This Act may be cited as the Agricultural Pests Destruction Amendment Act 1974, and shall be read together with and deemed part of the Agricultural Pests Destruction Act 1967 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act).

2 Classification of pests

Section 3 of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing paragraph (b) of subsection (1), and substituting the following paragraph:

“(b)

Pests of local importance in respect of a specified district, being such animals as may be declared to be pests of local importance in respect of the district by the Governor-General by Order in Council on the advice of the Minister given either—

“(i)

On the joint recommendation of the Council and the Board of the district; or

“(ii)

On the recommendation of the Council, if the Council is satisfied that there is evidence that the animal is having or is likely to have a significant effect on agricultural production.”

3 Unauthorised expenditure

The principal Act is hereby further amended by inserting, after section 18, the following section:

“18a

“(1)

There may in any financial year be paid to the Council from the Consolidated Revenue Account, out of money appropriated by Parliament for the purpose, any sum or sums not amounting in the aggregate to more than $200 for any purposes of the Council not authorised by any Act or law for the time being in force.

“(2)

Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (5) of section 17 of this Act, the Council may in any financial year, out of the income derived from its trading undertakings operated under section 17 of this Act, expend for purposes not authorised by any Act or law for the time being in force any sum or sums not amounting in the aggregate to more than $150 in respect of each such trading undertaking.”

4 Destruction of pests in boroughs and town districts

―Section 29 of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:

“(5)

If the Council of any borough or town district has arranged for a Board to do work in its district, that Council shall have the right to exercise in its district all or any of the powers which a Board may exercise in a pest destruction district under the Rabbit Destruction Regulations 1962.”

5 Membership of Boards

(1)

Section 31 of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting, after subsection (1), the following subsection:

“(1a)

If, in the Minister’s opinion, the district of any Board includes large areas of State forest land, an additional member of the Board, to represent the New Zealand Forest Service, may be appointed by the Minister, on the recommendation of the Council given after consultation with the Board concerned.”

(2)

The said section 31 is hereby further amended by inserting in subsection (2), after the words “subsection (1)”, the words “or subsection (1a)”.

6 Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Board

Section 49 of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing subsection (4), and substituting the following subsections:

“(4)

The Board may, if it thinks fit, appoint one of its members to be Deputy Chairman, and, subject to the provisions of this Act, the Deputy Chairman shall have and may exercise all the powers, duties, and functions of the Chairman during the absence or incapacity of the Chairman or while there is a vacancy in the office of Chairman.

“(5)

In the absence of the Chairman or Deputy Chairman from any meeting, the members present may appoint one of their number to act as Chairman at that meeting, and while so acting he shall have all the powers of the Chairman.”

7 Principal functions of Boards

Section 55 of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:

“(4)

If any animal has been declared to be a pest of local importance under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 3 of this Act in respect of any district, it shall be the duty of the Board for that district to undertake such control measures as, in the opinion of the Council after consultation with the Board, are necessary to remove any threat or likely threat to agricultural production caused or likely to be caused by that pest.”

8 Borrowing powers of Board

The principal Act is hereby further amended by repealing section 69, and substituting the following section:

“69

For the purpose of providing funds for the purchase of houses or the purchase of sites and the erection of houses for the accommodation of its employees, or for any other works it is authorised to undertake under this Act, the Board may from time to time borrow money, subject to the provisions of the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956:

“Provided that where a new county district comes into existence by virtue of subsection (2) of section 19 of this Act, or where any area is added to a county district, the County Board of the district shall, for the purposes of subsection (5) of section 20 of the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956, be deemed to be a newly constituted local authority if it operates a separate bank account for pest destruction purposes.”

9 Non-rateable areas

The principal Act is hereby further amended by inserting, after section 71a (as inserted by section 3 of the Agricultural Pests Destruction Amendment Act 1968), the following section:

“71b

“(1)

Notwithstanding anything in this Act, the Board may, with the approval of the Minister given on the recommendation of the Council, designate any area within its district as a non-rateable area; and no rates shall be payable under this Part of this Act in respect of any area so designated.

“(2)

The Board may at any time revoke any such designation:

“Provided that any such revocation shall not take effect until the commencement of the financial year next following the date of revocation.”

10 Board may enter into agreement with County Council for collection of rates

The principal Act is hereby further amended by inserting, after section 77, the following section:

“77a

“(1)

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, the Board may enter into an agreement with the Corporation of the County within whose district the Board’s district or any part of it lies to provide for the County Council to collect on behalf of the Board rates made and levied under this Act and for the County Council to make one or more payments to the Board of the amount collected.

“(2)

While any such agreement continues in force, all rates to which the agreement applies shall be recoverable by the County Council in the same manner in all respects as the Board could have recovered them had the agreement not been entered into.”

11 Subsidy on general rates

Section 84 of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from subsection (2) the words “remitted or”.

12 Keeping live pests

Section 112 of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:

“(6)

If an Inspector or person authorised by the Minister finds any live pest being kept on any land contrary to the provisions of this section, he may direct that the pest be destroyed; and it shall be the duty of the occupier of that land to destroy the pest or cause it to be destroyed within 3 days after being directed to do so.”

13 Metrication

(1)

The principal Act is hereby further amended in the manner indicated in the Schedule to this Act.

(2)

The following enactments are hereby consequentially repealed:

(a)

Section 3 of the Agricultural Pests Destruction Amendment Act 1971:

(b)

The Agricultural Pests Destruction Amendment Act 1972.

Schedule Amendments to Principal Act

Section 13

Section Amended	Amendment
Section 32(1)	By omitting the words “twenty thousand acres”, and substituting the words “8,000 hectares”.
Section 36	By omitting the word “acreage”, and substituting the word “area”.
Section 36	By omitting the words “ten acres” in both places where they occur, and substituting in each case the words “4 hectares”.
Section 42(3)	By omitting the word “acreage”, and substituting the word “area”.
Section 50(2)	By omitting the words “one million acres”, and substituting the words “400,000 hectares”.
Section 71(3) (as amended by section 3 of the Agricultural Pests Destruction Amendment Act 1971)	By omitting the words “15 cents an acre”, and substituting the words “37 cents a hectare”.
Section 71(4) (as amended by section 2 of the Agricultural Pests Destruction Amendment Act 1972)	By omitting the word “acreage”, and substituting the word “area”. By omitting the words “15 cents for every acre”, and substituting the words “37 cents for every hectare”.
Section 74(3)	By omitting the word “acreage” in both places where it occurs, and substituting in each case the word “area”.
Section 78(3), (4), and (5)	By omitting the word “acreage” wherever it occurs, and substituting in each case the word “area”.

This Act is administered in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.