose, of bounty on the manufacture in Australia, after the thirtieth day of June, One thousand nine hundred and fourteen, of pig iron according to the rate set out in the Schedule to this Act:

Provided that no bounty shall be paid on pig iron manufactured after the thirtieth day of June, One thousand nine hundred and fourteen, and upon which bounty has already been paid:

Provided also that no payment of bounty shall be authorized under this Act on pig iron manufactured after the issue of a Proclamation under any Customs Tariff bringing into operation any duties of Customs on such pig iron:

Provided further that no bounty shall be authorized to be paid on any pig iron manufactured or supplied or to be manufactured or supplied under a contract containing a term or condition permitting or providing for the deduction of the amount of the bounty or any part thereof from the price or moneys payable for the pig iron to the manufacturers.

Limit of total amount of bounty.

5. The total amount of the bounty authorized to be paid in respect of pig iron shall not exceed the amount set out in the third column of the Schedule.

When bounty to cease.

6. No bounty shall be authorized to be paid on pig iron made after the thirty-first day of December One thousand nine hundred and fifteen.

Proof of good quality and compliance with Act to be furnished.

7. No bounty shall be authorized to be paid to any person other than the manufacturer of the pig iron nor unless the manufacturer of the pig iron furnishes proof to the satisfaction of the Minister that the pig iron is of good and merchantable quality, and that the requirements of this Act and the regulations have been complied with.

Assignment of manufacturing plant.

8. The bounty in respect of pig iron shall be granted on the condition that the manufacturer shall, if required, transfer as provided in this Act the lands, buildings, plant, machinery, appliances, and material used in the manufacture of the pig iron.

Bond to be given by manufacturer.

9. The person claiming any bounty in respect of pig iron shall give his bond to the Commonwealth in a sum to be fixed by the Minister (in this Act called the secured amount) conditioned to be void if he transfers to the State in which the pig iron is manufactured all lands, buildings, premises, machinery, plant, and equipment of any kind used in or in connexion with the manufacture of the pig iron, if so required by the Governor

of the State within twelve months after the date of expiry of the bounty; such transfer to be in consideration of fair compensation for the property transferred, to be assessed in case of dispute by the President of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, whose determination shall be final and conclusive and without appeal.

Breach of conditions of bond.

10. In case of any breach of any of the conditions of the bond, the full secured amount shall be recoverable as liquidated damages.

Conditions of employment and rates of wages.

11.—(1.) The Minister may make application to the President of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration for a declaration as to what wages and conditions of employment are fair and reasonable for labour employed in the manufacture of pig iron.

(2.) On the hearing and determination of the application, the President shall have all the powers which under the Excise Procedure Act 1907 belong to the President of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, and all witnesses and persons summoned to appear or appearing before him shall be entitled to the same privileges and protection, and be subject to the same liabilities and penalties, as witnesses or persons summoned to appear or appearing before the President on an application within the meaning of that Act, and the provisions of that Act shall, so far as they are applicable, apply accordingly, mutatis mutandis, as if the application were an application within the meaning of that Act.

(3.) Every person who claims the bounty payable under the Act shall, in making his claim, certify to the Minister the conditions of employment and the rates of wages paid to any labour employed by him other than the labour of members of his family.

(4.) If the Minister finds that the rates of wages and conditions of employment or any of them—

(a) are below the rates and conditions declared, as in the first sub-section of this section mentioned, to be fair and reasonable; or

(b) are below the standard rates and conditions of employment prescribed by the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration,

the Minister may withhold the whole or any part of the bounty payable.

Offences against Act.

12. No person shall—

(a) obtain any bounty which is not payable;

(b) obtain payment of the bounty by means of any false or misleading statement; or

(c) present to any officer doing duty in relation to this Act or the regulations, any document, or make to any such officer any statement, which is false in any particular.

Penalty: One hundred pounds, or imprisonment for twelve months.

Aiding and abetting offences.

13. Whoever aids, abets, counsels, or procures, or by act or omission is in any way directly or indirectly knowingly concerned in, the commission of any offence against this Act, shall be deemed to have committed that offence and shall be punishable accordingly.

Return to be laid before Parliament.

14. A return setting forth—

(a) the names of all persons to whom bounty was paid during the period from the first day of July, One thousand nine hundred and fourteen, to the thirty-first day of December, One thousand nine hundred and fifteen;

(b) the amount of the bounty;

(c) the names of the places and States in which the goods were manufactured;

(d) the number of persons employed in each of the works, wages paid, and hours observed in the production of pig iron,

shall be prepared in the month of January, One thousand nine hundred and sixteen, and shall be laid before both Houses of the Parliament within thirty days after its preparation if the Parliament is then sitting, and if not, then within thirty days after the next meeting thereof.

Regulations.

15. The Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, prescribing all matters which by this Act are required or permitted to be prescribed or are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for giving effect to this Act, and in particular for any of the following purposes:—

(a) For prescribing the minimum quantity of pig iron to be manufactured to entitle the manufacturer to claim the bounty;

(b) For prescribing the proportion in which bounty shall be payable to claimants who have complied with the prescribed conditions, in cases where there is not sufficient money available to pay the full bounty in respect of all the claims: and

(c) For providing for the inspection of the process of manufacture and the books of the manufacturer for the purpose of ascertaining and reporting on the cost of production and manufacture.

THE SCHEDULE.