An Inspector, or any person authorised by him, may from time to time at all reasonable hours enter upon any Crown land for the purpose of seeing whether there are rabbits thereon, and shall have free right of ingress, egress, and regress into, over, and across such Crown land for that purpose; and if rabbits are found there, or upon the roads bounding such land, he shall take all such measures and do and perform all such acts and things as appear to him necessary to insure the destruction of the rabbits upon such land or roads:

Provided that the power hereby conferred of entering upon roads and destroying the rabbits thereon shall not be deemed to authorise the doing of any act which in any way injures such road.

All costs, charges, and expenses incurred under this section shall be defrayed out of moneys appropriated from time to time for the purpose by Parliament.

An Inspector, or any person authorised by him, may from time to time at all reasonable hours enter upon any private land for the purpose of seeing whether there are rabbits thereon, and shall have free right of ingress, egress, and regress into, over, and across such private land for that purpose.

An Inspector may serve or cause to be served upon any one or more of the owners of any private land on which he believes there are rabbits a notice in writing, in the form numbered (1) in the Second Schedule hereto or to that effect, requiring the immediate destruction of the rabbits on such land.

Such notices shall be served in such manner as will insure a simultaneous action on the part of owners of land in the same part of the country for the destruction of rabbits thereon; and the Inspector shall, as far as possible, regulate the administration of this Act so that like action shall be taken about the same time for the destruction of rabbits on Crown lands in the same part of the country as the lands first mentioned.

If within a reasonable time after the service of such notice any owner on whom the same is served has, in the opinion of the adjudicating Magistrate, failed or neglected to take reasonable or diligent steps to promote the destruction of rabbits on the land mentioned in such notice, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds if the area of the land does not exceed five hundred acres, ten pounds if such area exceeds five hundred acres but does not exceed two thousand acres, and twenty pounds if the area exceeds two thousand acres.

After the expiration of one month from the date of a conviction under the last preceding section, if in the opinion of the adjudicating Magistrate the owner has failed or neglected to take reasonable or diligent steps to promote the destruction of rabbits on the land mentioned in such notice, the owner upon whom the notice was served shall be liable to a further fine not exceeding one hundred pounds and not less than five pounds, and so on for each succeeding period of one month during which in the opinion of the Magistrate rabbits exist on such land.

When inflicting any fine under either of the two last preceding sections, the Magistrate shall take into consideration the area of land on which the defendant has failed to destroy the rabbits, and make the fine to be inflicted proportionate to such area.

It shall be competent to any person fined under either of those sections to bring evidence, at the time when such fine is inflicted, in mitigation of the said fine; and the Magistrate shall hear such evidence, and may reduce the amount of any such fine if he thinks fit, not being less than the minimum fixed by those sections respectively.

In any proceedings for the recovery of a fine under either of those sections the onus of proof that he is not liable to any fine shall lie upon the defendant.

Where any fine is inflicted exceeding ten pounds (but not otherwise), the person liable to pay the same shall have the same right of appeal as is provided by “The Justices of the Peace Act, 1908,” in respect to appeals from Justices in their summary jurisdiction when a sum of money exceeding five pounds has been ordered by them to be paid.

If any owner fails or neglects to comply with any notice as aforesaid to destroy rabbits, then, in addition to or in lieu of proceedings for the recovery of a fine as aforesaid, any Inspector or person authorised by an Inspector may enter on the private land mentioned in such notice, and do and perform all such acts or things as appear to him proper or necessary to be done to insure the destruction of the rabbits on such private land, and shall have free right of ingress, egress, and regress into, over, and across such private land for such period as in his opinion is necessary for destroying such rabbits.

Any owner of such private land who has failed or neglected to comply with a notice to destroy rabbits as aforesaid, and on whose land proceedings under the last preceding section have been taken, shall, within thirty days from service by or by the direction of an Inspector of a notice in writing from an Inspector in the form numbered (2) in the Second Schedule hereto or to that effect, pay to the person mentioned in such notice as being authorised to receive such payment the amount mentioned in such notice as being the costs, charges, and expenses occasioned by the destruction of the rabbits in accordance with the last preceding section, including therein the costs of the service of any notice hereunder.

That amount when so paid shall be forthwith paid by the person receiving the same into the Public Account and shall form part of the Consolidated Fund.

If any owner on whom a notice as mentioned in the last preceding section has been served fails to pay the amount mentioned therein within the said period of thirty days, then the Inspector issuing the notice may sue for and recover the same in his own name in any Court of competent jurisdiction, or the same may be recovered as a debt due to the Crown.

If any judgment recovered by an Inspector under the last preceding section is not satisfied, with costs of suit, within three months thereafter, the Minister may forward to the Public Trustee a certificate to that effect, stating the amount due under such judgment.

Immediately or at any time after the receipt of such certificate the Public Trustee may, after giving nine months’ notice in writing to all the persons whom he believes to be owners of such private land, or such interest therein as he proposes to sell, cause the private land, or such part thereof as he deems necessary, or any interest therein (whether freehold or leasehold), to be sold by public auction, unless the amount of such judgment and costs, and all expenses incurred in recovering the same, together with interest at the rate of ten pounds per centum per annum on the amount of such judgment from the date of such judgment until payment thereof, and any charges which the Public Trustee is entitled to make upon the sale of property, are paid prior to such sale.

The sale shall be by public auction, and the Public Trustee shall have a right to bid for or buy in the property, or place a reserve on the same, and he may put it up for sale as often as required until it is sold.

The consideration to be given by the purchaser shall be a sum of money to be paid forthwith or by instalments, as may be fixed by the Public Trustee.

The highest bidder at the auction, subject to the rights reserved to the Public Trustee by subsection three hereof, if his bid equals or exceeds the sum required to pay the amount of judgment and the costs incurred, and if he complies with the conditions precedent (if any) fixed by the Public Trustee, shall be the purchaser.

The purchaser, on having the transfer or conveyance executed, shall be entitled to and may recover possession of the property so sold to him as against or from all persons whomsoever.

The proceeds of such sale shall be appropriated, first, to’ the payment of the judgment, interest, costs, and expenses; next, to the payment of any incumbrance on the said property; and the balance, if any, shall be paid into the Public Trust Office, and shall be paid, together with interest thereon not exceeding four pounds per centum per annum, by the Public Trustee, upon the order of a Judge of the Supreme Court (which order may be made upon a summons in Chambers), to the person entitled thereto.

On the purchase-money being fully paid the Public Trustee may execute a transfer, conveyance, assignment, or such other document as the case requires, in the name and on behalf of the owner whose interest has been sold, adding after his signature and seal of office the words “under ‘The Rabbit Nuisance Act, 1908.’”

The purchaser under any such instrument shall not be bound to inquire whether the sale has been properly made under this Act, or be affected by notice, either express or implied, that there has been any impropriety or irregularity in connection therewith; and, notwithstanding any such impropriety or irregularity, such sale shall be good, valid, and effectual at law and in equity for all purposes.

Any instrument under “The Land Transfer Act, 1908,” executed for the purpose of carrying into effect any such sale, shall be registered by the District Land Registrar of the district in which the land dealt with thereby is situate, without the production of the duplicate certificate or other document of title relating to the private land dealt with by such instrument, if the Public Trustee is unable to produce the same.

If a notice under section six hereof has been served on any owner who is not entitled to the occupation for the time being of the land comprised in such notice, then, unless the person in actual occupation or entitled to actual occupation of such land, within fourteen days from the service of such notice, arranges with such owner and to his satisfaction for the destruction of the rabbits on the said land, the said owner shall be deemed as regards such land to have all the powers of an Inspector under section eleven hereof.

Where there are more owners than one of any private land, and one of such owners is under this Act in any way compelled to pay the whole or any part of the cost of destroying the rabbits on such land, he may, in any Court of competent jurisdiction, sue for and recover from the other owners of such private land such proportion of the costs, charges, and expenses incurred by him in or about the destruction of the rabbits on the said land as is in the opinion of the Court fairly proportionate to the respective interests in such land of the owners parties to such action:

Provided that for the purposes of this section any owner who is entitled to occupy such private land for any period exceeding three years, or for a life or lives, shall be deemed to be liable for the whole cost of destroying the rabbits on the said land; and any owner whose right of occupancy will terminate in six months or less shall be entitled to recover the whole of such cost paid by him from the other owners of such land.

The description of any private land required to be inserted in any notice hereunder need not define the land referred to therein, but shall be sufficient if it makes such reference to the land, either by name, number of section or allotment, or by boundaries, or otherwise, as allows of no reasonable doubt as to what land is referred to.

All references to private land herein, or in any notice hereunder, shall be deemed to extend to the roads bounding such land; and any owner or Inspector, or other person having power hereunder to enter on private land and destroy rabbits thereon, shall be deemed to have power to enter on the roads bounding such land and destroy the rabbits thereon:

Provided that such power shall not be deemed to authorise the doing of any act which in any way injures such road.

Where, under the powers conferred by “The Stock Act, 1908,” an Inspector enters on any run and finds it to be deserted or abandoned, he may for the purpose of destroying the rabbits thereon exercise all the powers conferred by section eleven hereof without giving any previous notice to the owner of the run.

All expenses incurred in or about the destruction of the rabbits on any such deserted or abandoned run shall be paid by the owner of the run, and may be recovered from him in the same manner as the expenses incident to the destruction of rabbits by the Inspector as aforesaid on private land may be recovered from the owner of such land.

Sections eleven to twenty-one hereof shall apply for the purposes of this section, and shall for those purposes be read as if the word “run” had been inserted therein respectively instead of the words “private land” occurring therein.

Every Inspector, on being required by notice in writing from any owner of land, served at such Inspector’s usual place of abode, shall attend at any place therein appointed, within a reasonable time after the service of the notice, for the purpose of ascertaining whether rabbits abound on the lands specified in the notice.

An Inspector, or person authorised by an Inspector or owner, shall not be deemed a trespasser, or be liable for any damage occasioned by him in the exercise of the powers conferred upon him by this Part of this Act, or any of them, unless such damage is occasioned otherwise than in the reasonable exercise of such powers.

The Governor may from time to time, by Order in Council gazetted, declare any animal to be a natural enemy of the rabbit, and prohibit the killing or capturing of any such animal without a special permit in that behalf:

Provided that, on the petition of any local authority or acclimatisation society, the Governor may from time to time, by Order in Council gazetted, declare that weasels, stoats, or any other animal so declared to be a natural enemy of the rabbit may be killed within any district defined by the Order; and thereupon, and so long as such Order is in force, the provisions of this section as to permit and of the next succeeding section as to fine shall not apply within the district so specified.

Every person is liable to a fine of not less than five nor more than twenty pounds who captures, sells, disposes of, or kills any animal so declared to be a natural enemy of the rabbit without a permit signed by an Inspector, or in whose possession or on whose premises any such animal is found by an Inspector or constable, unless such person proves that the animal was lawfully in his possession, or was on his premises without his knowledge or consent.

Every person is liable to imprisonment with or without hard labour for any period not exceeding one year, and, in addition thereto, to a fine of not less than twenty nor more than one hundred pounds, who personates or falsely represents himself to be an Inspector or a person authorised by an Inspector under this Act.

Every person, not being an Inspector or a person authorised in writing by an Inspector, or an owner acting under section eighteen hereof, who, without the consent of the owner, trespasses on any private land for the apparent purpose of destroying rabbits thereon is liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

Every person who wilfully obstructs, hinders, or interrupts, or causes to be obstructed, hindered, or interrupted, any Inspector, or any person authorised in writing by an Inspector, or any owner, in the exercise of any power conferred on him by this Act, or who threatens, assaults, or uses abusive language to any such Inspector or person or owner whilst in the execution of any such power, is for every such offence (if not otherwise specially provided for) liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

No proceeding for the recovery of such fine, nor the payment thereof, shall be a bar to any action by any of the persons aforesaid for or in respect of any such assault as aforesaid, but such action may be commenced and proceeded with as if this Act had not been passed.

Every person is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to imprisonment for any period not exceeding one year who sets loose any rabbits, or permits any rabbits to be let loose, in any part of New Zealand, or removes any live rabbits from any place to another in New Zealand and then sets them loose or permits them to be set loose there, or who for any such purpose is found with live rabbits in his possession.

Every person is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months who enters on any land not in his own legal possession or occupation without the authority of the legal owner or occupier thereof, and lays poison, or removes any rabbits that have been poisoned, or their skins, from such land.

Where in this Part of this Act reference is made to the service of a notice, such service may be effected in any one of the following modes:—

Where the name of an owner is unknown to any Inspector issuing a notice under this Part of this Act or suing under section thirteen hereof, the notice may be addressed to the “owner” as such without mentioning his name, and similarly the owner may be sued and judgment given against him as such without specifying his name.

In any proceedings for the recovery of money under section thirteen hereof or for the recovery of any fine under this Part of this Act, the jurisdiction of the Court before which the proceedings are brought shall not be ousted on the ground that any question of title to land is involved.

All fines recovered under this Part of this Act shall be paid into the Public Account and form part of the Consolidated Fund

For the better protection of rabbit-proof fences any Inspector, or any person authorised by him, may—

For the purposes aforesaid all the provisions of each Part of this Act shall be read, mutatis mutandis, as if the words “wild pigs” had been inserted in lieu of the word “rabbits” where it occurs therein.

No person shall introduce or allow to go at large any rabbit or hare in that part of New Zealand called the Chatham Islands.

Every person who offends against the provisions of this section is liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, and in default to imprisonment for a period of not more than three months.

If it comes to the knowledge of any Magistrate or Justice that any rabbit or hare is at large in the Chatham Islands, it shall be lawful for such Magistrate or Justice to authorise any constable or other person to pursue and destroy such rabbit or hare, and any constable or other person so authorised shall not be liable to any penalty or suit in respect of any trespass or entry upon premises committed or done under such authority.

The Governor may from time to time, by Order in Council gazetted,—

Governor may alter, amalgamate, or abolish districts.

For every district so constituted there shall be a Board of six Trustees (herein referred to as “the Board”), of whom five shall be elected in the manner hereinafter directed, and the sixth shall be the Inspector of Stock as provided by section forty-eight hereof.

Immediately on the constitution of a district “The Local Elections and Polls Act, 1908,” and “The Rating Act, 1908,” shall be in force in such district.

The Governor shall appoint such Inspector or other person as he thinks fit to be the Returning Officer to hold the first election of Trustees.

The Governor shall appoint the day for such election, and may do all things necessary for bringing this Part of this Act into operation in such district according to the true intent and purpose thereof.

The Trustees elected at such first election shall hold office until the month of November in the year following the year in which they are elected, or until the election of their successors at the first triennial election held as hereinafter mentioned.

The Returning Officer forthwith on his appointment, and thereafter on or before the thirty-first day of August in every year, shall cause to be made out a list, to be called the “stockowners list,” of every stockowner or manager in charge of stock in the district owning or in charge of more than five hundred sheep or one hundred head of cattle respectively, with the number of sheep or cattle owned by such stockowner or in charge of such manager.

The Returning Officer shall deposit such list, or a true copy thereof, at the office of the Magistrate’s Court in the most central place in the district, for inspection without fee; and shall publicly notify the place where the said list is deposited as aforesaid, and in such notice shall also notify the day and place on and at which the Magistrate will sit to hear objections and finally revise such list.

For the purpose of making out such list every such stockowner or manager shall on demand in writing from the Returning Officer, deliver or cause to be delivered to such officer a written return of the number of cattle of all ages, as well as of sheep and lambs of each sex exceeding, three months old, owned by him or in his charge on the thirtieth day of April preceding the date of such demand.

Every person who refuses or neglects to deliver or cause to be delivered such return as aforesaid, or who makes a false return, is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

Any person who considers himself aggrieved by reason of the insertion or incorrectness of any matter in any such list, or of the omission of any matter therefrom, may object as herein provided.

The Magistrate, on the day fixed for hearing objections, shall hear and determine all objections, and may alter the list in respect of anything objected to by correcting anything therein or by inserting any matter therein, or erasing any matter therefrom, which it is proved to his satisfaction ought to be altered, inserted, or erased, as the case may be; and his decision shall be final and without appeal.

The list when so corrected shall be signed by the Magistrate, and shall thereupon, for the purpose of this Part of this Act, be conclusive evidence that the persons named therein are stockowners, and of the number of sheep or cattle owned by them respectively.

Such list shall come into force immediately after the same is so signed, and shall be the roll of stockowners for the district until a new roll comes into force in like manner.

Every person whose name appears on the above-mentioned roll of stockowners shall be deemed to be a “stockowner” within the meaning of this Part of this Act, and shall be an elector and entitled to vote in the election of Trustees; and every such person as aforesaid, if of full age and not disqualified as hereinafter mentioned, shall be qualified to be elected as a Trustee.

Where the name of any company, body, or society, whether incorporated or not, appears on the roll of stockowners, the person entitled to vote on its behalf shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of “The Rating Act, 1908.”

The number of votes exercisable by each stockowner shall be regulated as follows:—

If the number of sheep owned by him as appearing on the roll—

No stockowner shall have more than five votes.

For the purpose of regulating the number of votes one head of cattle shall be deemed to be equal to five sheep.

The following persons shall be incapable of being or of being elected to be Trustees, that is to say:—

On the first Monday in the month of November in the year following the year in which the first Trustees for any district are elected, and on the same day in each succeeding third year thereafter, the electors of a district shall elect five persons to be members of the Board of the district, who shall hold office till the election of their successors.

If on any such appointed day no election is held, or if at any election no Trustees are duly elected, or if a less number is elected than by law required to be elected, then the Governor may appoint as many fit persons to be Trustees as are required.

Notice of every election or appointment of a Trustee shall be gazetted, and the Gazette containing such notice shall be conclusive evidence that the person whose election or appointment is so notified was duly elected or appointed a Trustee.

Every Board constituted under this Part of this Act shall be a body corporate by the name of “The [Name of district] Rabbit Trustees,” with perpetual succession and a common seal, and shall be capable in law to hold real and personal property, and to do and suffer all things which bodies corporate may do and suffer.

If any Trustee dies, or by writing addressed to the Chairman resigns his office as such Trustee, or ceases to reside permanently in New Zealand, or is absent from four consecutive meetings of the Board without leave, or otherwise becomes incapable of acting as such Trustee, the Governor may appoint a person in lieu of that Trustee; and the person so appointed shall hold office for the period or unexpired residue of the period his predecessor would have held the same had he remained a member.

The Inspector of Stock in charge of a district under “The Stock Act, 1908,” which, either wholly or in part, includes a rabbit district wherein a Board is constituted under this Part of this Act—

The Board shall from time to time appoint one of its number to be Chairman, who shall have a casting as well as a deliberative vote; and also one of its number to be Treasurer.

The Chairman and Treasurer shall hold their respective offices until the appointment of their successors.

The Board may also from time to time appoint a Secretary, an overseer, and such collectors of rates or other persons as it thinks necessary, and may pay them such salaries or other emolument as it thinks fit.

The Chairman or any two Trustees may, by giving seven days’ public notice, or by notice in writing delivered to each of the Trustees, convene a meeting of the Board.

All acts, matters, and things authorised by this Part of this Act to be done and performed by the Board of a district may be done and performed by any three of the members thereof at a duly convened meeting.

Anything done at a meeting of the Board within the scope of its authority shall not be held to be irregular or illegal if all the members of the Board are present or afterwards confirm the proceedings of such meeting, or if such meeting was called by notice signed by the Secretary, and posted to the members of the Board not less than seven days before such meeting, specifying the time and place of meeting, and the business to be transacted thereat.

The Board shall have the charge of the administration of this Act within its district:

Provided that the powers of the Inspector of Stock hereinbefore mentioned shall not be deemed to be revoked within such district.

The Board may from time to time appoint any person to be an Inspector under this Part of this Act, and every person so appointed shall have the same powers and be deemed to be an Inspector under Part I of this Act, subject to the supervision of the Inspector of Stock hereinbefore mentioned.

The Board shall carry out the several functions imposed on it under this Part of this Act as effectively as may be, and is hereby empowered to do all such acts and things as appear to it necessary to insure the destruction of rabbits in the district or to prevent the increase of rabbits therein, and for that purpose may, out of moneys received by it under this Part of this Act, offer rewards or bonuses for the destruction of rabbits dr pay for the erection and maintenance of protective fences.

All the provisions of Part I of this Act shall be in full operation within any part of New Zealand constituted a district under this Part of this Act, saving as in this Part is specially provided in respect to the administration of this Act in such district, and shall apply and be construed for this purpose mutatis mutandis.

The Board may erect rabbit-proof fences on any lands, whether private lands or Crown lands, wherever it thinks most convenient, and, after not less than seven days’ written notice of its intention being sent to the owner of the lands, may enter on and occupy, without compensation, such parts of such lands as are necessary for the erection of any such fence, together with land not exceeding six feet in width on each side along the entire length of such fence, for the purpose, if necessary, of erecting protecting fences, and may clear the bush for a width not exceeding twelve feet on each side along the entire length of such fence.

For any of the purposes aforesaid, or for maintaining, repairing, or removing any such fence, the Board, by any of its members or servants, shall have the right at all times of free ingress, egress, and regress to and from any such lands.

The Minister or the Board, or any person who erects any rabbit-proof fence on Crown land, or land belonging to any local authority or public body, or private land, for the purpose of preventing the spread of rabbits, shall be deemed to have authority to enter on any district or county roads traversing the line of any such fence or bounding any such land, and to continue the construction of such fence across any such road, or any bridge on such road, with swing-gates, but so as not unnecessarily to interfere with public traffic:

Provided, however, that a board with the words “Public Road” and a statement of the penalties herein provided for leaving any swing-gate open legibly painted thereon shall be fixed to each side of such gate, and shall at all times be maintained thereon by the persons erecting the gate.

No private person shall erect any such swing-gate without first obtaining the sanction of the local authority having the control of the road over which it is to be erected.

Every person who, whether using the road or bridge as a highway or not, leaves open any swing-gate in a rabbit-proof fence, or after passing through such gate does not close it, is liable for every such offence to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

Any person may erect any rabbit-proof fence on the boundary between his land and any adjoining land, or convert any existing fence on such boundary into a rabbit-proof fence; and every such fence shall, subject to the provisions of section fifty-eight hereof, be deemed to be included within the provisions of section fifty-seven hereof.

Every person who wilfully destroys or breaks down, or who injures or removes, any rabbit-proof fence or any portion thereof, or cuts, detaches, or removes any netting forming part thereof, whether set up on Crown land or private land, is liable, on summary conviction before a Magistrate or two Justices, to imprisonment for any period not exceeding twelve months.

Every rabbit-proof fence erected on or before the third day of September, one thousand eight hundred and ninety (being the date of the coming into operation of “The Rabbit Nuisance Act, 1890”), by the Minister, or any Board of Trustees, or. any person, either on Crown land, or land belonging to any local authority or public body, or private land, and every rabbit-proof fence thereafter erected by the Minister or any Board of Trustees, shall respectively, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be a sufficient fence within the meaning of any Fencing Act for the time being in force within the district wherein such fence is situate; and all the provisions of such Act shall apply in respect to the erection of that fence and to the maintenance thereof, and to the present or future liability of all persons to contribute towards the cost of such erection or maintenance.

For the purposes of this section maintenance of a rabbit-proof fence shall be deemed to include all repairs thereof, including repairs of any damage done to such fence by animals of any kind, whether wild or not.

The last preceding section shall not take effect in any part of New Zealand except on the authority of an Order in Council, which the Governor may from time to time issue, on petition in that behalf, as follows:—

The Governor in Council, on a like petition or recommendation, may at any time or from time to time alter, vary, or revoke any such Order in Council either in whole or in part.

Where the last preceding section takes effect, whether on petition or recommendation, it shall be operative in respect of all the stockowners or ratepayers respectively within a rabbit district, or all the sheepowners or ratepayers respectively outside a rabbit district, from a majority of whom respectively the petition or recommendation praying that the said section should take effect was presented to the Governor; but it shall not in any way affect any other person.

Every Order in Council made under this section shall be gazetted.

The Board, after not less than ten days’ public notice has been given of its intention, may levy in each year for the purposes of this Part of this Act a rate on every stockowner in the district, not exceeding one penny for every sheep and fivepence for every head of cattle owned by him, and may appoint a time and place for the payment of rates so levied, and all rates not so paid may without further notice be recovered by the Board in any Court of competent jurisdiction.

It shall be the duty of the Board to levy rates varying in the different parts of the district, having regard to the degree in which such different parts are affected by rabbits.

The roll of stockowners shall be conclusive evidence of the liability of each stockowner whose name is on the roll for the rate payable on the number of sheep or cattle specified opposite his name.

For the purpose of levying and collecting any rate under this Part of this Act the Board of a district shall be deemed to be a local authority, and such district shall be deemed to be a district within the meaning of “The Rating Act, 1908.”

The invalidity of any rate or assessment as a whole shall not prevent the recovery of the rate, unless such invalidity is on the ground that such rate is at a greater amount per head of sheep or cattle than the Board is empowered to levy.

There shall be paid out of the Consolidated Fund during each financial year, to the Board of each district wherein this Part of this Act is in operation, a sum equal to the amount received by such Board in that year by way of rates levied under the last preceding section, but not exceeding the amount so receivable on a rate of one penny for every sheep or fivepence for every head of cattle in respect whereof the rate has been levied:

Provided that the total amount so paid during any financial year shall not under any circumstances exceed the sum of ten thousand pounds.

All moneys levied, received, or recovered under the authority of this Part of this Act shall be at the absolute disposal of the Board, to be by it applied in such manner as it sees fit to prevent the incursion of rabbits by the erection and maintenance of fences in parts of the district under its jurisdiction, and for the purpose of destroying rabbits in the district, and generally in carrying out the purposes of Part I and also of this Part of this Act in the district, and for no other purpose.

The Board shall cause books to be provided and kept, and true accounts to be entered therein of all sums of money received and paid under authority of this Part of this Act, and of the several purposes for which those sums of money were received and paid.

Such books shall at all reasonable times be open to the inspection of any stockowner without fee; and any stockowner may take copies of or extracts from the said books without fee.

Every person having the custody of those books who does not, on the reasonable demand of any stockowner as aforesaid, permit him to inspect the same, or to take such copies or extracts therefrom, is liable for every such offence to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

All moneys received by the Treasurer of the Board shall be paid by him into the account of the Board at the bank appointed by the Board, and no part of such moneys shall be drawn out of the bank except by cheque signed by the Treasurer and countersigned by a member of the Board.

The Board shall, before the end of the second week in January in each year, cause the accounts of the Board for the past year, up to and including the last day of December, to be balanced, and also a full and true statement to be prepared of the amount of all rates made and levied and of all moneys received and expended during the past year, and also of all debts then owing by and to the Board.

Such statement, signed by the Chairman and one other member of the Board at least, shall be submitted by the Chairman to the Audit Office for audit as provided by “The Public Revenues Act, 1908,” and the Audit Office shall have jurisdiction accordingly.

The Treasurer of the Board shall forthwith after such audit make out and cause to be published, in some newspaper circulating in the district, a full abstract of the accounts for the year as audited.

Every person who wilfully obstructs, hinders, or interrupts, or causes or procures to be obstructed, hindered, or interrupted, the Board, or any member thereof, or any person duly employed or authorised by the Board, or threatens or assaults or uses abusive language to any of the persons aforesaid, whilst in the performance or execution of his duty under this Part of this Act, is liable for every such offence, if not otherwise specially provided for, to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds:

Provided that any proceeding for the recovery of such fine, or the payment thereof, shall not be a bar to any action by any person aforesaid for or in respect of any such assault, and every such action may be commenced and proceeded with as if this Act had not been passed.

In all cases in which no provision or no sufficient provision is, in the opinion of the Governor, made by this Part of this Act, he may from time to time, for the purpose of facilitating or more effectually carrying into execution any of the objects of this Part of this Act make all such regulations and orders, either general or applicable to particular cases only, as he thinks fit.

All such regulations and orders shall be gazetted and shall have the force of law at the expiration of fourteen days after publication in the Gazette.

If the Inspector of Stock in charge of a district under “The Stock Act, 1908,” which, either wholly or in part, includes a rabbit district under this Part of this Act reports to the Governor that the Board of that rabbit district is not taking the necessary steps to secure the destruction of rabbits or the prevention of their incursion into the district, the Governor may, by Order in Council gazetted, declare that this Part of this Act shall cease to be in operation in the district as from a day to be fixed therein, and thereupon the Board shall absolutely cease to exercise any rights or powers, and Part I of this Act shall also thereupon be revived in full operation within such district.

Boroughs and town districts are hereby excluded from the operation of this Part of this Act.

The Governor may from time to time, by Order in Council gazetted, on petition in that behalf from a majority of the ratepayers therein, constitute and declare any part of New Zealand, not being less than two hundred thousand acres in area, wherein Part II of this Act is not in force, to be a district for the purposes of this Part of this Act.

Any such district may comprise any entire county or counties, or parts of counties only, or any entire county or counties with part or parts of another or others.

Parts II and III of this Act shall not at any time be in force in the same part of New Zealand at the same time.

Boroughs and town districts are hereby excluded from the operation of this Part of this Act.

For every district constituted under this Part of this Act there shall be a Board of Trustees (herein referred to as “the Board”), consisting of not less than six nor more than eight members, as fixed by the aforesaid Order in Council, of whom one shall be the Inspector of Stock as provided by section seventy-seven hereof, and the others shall be elected in the manner hereinafter directed.

Immediately on the constitution of such district “The Local. Elections and Polls Act, 1908,” and “The Rating Act, 1908,” shall be in force in that district.

The Governor shall appoint such Inspector or other person as he thinks fit to be the Returning Officer to hold the first election of the Trustees.

The Governor shall appoint the day for such election, and may do all things necessary for bringing this Part of this Act into operation in such district according to the true intent and purpose thereof.

The Trustees elected at such first election shall hold office until the month of November in the year following the year in which they are elected, or until the election of their successors at the first triennial election held as hereinafter mentioned.

All provisions relating to the qualifications, disqualifications, and voting at elections of members of a County Council shall apply, mutatis mutandis, and be in force in respect to elections of the Trustees.

The Returning Officer forthwith on his appointment, and thereafter on or before the thirty-first day of August in every year, shall cause to be made out a list (to be called the “ratepayers list”) of every person whose name appears on the district valuation roll of the county wherein any part of the district is respectively included, and shall insert in such list opposite the name of each person the amount at which his property is valued on such roll, and shall deposit the list, or a true copy thereof, at the office of the Magistrate’s Court in the most central place in the district for inspection without fee.

The Returning Officer shall publicly notify the place where the said list is deposited as aforesaid, and in such notice shall also notify the day and place on and at which the Magistrate will sit to hear objections and finally revise the list.

Any person who considers himself aggrieved by reason of the insertion or incorrectness of any matter in the list, or the omission of any matter therefrom, may object as herein provided.

The Magistrate, on the day fixed for hearing objections, shall hear and determine all objections, and may alter the list in respect of anything objected to by correcting anything therein, or by inserting any matter therein, or erasing any matter therefrom, which it is proved to his satisfaction ought to be altered, inserted, or erased, as the case may be; and his decision shall be final and without appeal.

The list when so corrected shall be signed by the Magistrate, and when so signed shall, for the purpose of this Part of this Act, be conclusive evidence that the persons named therein are ratepayers, and of the valuation of their property.

Such list shall come into force immediately after the same is so signed, and shall be the roll of ratepayers for the district until a new roll comes into force in like manner.

Every person whose name appears on the roll of ratepayers shall be deemed to be a “ratepayer” within the meaning of this Part of this Act, and shall be an elector and entitled to vote in the election of Trustees, and shall exercise at every such election the same number of votes as he could exercise in respect of the same qualification at the election of a member of a County Council, and, if of full age and not disqualified as hereinbefore mentioned, shall be qualified to be elected as a Trustee.

On the first Monday in the month of November in the year following the year in which the first Trustees for any district are elected, and on the same day in each succeeding third year thereafter, the ratepayers of the’district shall elect the required number of persons to be members of the Board, who shall hold office till the election of their successors.

If on any such appointed day no election is held, or if at any election no persons are duly elected, or if a less number is elected than by law required, then the Governor may appoint as many fit persons to be Trustees as are required.

Notice of every election or appointment of a Trustee shall be gazetted, and the Gazette containing such notice shall be conclusive evidence that the person, notice of whose election or appointment is gazetted, was duly elected or appointed a Trustee.

The Inspector of Stock in charge of a district under “The Stock Act, 1908,” which, either wholly or in part, includes a rabbit district wherein a Board of Trustees is constituted under this Part of this Act,—

Every Board of Trustees so constituted shall be a body corporate by the name of “The [Name of district] Rabbit Trustees,” with perpetual succession and a common seal, and shall be capable in law to hold real and personal property, and to do and suffer all things which bodies corporate may do and suffer.

If any Trustee dies, or by writing addressed to the Chairman resigns his office as such Trustee, or ceases to reside permanently in New Zealand, or absents himself from four consecutive meetings of the Board without leave, or otherwise becomes incapable of acting as such Trustee, an election shall be held of a person in lieu of that Trustee; and the person so elected shall hold office for the period or unexpired residue of the period his predecessor would have held the same had he remained a member.

Sections forty-nine to fifty-two hereof shall apply to Trustees and to every Board under this Part of this Act in the same manner as they apply to Trustees or Boards elected under Part II hereof.

The Board is hereby empowered to do all such acts and things as appear necessary to insure the destruction of rabbits in the district or to prevent the increase of rabbits therein, and for that purpose may, out of moneys received by the Board under this Part of this Act, offer rewards or bonuses for the destruction of such rabbits.

The Board, after giving not less than ten days’ public notice of its intention, may levy in each year for the purposes of this Part of this Act a rate not exceeding three-sixteenths of a penny in the pound on the rateable Value of all rateable property in the district, and may appoint a time and place for the payment of rates so levied, and all rates not so paid may without further notice be recovered by the Board in any Court of competent jurisdiction.

The aforesaid roll of ratepayers shall be conclusive evidence of the liability of the persons named therein for the rate to be levied as aforesaid.

The invalidity of any rate or assessment as a whole shall not prevent the recovery of the rate, unless on the ground that such rate is at a greater amount than the Board is empowered to levy.

For the purpose of levying and collecting any rate under this Part of this Act the Board of a district shall be deemed to be a local authority, and such district shall be deemed to be a district, within the meaning of “The Rating Act, 1908.”

There shall be paid out of the Consolidated Fund during each financial year, to the Board of each district wherein this Part of this Act is in operation, a sum equal to the amount received by such Board in that year by way of rates levied under the last preceding section, but not exceeding the amount so receivable on a rate of three-sixteenths of a penny in the pound as hereinbefore mentioned:

Provided that the total amount so paid during each financial year shall not under any circumstances exceed the sum of five thousand pounds.

All moneys levied, received, or recovered under the authority of this Part of this Act shall be at the absolute disposal of the Board, to be by the Board applied in such manner as it sees fit for the purpose of destroying rabbits in the district, and generally in carrying out the administration and purposes of Part I and also of this Part of this Act in the district, and for no other purpose.

Sections sixty-two to sixty-six hereof, and section sixty-seven so far as it is applicable, shall apply to Trustees and Boards under this Part of this Act in the same manner as they apply to Trustees and Boards under Part II of this Act.

The Governor may from time to time, on petition in that behalf from a majority of the ratepayers therein, constitute and declare any part of New Zealand, comprising not less than one thousand acres in area, and containing not less than three ratepayers, to be a rabbit-proof fencing district (hereinafter called “a district”) for the purposes of this Part of this Act.

Subject to the foregoing limitations as to area and ratepayers, the Governor may from time to time—

When dividing, amalgamating, or abolishing any district as aforesaid, or as soon as conveniently may be thereafter, the Governor shall make such apportionment or other disposition of assets and liabilities as he deems just.

Every district shall be deemed to be a district, and the Board shall be deemed to be the local authority thereof, within the meaning of the following Acts: —

“The Local Elections and Polls Act, 1908”;

“The Local Bodies’ Loans Act, 1908”; and

“The Rating Act, 1908”:

all of which are hereby declared to be in force in every district.

For every district there shall be a Board of Trustees (hereinafter called “the Board”), consisting of such number of ratepayers, being not less than three nor more than seven, as the Governor prescribes, who shall be elected in manner hereinafter provided.

With respect to every district the following provisions shall apply:-

The first valuation list of the district shall be prepared by the Returning Officer from the district valuation roll of the county or other rating area wherein any part of the district is included, and such list when signed as prescribed by “The Rating Act, 1908,” shall be the first valuation roll of the district, and shall remain in force until a fresh one is made as prescribed by that Act.

Every person whose name appears on the valuation roll of the district shall be deemed to be a ratepayer within the meaning of this Part of this Act.

Every ratepayer shall be entitled to vote in the election of members of the Board, and shall exercise at every such election the same number of votes as he could exercise in respect of the same qualification at the election of a member of a County Council, and if of full age shall be qualified to be elected as a member of the Board.

On the first Monday in the month of November in the year following the year in which the first Board for any district is elected, and on the same day in each succeeding third year thereafter, the ratepayers shall elect the required number of persons to be members of the Board, who shall hold office till the election of their successors.

The provisions of “The Local Elections and Polls Act, 1908,” shall apply to every such election.

With respect to every Board, and the election of the members thereof, the following provisions shall apply:—

With respect to the Board and the procedure thereof the following provisions shall apply:—

All the provisions of this Act shall be in full operation within a district.

The Board is hereby empowered to do all (such things as it thinks fit to insure the destruction of rabbits in the district and to prevent the increase of rabbits therein; and for those purposes may, out of its general revenue, offer rewards or bonuses for the destruction of rabbits, and pay for the erection and repair of rabbit-proof fences, and pay the costs of any prosecution instituted by an Inspector against any ratepayer in the district:

Provided that nothing in this section or elsewhere in this Part of this Act shall be construed to relieve in any way any ratepayer or other person from his obligations and liabilities under this Act.

For any of the purposes aforesaid, or for repairing’ or removing any such fence, the Board, by any of the members, officers, or servants thereof, shall have the right at all times of free ingress, egress, and regress in respect of any lands.

In aid of its general revenue the Board may make and levy in each year a general rate not exceeding one farthing in the pound on the capital value of all rateable property in the district.

All moneys levied, received, or recovered by the Board under this Part of this Act (other than loans and the special rates in respect thereof as hereinafter provided) shall be applied, in such manner as it thinks fit, in erecting and repairing fences to prevent the incursion of rabbits, and in destroying rabbits in the district, and generally in administering this Part of this Act in the district, and to no other purpose.

The Board shall cause books to be provided and kept, and true accounts to be entered therein of all sums of money received and paid under the authority of this Part of this Act; and such books shall at all reasonable times be open to the inspection of any ratepayer without fee.

Any person having the custody of the said books who does not on the reasonable demand of any ratepayer permit him to inspect the same is liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

All moneys received by or on behalf of the Board shall be paid by the person receiving the same into the account of the Board in the bank where for the time being the Public Account is kept, and no moneys shall be drawn out of the Board’s account except by cheque signed by the Secretary and countersigned by a member of the Board.

The Board shall, before the end of the second week in January in each year, cause the accounts of the Board for the past year, up to the last day of December, to be balanced, and also a full and true statement to be prepared of the amount of all rates made and levied and of all moneys received and expended during the past year, and also of all debts then owing by and to the Board.

Such statement, signed by the Chairman and at least one other member of the Board, shall be submitted by the Chairman to the Audit Office for audit as provided by “The Public Revenues Act, 1908,” and the Audit Office shall have jurisdiction accordingly.

Every person is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds who wilfully obstructs or interrupts any member, officer, or servant of the Board in the exercise of any power or authority under this Act, or threatens or assaults or uses abusive language to any such member, officer, or servant whilst in the performance of his duty under this Act.

The construction of rabbit-proof wire-netting fences by the Board on or near to the boundary of its district (including the conversion of non-rabbit-proof fences into rabbit-proof wire-netting fences) is hereby declared to be a public work within the meaning of “The Local Bodies’ Loans Act, 1908,” and the Board is hereby empowered to construct such work.

The total amount that the Minister of Finance may lend or agree to lend to any Board in any one year, or in each of any two successive years, for the construction of such public work as aforesaid shall not exceed three thousand pounds.

Before raising any loan from the Minister of Finance the Board shall prepare and supply to the Minister full plans, specifications, and estimates, showing separately—

The Minister shall cause a careful inquiry to be made into the Board’s proposals, and shall forward the documents to the Minister of Finance, together with a full report thereon.

If such report is unfavourable the Minister of Finance may refuse to grant the loan, or, if he thinks fit, may require the application therefor to be modified.

If in any district wherein any such loan is proposed to be raised the total number of ratepayers who are to be rated therefor does not exceed forty, and a majority of them in number, possessing a majority of votes, by notice in writing under their hands addressed and delivered to the Chairman of the Board, consent to the loan, and declare their desire to dispense with the formality of a poll thereon, then it shall be unnecessary to take such poll, and such notice shall operate as the due carrying of a proposal to raise the loan; and thereupon

In lieu of the notice prescribed by “The Local Bodies’ Loans Act, 1908,” the Chairman shall publish in the Gazette, and also in one or more newspapers circulating in the district, a certificate under his hand setting forth the fact of the formal poll having been dispensed with at the request of the ratepayers, the total number of ratepayers signing such request, the total number of votes possessed by them, the total number of ratepayers to be rated for the proposed loan, and the total number of votes possessed by them; and in such certificate he shall declare the proposal to raise the loan to be carried.

Every certificate so published in the Gazette shall be conclusive evidence that the raising of the loan to which it refers has been duly authorised, and that all proceedings and things in relation thereto have been lawfully taken and done.

If the Chairman knowingly inserts, or causes or allows to be inserted, in any certificate published as aforesaid any false statement as to the number of votes recorded for and against any proposal to which such notice relates, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred pounds, to be recovered in a summary way before a Magistrate in the manner provided by “The Justices of the Peace Act, 1908.”

Such loan shall be secured by a special rate to cover the interest and other charges thereon as required by “The Local Bodies’ Loans Act, 1908,” and such rate shall, subject to the provisions of that Act, be made and levied by the Board on all rateable property within the district.

Such special rate shall be made and levied by special order, and such special order shall be made in manner following:—

For the purposes of such special rate the Board shall prepare a separate valuation roll, and in so doing shall have regard to the extent to which each ratepayer’s rateable property is already provided with rabbit-proof fences, and the extent to which it is likely to be benefited by the proposed work; and the assessment shall be made accordingly.

Such special rate shall be in addition to the general rating-powers hereinbefore conferred by this Part of this Act.

The Board shall have and retain the property in and ownership of all rabbit-proof fences erected by it within or out of the district.

With respect to the liability imposed by “The Fencing Act, 1908,” on adjoining owners or occupiers to contribute towards the cost of erecting and repairing fences, the following provisions shall apply:-

The Governor may from time to time make such regulations as he deems necessary prescribing the powers, functions, and duties of the Board, and generally giving full effect to this Part of this Act.

All such regulations shall be gazetted.