This Act may be cited as the Auckland Metropolitan Milk Amendment Act, 1935, and shall be read together with and deemed part of the Auckland Metropolitan Milk Act, 1933 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act).

The principal Act is hereby amended by repealing section two, and substituting the following section:—

Section three of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting, after the words “Mount Roskill” in subsection one, the words “the Auckland Domain and Hospital Reserve, the Port of Auckland as defined pursuant to section six of the Harbours Act, 1923, and the Port of Manukau as defined pursuant to the Marine Act, 1867”; and by adding after subsection two the following subsection:—

Section four of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from subsection three the words “Part XV”, and substituting the words “Part XIV”.

For the purposes of sections five and eight of the principal Act—

Section eight of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows: By omitting from paragraph (b) of subsection four all words after the word “elector”.

Section nine of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing subsection one thereof, and substituting the following subsection:—

Section twenty-two of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing subsection one, and substituting the following subsection:—

Section twenty-seven of the principal Act is hereby amended by repealing subsection two, and substituting the following subsection:—

Section thirty-three of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following words: “and all profits or income of any kind made or received by the Council”.

There may be included in the estimate to be made under section thirty-four of the principal Act of the proposed expenditure for any year the amounts estimated by the Council to be required in that year to pay interest on any special loan in respect of which no special levy has been made, and any sums required to meet payments of principal or provide the sinking fund in respect thereof.

Section thirty-six of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting, after the word “district” where it first occurs, the following words: “and the amount of such levy payable in respect of the milk sold in each calendar month shall be paid on the fourteenth day of the succeeding month, and may be recovered by the Council by action in any Court of competent jurisdiction”; and by adding at the end of such section the following: “Where milk is or may be the subject of more than one sale, the Council may determine that the levy shall be payable in respect of one sale only, and where it has so determined shall determine also in respect of which sale the levy shall be payable. Any determination aforesaid may be of general application, or apply only to a particular case or class of cases, and shall be revocable at the pleasure of the Council. For the purpose of this section a sale of any quantity of cream shall be deemed to be a sale of twelve times the same quantity of milk”.

Every milk-vendor shall within fourteen days after the end of each calendar month deliver to the Council a return in the form prescribed by the Council setting forth the quantity of milk sold by him during that month, and such other particulars (whether of a like nature or not to the particulars specified in this section) as may be from time to time required by the Council. The return shall, if required by the Council, be verified by statutory declaration.

Every milk-vendor who fails to deliver to the Council any return required under this section within the time hereinbefore provided in that behalf, or who fails to pay the levy within seven days from the date when the same became payable, shall be liable to an additional payment of ten per centum on the amount which should have been so paid.

In the event of any milk-vendor failing to deliver to the Council any return required under this section within the time hereinbefore provided in that behalf, or delivering a return which in the opinion of the Council does not show the quantity of milk actually sold by him, the Council may make an assessment of the quantity of milk upon which in its opinion such milk-vendor ought to pay the levy, and the quantity so assessed shall be deemed to be the correct quantity upon which the levy is payable by such milk-vendor, save in so far as he satisfies the Council or establishes in any action taken by the Council to recover the levy or in any other legal proceedings that the assessment is excessive.

The provisions of subsections one and two of this section are in substitution for section thirty-eight of the principal Act, and that section is hereby accordingly repealed.

From and after such date as may be fixed by the Council for the purpose and publicly notified it shall not be lawful for any person—

save under a license issued in that behalf by the Council and in accordance with the terms and conditions thereof:

Provided always that the Council shall not include in any such license any term or condition which conflicts with any regulation made under the Dairy Industry Act, 1908.

The provisions of the principal Act relating to the grant, refusal, suspension, or revocation of licenses required by section thirty-nine thereof, or to appeals against decisions of the Council in respect thereof, or to breach of the terms or conditions of such licenses, shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to licenses under this section. On the hearing of any appeal in respect of the refusal, suspension, or revocation of any license relating to a plant in existence at the date of the commencement of this Act and designed for the pasteurization or like treatment of milk, the Court shall take into consideration the amount of compensation (if any) which has been or is to be paid to the appellant in respect of such refusal, suspension, or revocation.

Section forty-one of the principal Act is hereby amended by adding at the end of such section the following: “Before granting or renewing any license to a milk-vendor the Council may require him to furnish such guarantee, bond, or security as the Council shall deem fit for the payment of debts then owing or that may thereafter be incurred by him in respect of the purchase of milk, and may cause any moneys recovered under such guarantee, bond, or security, less the expenses of recovery, to be applied in or towards satisfaction of such debts or any of them. The revocation of any license hereunder or any term or condition imposed in the granting of a license hereunder may be made to take effect from such date not being earlier than the date of the resolution decreeing such revocation or imposing such term or condition as the Council may fix.”

Section forty-five of the principal Act is hereby amended as follows:—

Without in any way limiting the generality of the Council’s power of fixing prices contained in the principal Act, the Council may fix different prices for milk according to—

The Council may from time to time either generally or specifically, for reasons of charity or public policy, authorize the reduction of any price fixed or special discounts or concessions or gifts of milk or make such other provision as it thinks fit.

For the purpose of determining the amount or price to be paid in respect of milk sold by a dairyman to a milk-vendor the Council may from time to time prescribe generally, or decide in any particular case or class of case the proportion or quantity of such milk which shall be deemed to be surplus milk and the proportion or quantity which shall be deemed to be or to have been sold or bought for any particular purpose or to be included in any particular category of its price-fixing provisions, and payment shall be made and accepted for such milk as if the proportions and quantities so prescribed or decided were the actual proportions or quantities notwithstanding any stipulation to the contrary in any agreement between such dairyman and milk-vendor.

No person shall purchase milk at a price less than that fixed by the Council or from a person not licensed by the Council to sell or supply same, and no person shall bring into the district milk purchased at less than the price so fixed or produced at dairy premises not licensed as aforesaid, and no person shall sell or supply milk to a milk-vendor who is not the holder of a license to sell milk issued by the Council.

Where in pursuance of its powers under section forty-one of the principal Act the Council has in respect of any roundsman revoked or refused to grant a license, or, in granting a license, has attached any condition restricting his operations, it shall be lawful for the Council to compensate such roundsman by payment of such amount as may be agreed upon or in such other manner as may be agreed upon and to purchase for such consideration as may be agreed upon the business of such roundsman, the goodwill thereof, and any chattels or personal property used for the purpose of or belonging or pertaining to such business.

The Council may for the purpose of consolidation or zoning of rounds enter into and carry into effect any agreement with a roundsman for the revocation of his license or for the grant of a license with terms or conditions restricting the operations of such roundsman, and any such agreement may provide for the compensation of such roundsman and the purchase of his business, goodwill, chattels, or property as mentioned in the last preceding subsection, and such other matters as the Council deems necessary or expedient.

Where the Council has, following upon any decision revoking or refusing a license or attaching any condition thereto, compensated the roundsman affected or purchased his business as aforesaid, no appeal shall lie or be proceeded with against such decision.

The Council may sell or otherwise dispose of, as it thinks fit, any business, goodwill, chattels, or property purchased as aforesaid.

No person shall, without the consent of the Council, which may be granted for such consideration and on such terms as it thinks fit, deliver milk except at a milk-store to any person who at the date of revocation or refusal of a license was a customer of the roundsman affected by such revocation or refusal, or whose custom has been taken away from a roundsman by reason of any restrictive condition attached to his license.

Where the Council has revoked the license of a roundsman or refused him a license or attached a condition thereto restricting his operations, it may—

No roundsman or other person entitled to dispose of a milk-round shall sell to any purchaser the goodwill of such milk-round or of any portion thereof without first offering to sell the same to the Council on at least as favourable terms as those on which he is willing to sell to such purchaser. Such offer shall remain open for six days from the date upon which it is made, and if not accepted by the Council within that time shall be deemed to have been declined.

The Council may refuse to grant a license to any person who has purchased the goodwill of any milk-round or of any portion thereof if the same has not prior to such purchase been offered for sale to the Council on at least as favourable terms as those on which such person has purchased the same, and no appeal shall lie against any such refusal.

For the purposes of this section “milk-round” means the business of supplying customers with milk for consumption or use by daily or other deliveries at their homes or premises.

In any case where the Council has agreed to purchase any personal property from any person (herein referred to as the vendor) operating any milk-round, business, service, or undertaking in the district, the Council may insert in any two of the leading daily newspapers circulating in the City of Auckland a notification of such purchase and a request that any person claiming an interest in or charge upon such property shall notify the Council in writing of such claim. At any time after the expiration of seven days from the latest insertion of such notification if no notice of any claim has then been received by the Council and there is no person then entitled to any interest in or charge upon such property by virtue of any instrument registered under the Chattels Transfer Act, 1924, or the Companies Act, 1933, the Council may pay the purchase-money for such property to the vendor. If the date for payment of purchase-money fixed by any such agreement is too early to enable the foregoing steps to be taken, it shall be extended accordingly. Upon payment of the purchase-money for such property in accordance with the foregoing provisions, the same shall vest in the Council absolutely free and clear of all estates, interests, or encumbrances whatsoever.

Notwithstanding anything contained in the principal Act, no appeal shall lie against the decision of the Council in any case where the Council refuses to grant any license (as it shall be entitled to do) on the ground that there are already sufficient holders of licenses of the kind applied for to adequately meet the needs of the district or the portion thereof in which the applicant proposes to operate, or that otherwise it would be economically unsound or inequitable to grant such license unless the applicant is or was at the date of expiry of the preceding licensing period the holder of a similar license and is at the time of application operating the business or service for which such license was obtained, or unless the license is required for the supply of milk from dairy premises or any portion of dairy premises from which milk is at the time of application being supplied to the milk district under license from the Council, or for the purpose of continuing a milk-vendor’s business taken over or about to be taken over from a licensee of the Council.

If compliance with the terms of any contract in force at the date of coming into operation of this Act or of any resolution passed pursuant thereto or to the principal Act is prevented wholly or partially by such operation, then in respect of such prevention this Act shall be a complete defence to any action on any such contract:

Provided always that, if any party would be precluded by this provision from recovering the price of any goods supplied or remuneration for work done prior to such date, such party shall, any rule of law to the contrary notwithstanding, be entitled to recover the fair value of such goods or work.

The Council shall be entitled to pay out of its funds for all services rendered and expenses incurred on its behalf in framing and promoting this Act.

All resolutions and regulations made by the Council which would if this Act had been in force at the time they were made have been valid shall be deemed to be and always to have been valid and to affect or apply to the milk district as hereby extended.