The Short Title of this Act shall be “The New River Harbour Management Act, 1877.”

In the construction of this Act the following words and expressions shall have the meanings hereby assigned to them, unless there shall be something in the context repugnant thereto:—

The said “New River Harbour Board Ordinance, 1874,” of the Superintendent and Provincial Council of Otago, is hereby repealed, and the Harbour Board for the Port of New River thereby constituted is hereby dissolved.

All lands, tenements, goods, chattels, and choses in action, and all real and personal property whatsoever, and all rights and interests therein now vested in the Board, shall, immediately on the coming into operation of this Act, be vested in the Corporation.

All contracts existing at the time of the coming into operation of this Act, and all actions, suits, proceedings, and things begun before the coming into operation of this Act and not then completed, of, by, or against the Board, shall belong and attach to, and be enforced by and against, the Corporation, and be of the same force and effect to all intents and purposes with regard to the Corporation as with regard to the Board.

All debts and liabilities due or incurred by the Board shall be payable by the Corporation as fully and effectually, to all intents and purposes, as if the same were due or had been incurred by the Corporation,

The Council shall, in respect of the port, in addition to the powers conferred by this Act, have all the powers and authorities conferred upon Harbour Boards by “The Harbour Boards Act, 1870,” and shall for all purposes be deemed to be a Harbour Board constituted or established under the provisions of that Act. All moneys derivable under this Act shall be held in trust for the management and improvement of the Port of New River, and shall be kept a separate account.

The Council may from time to time appoint and employ a wharfinger, collectors, and all such other officers to assist in the execution of this Act as it shall think proper, and from time to time remove any of such officers and appoint others in the room of such as shall be so removed, or as may die, resign, or discontinue their offices, and may pay such salaries and allowances to the said officers respectively as the Council shall think reasonable.

Before any officer intrusted by the Council with the custody or control of moneys by virtue of his office shall enter upon such office, the Council shall take sufficient security from him for the faithful execution thereof.

The Council may from time to time make, alter, or revoke regulations providing that harbour improvement rates, not exceeding in any case one shilling and sixpence per ton by weight or by measurement, as shall be expressed in such regulation, shall be levied upon all goods and merchandise discharged at or shipped from the port; and in and by such regulations the Council may provide for the manner of levying and collecting such rates, and by whom the same shall be paid, and in what manner the same shall be paid to any authorized officer of the Council.

The Council may by any such regulation impose penalties for any breach thereof, not exceeding five pounds for any one offence, and every such regulation shall be so framed as to allow the Court before which any such penalty shall be brought to be recovered, to order a part only of such penalty to be paid.

No such regulations or any alteration thereof shall have any force or effect unless and until the same shall have been approved by the Governor in Council, and shall have been published in the Gazette and at least one newspaper circulating in the Town of Invercargill.

The Council shall not levy any rates, tolls, or dues of any kind in respect of any vessel belonging to or in the service of Her Majesty or belonging to or in the service of the Government of the colony, or in respect of the landing, shipping, or wharfing of any goods or merchandise the property of Her Majesty or of the Government of the colony, or landed, shipped, or wharfed on her or their account.

The Council shall not levy any pilotage, lighthouse,. tonnage, or harbour dues in respect of any steamships carrying mails to or from places outside of the Colony of New Zealand under any contract made with the Postmaster-General, in cases where it is provided by the terms of such contract that such steamships shall be exempt therefrom.

Letting Lands.

The Council may let any lands vested in the Corporation under this Act, or any part thereof, at such rents and profits and upon such terms and conditions as the Council shall determine, so that such leases be for any term not exceeding thirty-five years, to take effect from the time of the execution thereof.

Harbour Works.

The Council may reclaim from the sea any land which may be or become vested in the Corporation under this Act, and for such purpose may construct and maintain such works as may be necessary.

The Council may construct such breakwaters, embankments, walls, docks, quays, wharves, piers, and jetties as shall be by the Council considered to be necessary for the requirements of the port, and do all things necessary for the improvement of the navigation of the port, and also erect such cranes, sheds, and works for the improvement of the said port as shall be by the Council judged necessary and proper for the safety, convenience, or reception of vessels resorting to the said port, and for the more convenient loading and unloading of such vessels, or for the safety and protection of any works constructed or proposed to be constructed by the Council.

Miscellaneous.

The Council for the purposes of the port shall have and may exercise all the powers and authorities which the Superintendent of the Province of Otago had and might have exercised under the thirtieth, thirty-first, and thirty-second sections of “The Marine Act, 1867.”

All such powers and authorities shall be exercised subject to the provisions of the last-mentioned Act, except that when any such power or authority is required to be exercised by Proclamation, it shall be sufficient if the Council cause a notification to be inserted in some newspaper circulating in the Town of Invercargill.

All harbour works constructed by the Council, or proposed to be constructed, shall be subject to the provisions of the thirty-third section of “The Marine Act, 1867,” as amended by “The Harbour Works Act, 1874.”

If at any time the Council shall make or construct any such harbour works as hereinbefore mentioned without the approval of the Governor in Council, or shall, without such approval, deviate from the plans and specifications which shall have been approved, or shall refuse or neglect to complete any such work after having commenced the same, although the specifications and plans thereof have been approved, it shall be lawful for any person appointed by the Governor in Council to take such steps as shall be necessary to abate and remove every such harbour work (whether in the course of construction or completed), and restore the site thereof to its former condition at the cost of the Corporation, and the amount of such cost shall be a debt due to the Crown, and recoverable against the Corporation accordingly.

All penalties imposed by this Act, or for the breach of any regulations made hereunder, or in pursuance of the powers hereby granted, may be recovered in a summary way.

The production of the Gazette containing any regulations required by this Act to be inserted therein shall in all proceedings be alone sufficient prima facie evidence that all the provisions of this Act relating to the making and confirmation of such regulations have been duly complied with, and that such regulations are in full force and effect, and the onus of proving the contrary shall in every case be on the person disputing the validity of such regulations.