For the purposes of this Act, there is hereby established a Board, to be called the Marginal Lands Board, consisting of—

Meetings of the Board may be summoned by the Minister or by the Director-General on behalf of the Minister. In the absence from any meeting of both the Minister and the Director-General, the members present shall select one of their number to be Chairman for the purposes of that meeting.

Four members of the Board shall form a quorum.

In the absence from any meeting of any member, being an officer of any Department of State, he may authorize any other officer of that Department to attend the meeting in his stead. In the absence from any meeting of the Chairman of the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council, any person appointed by him may attend the meeting in his stead. In the absence from any meeting of a member appointed under paragraph (f) of subsection one of this section, any person appointed by the Minister may attend the meeting in his stead. While any person is attending any meeting under this subsection, he shall be deemed for all purposes to be a member of the Board.

The fact that any person attends and acts as a member of the Board at any such meeting shall be conclusive proof of his authority to do so.

At every meeting of the Board the Chairman of that meeting shall have a deliberative vote and, in case of an equality of votes, shall also have a casting vote.

The powers of the Board shall not be affected by any vacancy in the membership thereof.

If any member of the Board appointed under paragraph (f) of subsection one of this section dies or resigns or is removed from office, the Governor-General may, on the recommendation of the Minister, appoint some qualified person to fill the vacancy.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Board may regulate its own procedure.

For the purpose of assisting in the administration of this Act, the Board may appoint one or more Marginal Lands Committees for any land district, and may from time to time re-constitute or abolish any such Committee.

Every Committee shall consist of—

The member of the Committee appointed under paragraph (a) of subsection two of this section shall be the Chairman of the Committee.

Subject to the provisions of this Act and to any directions from time to time given by the Board, each Committee shall determine its own procedure.

For each land district in which it appoints a Marginal Lands Committee the Board shall appoint a Marginal Lands Panel consisting of not more than five persons who, in the opinion of the Board, are experienced in the farming or management of marginal lands and are suitable to act as members of a Marginal Lands Committee.

The Board may from time to time appoint persons to or remove persons from the Marginal Lands Panel, but at no time shall the Panel consist of more than five persons.

Every member for the time being of a Marginal Lands Panel shall be eligible for selection by the Commissioner as a member of the Marginal Lands Committee for the district either as to matters within its jurisdiction generally or for the purposes of any particular case or matter or any particular class of cases or matters.

The Board may from time to time delegate any of its powers to any Committee or to any officer or officers of the Department, either as to matters within its jurisdiction generally or as to any particular application or matter or any particular class of applications of matters.

The officer or officers referred to in subsection one of this section may be an officer or officers referred to by name, or the officer or officers who for the time being and from time to time hold a specified position or specified positions in the Department.

Subject to any general or special directions given by the Board, the Committee or officer to whom any powers have been so delegated may exercise those powers in the same manner and with the same effect as if they had been directly conferred on that Committee or officer by this Act and not by delegation.

Every Committee or officer purporting to act under any delegation under this section shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be presumed to be acting within the terms of the delegation.

Any such delegation may be at any time revoked by the Board, in whole or in part, but that revocation shall not affect in any way anything done under the delegated authority.

No such delegation shall prevent the exercise by the Board itself of any of the powers conferred on it by this Act.

Every member of the Board or of any Committee and every person engaged or employed in connection with the work of the Board or of any Committee shall maintain and aid in maintaining the confidential nature of all matters relating to any application which come to his knowledge, and shall not communicate any such matters to any person except as may be permitted by the Board or for the purpose of carrying this Act into effect.

A member of the Board or of any Committee shall not take part in the discussion of any application before the Board or Committee or be present at any meeting of the Board or Committee at which any application is under deliberation or discussion if he has directly or indirectly, by himself or his partner, any pecuniary or personal interest apart from an interest as a member of an incorporated company in which there are more than twenty members and of which he is neither a director nor an employee.

Every member of the Board or of a Committee or Marginal Lands Panel, other than the Minister and persons in the service of the Government, shall be paid such remuneration by way of salary, fees, or allowances, and such travelling allowances and expenses, as may from time to time be approved by the Minister of Finance.

All payments under this section shall be made out of moneys to be appropriated by Parliament for the purpose.

There may from time to time be appointed under the provisions of the Public Service Act, 1912, a fit person to be Marginal Lands Director, who, subject to the control of the Director-General, shall be the principal executive officer of the Board, and shall carry out such directions and perform such duties as may from time to time be given to him by the Board or the Director-General.

The Board may from time to time appoint any person or persons to examine, inquire into, and report upon any application or other matter within the functions of the Board under this Act. Every such person (not being a person in the service of the Government) shall be paid, out of moneys to be appropriated for the purpose, such remuneration and such travelling allowances and expenses as may from time to time be approved by the Minister of Finance.

The functions of the Board shall be to assist farmers to restore, increase, and maintain production on marginal lands.

In the exercise of its functions under this Act, the Board may make advances or readvances on current account or otherwise to any applicant approved by the Board (being the owner or occupier of marginal lands) for any of the following purposes in connection with the farm owned or occupied by the applicant in respect of which the application is made, namely:—

The power to make readvances under subsection two of this section is hereby declared to include power to readvance on current account or otherwise any money received as proceeds from the sale of livestock, chattels, or produce and credited to that account.

Every application for assistance under this Act shall be made in writing and in such manner and form as the Board from time to time prescribes, and shall be forwarded to the Commissioner. Where the farm is situated in more than one land district the application shall be forwarded to the Commissioner for the land district in which the homestead is situated, but that Commissioner may, if he considers it expedient, forward it to some other Commissioner to be dealt with by him.

The Board may from time to time prescribe, alter, or abolish any conditions for the making of an application for assistance under this Act or for the making of any advance or for the administration of this Act, either generally or in respect of any particular class or classes of applications or in respect of any particular application.

Any application may be accepted by the Board notwithstanding that it has not been made in the manner and form provided by the Board, and if so accepted shall be deemed to have been duly made, and any advance or other provision made on any such application and every decision of the Board thereon shall not be in any way affected by reason only of the fact that the application did not conform to the procedure prescribed by the Board.

The Board may make the granting of any assistance or the making of any advance under this Act subject to such conditions as it thinks fit, and, in particular and without limiting the generality of the foregoing provisions of this section, may make any such assistance or advance conditional on the Board having the right from time to time to fix the types and maximum number of stock to be depastured on the farm and the types and maximum areas of crops to be grown thereon. Where any such condition is imposed the types, numbers, and areas so prescribed shall not be varied or exceeded without the permission of the Board.

Subject to the provisions of subsection two of this section, the repayment of all moneys advanced under the provisions of section twelve of this Act shall be secured to His Majesty the King by a registrable mortgage over the interest of the applicant in the farm to which the application relates and, if the Board so requires, over the interest of the applicant in any other land, and also, if the Board so requires, by an instrument by way of security over such of the livestock, implements, and chattels of the applicant as the Board thinks fit. Every such mortgage or instrument by way of security shall be in such form, for such term, and subject to such covenants and conditions as the Board thinks fit, and at such rate of interest as may be approved by the Minister of Finance.

The Board may, in its discretion and on being satisfied that it would be reasonable and equitable to afford relief, at any time and from time to time extend the time for payment of the whole or any part of the principal, interest, or other moneys secured by any such mortgage or instrument by way of security, or remit and discharge the whole or any part of the principal, interest, or other moneys so secured, in such manner as the Board thinks fit, either unconditionally or subject to such terms and conditions as the Board thinks fit.

So long as any money remains owing to His Majesty in respect of any mortgage or instrument by way of security given under this section, the applicant shall not, without the consent of the Board, transfer, sublease, mortgage (except to the Crown or to a Department of State), or otherwise dispose of his interest in the property which is subject to the first mentioned mortgage or instrument by way of security. For the purposes of this subsection the term “mortgage” includes a variation of mortgage, unless the variation is for the benefit of the mortgagor by extending the term of the mortgage or reducing the principal or rate of interest or otherwise howsoever.

Any applicant who is aggrieved by any decision of the Board or of any Committee or Commissioner may at any time thereafter apply to the Board for a rehearing of the application or a review of that decision, or the Board may of its own motion rehear any application or review any decision, whether of the Board or of any Committee or Commissioner.

On any rehearing or review the Board may reverse, alter, modify, or confirm the decision, but no advance already made to the applicant under the previous decision shall be ordered to be repaid otherwise than in accordance with the terms of that decision unless the applicant consents or unless the Board considers, on proof to its satisfaction, that the applicant was guilty of fraud or suppressed essential information or gave incorrect or misleading information.

The Board shall determine its own procedure on any rehearing or review under this section.

Subject to the provisions of subsection two of this section, the decision of the Board on any application under this Act or on the rehearing of any application or review of any decision shall be final.

For the purposes of this Act and in order to facilitate the granting of assistance to an applicant, the Board may enter into any agreement with a mortgagee of the land to which the application relates or with the holder of an instrument by way of security over any stock or chattels of the applicant for an adjustment of the liabilities secured by the mortgage or instrument. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing provisions of this section, any such agreement may provide for the purchase at an agreed price of any mortgage over the land or over other land owned by the applicant or any instrument by way of security over the stock and chattels of the applicant.

Notwithstanding anything in the Trustee Act, 1908, or in any rule of law, it shall be lawful for a trustee who holds a mortgage over any land to which an application for assistance under this Act relates or any instrument by way of security over any stock or chattels of the applicant, if requested to do so by the Board for the purpose of facilitating the granting of that assistance, and if he considers it in the interests of the trust to do so, to extend the time for payment of the whole or any part of the principal sum or interest secured by the mortgage or instrument or remit any part of that principal sum or interest.

For the purposes of this Act every member of the Board or of any Committee or any person acting under the written authority of the Board or of any Committee shall, at all reasonable times, have free rights of ingress, egress, and regress in respect of any land which is or has been the subject of an application for assistance under this Act.

Moneys required for the purposes of this Act shall be paid out of the Land Settlement Account from moneys appropriated by Parliament for the purpose of restoring, increasing, and maintaining production on marginal lands.

All repayments of advances, interest, all payments for livestock, chattels, and farm produce, and other moneys payable by applicants under the provisions of this Act shall be paid to the Department, and shall be paid by the Department into the Land Settlement Account.

All actions and proceedings by or on behalf of His Majesty the King in respect of any mortgages or other securities entered into in pursuance of this Act may be commenced, prosecuted, or carried on by and in the name of the Director-General on behalf of His Majesty, and the Director-General may be plaintiff or defendant, as the case may require, in any such action or proceeding.

All documents which require to be executed for the purposes of this Act by or on behalf of His Majesty, or by or on behalf of the Board, may be executed by the Director-General or by the Commissioner and, if so executed, shall be as valid and effectual as if executed by or on behalf of His Majesty, or by or on behalf of the Board, as the case may be.

Any notice or instruction required to be given to or served on any person for the purposes of this Act may be given or served by causing the same to be delivered to that person, or to be left at his usual or last known place of abode or business, or at the address stated by him in any application or other document under this Act, or to be sent by registered letter addressed to him at that, place of abode or business or address.

Within sixty days after the close of each financial year, if Parliament is in session, or if not, then within sixty days after the commencement of the next ensuing session, there shall be prepared and laid before Parliament a report on the operations of the Board under this Act during the financial year.

There shall be prepared and laid before Parliament as soon as practicable after the close of each financial year a statement of the moneys received into and paid out of the Land Settlement Account for the purposes of this Act during the financial year, together with a balance sheet showing the position as at the close of the year. The statement and accounts shall be duly certified by the Controller and Auditor- General.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, make such regulations as may in his opinion be necessary or expedient for giving effect to the provisions of this Act and for the due administration thereof.