Recommendation

The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee has examined the Military Manoeuvres Act Repeal Bill and recommends that it be passed with the amendments shown.

Introduction

The Military Manoeuvres Act Repeal Bill is a member’s bill in the name of Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi. It seeks to repeal the Military Manoeuvres Act 1915. The Act, enacted specifically to deal with mobilisation for the First World War, provides that the Governor-General may, by proclamation, declare any land available for a period specified for military manoeuvres. As far as the New Zealand Defence Force has been able to ascertain, the Act has not been used for the last 30 years. We understand that no proclamations are in force, and there are no outstanding claims relating to past proclamations or military manoeuvres. Given these facts we believe that the repeal of the bill would not disadvantage the New Zealand Defence Force.

Our commentary covers the amendments we recommend to the bill.

Clause 3

We recommend deleting clause 3, which states that the purpose of the bill is to repeal the Military Manoeuvres Act 1915. Section 5 of the Interpretation Act 1999 requires the meaning of an enactment to be ascertained from its text and in light of its purpose. The bill’s purpose is clearly stated in its title and in clause 5, so clause 3 is redundant.

Clause 4

We recommend deleting clause 4, which provides that the Act binds the Crown. Clause 5, which would repeal the Military Manoeuvres Act 1915, would be spent immediately after the Military Manoeuvres Act Repeal Act came into force. As there are no other operative provisions in the bill, there would then be nothing in the Act for clause 4 to act upon. Clause 4 is therefore redundant.