In harbours where there is no Board the Governor-General in Council shall have all the powers, functions, duties, and authorities by this Act conferred upon Harbour Boards, and may exercise the same in accordance with this Act.

Any power or authority herein conferred upon the Governor-General in Council which, in the case of a Harbour Board, would be exercised by or under by-laws to be made by such Board shall and may be exercised under regulations to be made by Order in Council gazetted.

Such regulations may be made generally in respect of all harbours where there is no Harbour Board, or in respect of any one or more of such harbours.

Nothing herein shall be construed to make it obligatory on the Governor-General in Council to exercise and perform the powers, functions, duties, and authorities by this Act conferred upon him; and such powers, functions, duties, and authorities shall be exercised and performed only in such harbours and places as he thinks fit.

The Governor-General may from time to time appoint Harbourmasters, pilots, and other officers of any harbour not under the control or management of any Harbour Board.

On the request of the Council of a county bordering on any navigable river, estuary, or arm of the sea not under the control or management of any Harbour Board, or on the joint request of any two or more of such Councils, the Governor-General may, by Order in Council gazetted, declare that such Council or joint Councils shall, from a date to be fixed in such Order, exercise all the powers of a Harbour Board within such limits of the navigable river, estuary, or arm aforesaid as the Governor-General defines for that purpose:

Provided that no such declaration shall have effect to oust the jurisdiction of any River Board within any part of its district comprised within the limits defined as aforesaid, anything to the contrary in the Rivers Boards Act, 1908, notwithstanding.

From and after the date of any such Order in Council the Council or Councils aforesaid shall be deemed to be a Harbour Board as if so constituted by special Act.

In any harbour where there is no Harbour Board the Governor-General in Council may authorize any local authority or any person to construct harbour-works (other than the reclamation of land from the sea or any harbour, or the construction of any graving-dock, dock, or breakwater in any harbour or in the sea), whether such harbour-works are or are not primarily intended for the use and benefit of the public, and to use and occupy such part of the foreshore or of any tidal land or tidal water as may be necessary for the construction and use of such harbour-works:

Provided that any work constructed under the authority of this section shall, if the nature of the work permits, be available for public use on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the Order in Council authorizing the same.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, prescribe what dues and rates shall be taken by the authority or person by whom any such harbour-works are constructed as aforesaid, for the use of such works.

Every Order in Council under sections twelve and thirteen hereof shall be made upon such terms and conditions as the Governor-General in Council thinks fit; and the rights thereby conferred shall only be granted for a limited period, not exceeding in any case fourteen years, and may at any time be altered, modified, or revoked.

The rights and powers conferred under or by virtue of any such Order in Council may be resumed at any time by the Governor-General on giving to the authority or person holding the same such previous notice, not exceeding twelve months, as may be expressed in the Order in Council conferring such rights and powers.

Any authority or person affected by such notice may remove any wharf or building erected in pursuance of any privilege granted by Order in Council as aforesaid, and all the material thereof, but shall not be entitled to any further compensation or allowance.

Where a local authority is authorized by Order in Council as aforesaid to construct harbour-works, such authority may use and expend any part of its local fund in the construction of any work so authorized or in the maintenance or repair of any such work or any part thereof:

Provided that nothing herein shall empower any such authority to use and expend in such manner any money borrowed for the purposes of any particular work, unless such use was expressly sanctioned by the ratepayers before the money was so borrowed.

Every power or function which any such local authority has or could exercise in respect of any public work within its ordinary powers may in like manner be exercised in respect of any harbour-work so authorized as aforesaid; and every liability which such authority would be liable to in respect of any public work as aforesaid shall also attach in respect of any such harbour-work.

Every Harbour Board mentioned in the First Schedule hereto shall continue to exist and to have its existing name and common seal, and shall retain its properties and liabilities, and all its existing contracts and engagements shall be enforceable by and against it.

Every such Board shall be constituted in the manner mentioned in the said First Schedule, as follows:—

Except in cases where specific provision is made by the said Schedule for the representation on any Harbour Board of any borough or town district, the reference in the said Schedule to any county shall be deemed to include—

Every Harbour Board hereafter constituted shall be constituted by an Act of Parliament (hereinafter termed the special Act) and in the manner provided by that Act.

Every such Board shall consist of non-elective members or of elective members, or of both non-elective and elective members, as may be prescribed by such Act.

Every Board shall, under the name of “The [Stating the name] Harbour Board,” be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal, and with full power and authority by that name to sue and be sued, and shall, for the purposes and subject to the provisions of this and the special Act, be capable of purchasing, holding, disposing of, and alienating real and personal property, and of doing and suffering all such other acts and things as bodies corporate may by law do and suffer.

In no case shall the corporate entity or capacity of a Board be in any way affected by any alteration in the number or qualifications of its members.

Every non-elective member of a Board shall be appointed by the Governor-General for a term of three years from the last Wednesday in April in the year in which the Board is constituted, or, in the case of an existing Board, from the last Wednesday in April, nineteen hundred and twenty-six; and in either case from the last Wednesday in April in every subsequent third year. Except in the case of first appointments to newly constituted Boards, a notification of the appointment of each non-elective member of a Board shall be published in the Gazette not later than one month before the date when such appointment takes effect.

Where one or more members of a Board are to be elected by all or some only of the electors of a county, borough, road district, or town district (hereinafter referred to as a constituent district), such election shall be held in the same manner as the ordinary general election of members of the local authority of that constituent district; and all the provisions of the Local Elections and Polls Act, 1908, and of all other Acts affecting the mode of election of members of that local authority (including the penal provisions thereof and the provisions relating to disputed elections), shall, so far as practicable and so far as consistent with this Act, apply accordingly.

At every such election of a member of the Board every elector shall have one vote and no more.

The Returning Officer of the constituent district shall be the Returning Officer for the purposes of such election.

In any case where by this Act or any special Act one or more members of a Harbour Board are to be elected by all or some only of the electors of the districts of two or more local authorities jointly (hereinafter referred to as a combined district), the Governor-General shall, by Order in Council, select and appoint one of those local authorities to be the principal authority for the purposes of such election.

Every such election shall be held in manner prescribed by regulations made by the Governor-General in Council either generally or in respect of any specified Harbour Board.

By such regulations the Governor-General in Council may apply to any such election, with such modifications, exceptions, and additions as he thinks fit, the provisions of the Local Elections and Polls Act, 1908, and of any other Act affecting the election of members of any such local authority.

At every such election of a member of the Board every elector shall have one vote and no more, even though he is an elector of more than one of the districts comprised within the combined district.

Where all the electors of a county, borough, road district, or town district are entitled to vote at an election of a member of a Harbour Board to be held on a day other than the day fixed for the election of the local authority of such county, borough, road district, or town district, as the case may be, the existing roll of the said county, borough, road district, or town district shall be used for the purposes of such election.

No person shall be deemed to be a candidate at any election of members of a Harbour Board unless at the time of nomination he has deposited with the Returning Officer the sum of three pounds.

If at the election the candidate does not poll one-eighth of the votes polled by the successful candidate, or, as the case may be, by the successful candidate polling the fewest votes, the deposit shall be forfeited to the Harbour Fund, but otherwise, or if the candidate is elected without a poll, shall be returned to him.

For the purposes of the election of representatives of a constituent district or a combined district the public office of the local authority of the constituent district or of any district forming part of a combined district may be appointed a polling-place, notwithstanding that such public office is situated outside the limits of the constituent district or combined district, as the case may be.

In the case of a constituent district which is a borough, and in the case of a combined district the principal authority of which is a Borough Council, the election of members, other than the first election, shall be held on the day appointed for electing members of Borough Councils; and in the case of every other district the election, other than the first election, shall be held on the day appointed for electing members of County Councils.

Where an election of representatives of a constituent district or combined district is held simultaneously with an election of members of the local authority or principal authority of that district, the votingpapers provided for the former election shall be different in colour from those provided for the latter.

If any constituent district or combined district fails at any election to elect the required number of representatives, the Governor-General may, by Warrant under his hand, appoint such qualified persons as he thinks fit to be the representatives of that district in lieu of those who ought to have been elected; and the persons so appointed shall hold office in all respects as if they had been duly elected in conformity with this Act.

The first election of members of a Harbour Board constituted after the commencement of this Act shall be held on such day as the Governor-General by Order in Council appoints; and by the same or any subsequent Order in Council the Governor-General may make all such provisions as he deems necessary for the purposes of that election, and may fix the time and place for the first meeting of any Board.

Where on the constitution of a new Harbour Board the first election of members is held within six months of the time fixed under section twenty-six hereof for the election of any of the members of the Board, it shall not be necessary to hold such last-mentioned election, but the member or members who but for this section would retire from office shall remain in office until the next succeeding election is held under the said section twenty-six.

The provisions of this Act relating to the election and appointment of members shall not apply to the Harbour Boards named in the Second Schedule hereto, or to any Board hereafter constituted consisting of the members of a local authority; but every such Board shall nevertheless be a Harbour Board within the meaning of this Act, and shall perform the functions of a Harbour Board from time to time without complying with the provisions of this Act relating to elections of members.

The creation, abolition, merger, union, division, or other alteration of any constituent district or combined district shall not in itself have any operation so as to affect the then existing membership of the Board.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, whenever in his opinion it becomes necessary or expedient so to do, make such provision with respect to the representation of any part of any rating-area or constituent or combined district as he thinks fit.

If by any such Order in Council representation is given to any constituent district or combined district which is not already represented on the Board, or increased representation is given to any constituent district or combined district which is already represented on the Board, the Governor-General may, by the same or any other Order in Council, fix the date of the first election of the representatives or additional representatives (as the case may be) of that district, and make all other provisions which are deemed necessary for that election.

If by any such Order in Council representation on a Board is taken away from any constituent district or combined district, the representatives of that district shall retire from office on the day appointed in that behalf by the Order in Council.

If by any such Order in Council, a reduction is made in the number of representatives to which any constituent district or combined district is entitled, a sufficient number of those representatives shall retire from office on the day appointed in that behalf by the Order in Council so that the representation of that district may conform to the Order in Council. The representatives so to retire from office shall, in default of agreement among all the representatives of the constituent district or combined district, be determined by lot in manner determined by the Board.

Where by this Act or any special Act power is given to the owners of ships, or to the payers of dues or of any specified class of dues at any port, or to both owners of ships and payers of dues together, to elect a member or members of any Board, such power shall be exercisable by all those persons who on the thirty-first day of December preceding the election were the registered owners or part-owners of any British ship registered at the port of the harbour, or who, not being aliens, have severally paid to the Harbour Board the sum of three pounds or upwards in respect of harbour dues or of the specified class of harbour dues during the year ending the thirty-first day of December preceding the election.

Such power shall be exercised in the manner prescribed by regulations made by the Governor-General in Council either generally or in respect of any specified Harbour Board.

By such regulations the Governor-General in Council may apply to any such election, with such modifications, exceptions, and additions as he thinks fit, the provisions of the Local Elections and Polls Act, 1908.

Where such dues have been paid by two or more persons jointly, or where any ship is owned by more than one person, only one of such persons shall be entitled to vote in respect of such payment or ownership, as the case may be.

Any corporate body being the payer of dues or owner of a ship may from time to time, by writing under its corporate seal, appoint some person to vote in respect of such payment or ownership.

Any person acting under a power of attorney executed by a person entitled to vote under this section shall be entitled to vote on behalf of that person on producing to the officer in charge of the polling-booth satisfactory proof of his identity and authority in such manner as may be prescribed by regulations.

Any firm one of whose members is entitled to vote pursuant to subsection four of this section may, if no member of the firm is resident at the place where the election is to be held, appoint, by writing under the firm’s name, some person to vote at such election in respect of the payment of dues or the ownership of any ship by the firm, as the case may be.

Any person entitled to vote at any such election on behalf of any other person or a body corporate shall not thereby be debarred from exercising any right to vote to which he may be entitled in his own behalf.

Every person entitled to vote at any such election shall have one vote and no more, even though he may be both a payer of dues and an owner or part-owner of a ship.

No person shall be entitled at any election to vote on his own behalf both under this section and under the preceding provisions of this Act.

Elections under this section shall be held on the days appointed for the elections of members of Borough Councils.

The reasonable cost of every election under this Act that is not held simultaneously with the election of members of any local authority, and the reasonable additional cost incurred by a local authority in respect of any election under this Act that is held simultaneously with the election of members of the local authority (except in every case the expenses of scrutineers and other expenses incurred by or on behalf of candidates), shall be paid by the Harbour Board.

Any dispute arising as to the amount to be paid by a Harbour Board to any local authority under this section shall be determined by the Audit Office after such inquiry as it thinks fit, and the decision of the Audit Office in any such dispute shall be final.

The following persons shall be incapable of being elected or appointed to be or of being members of a Harbour Board, that is to say:—

Subject to the provisions of this section, any person who is entitled to vote at an election of a member of the Board may be elected or appointed as a member of a Harbour Board.

If any person while holding office as member of a Harbour Board becomes incapable of continuing to hold office under the last preceding section, his office shall thereby become vacant, and such vacancy shall be deemed an extraordinary vacancy.

If any person does any act as member of a Harbour Board being incapacitated under the last preceding section, except under paragraph (d) thereof, he is liable to a fine of fifty pounds for every such offence.

It shall be the duty of the Audit Office to institute proceedings under this section, but nothing herein shall be so construed as to prevent such proceedings from being taken by any other person.

All fines recovered under this section by the Audit Office shall be paid into the Public Account and form part of the Consolidated Fund.

Every member of a Harbour Board who becomes concerned or interested in any contract mentioned in paragraph (h) of section thirty-four hereof so as thereby to be incapacitated under that paragraph is liable on summary conviction to a fine of fifty pounds, and shall not be entitled to enforce that contract as against the Board; and all moneys paid to him by the Board in respect of that contract shall be recoverable by action at the suit of the Board as a debt due by him to the Board.

Every other member of the Board who knowingly takes part in the making by that Board of any such contract as aforesaid is liable on summary conviction to a fine of fifty pounds.

Any member of a Harbour Board may resign his office by writing under his hand delivered to the Chairman or Secretary of the Board, and in such case or in case of his death, incapacity, or his absence without the leave of the Board from four consecutive ordinary meetings thereof, his office shall become vacant, and such vacancy shall be deemed an extraordinary vacancy.

In the event of an extraordinary vacancy in the office of a representative of any constituent district on the Board the local authority of that district shall forthwith appoint some qualified person in his place as a representative of that district.

In the event of an extraordinary vacancy in the office of an elective member of the Board other than a representative of a constituent district the Governor-General may, by Warrant under his hand, appoint some qualified person in his place.

In the event of an extraordinary vacancy in the office of a non-elective member of the Board the Governor-General shall, by Warrant under his hand, appoint some qualified person in his place.

The member so appointed shall hold office only for the unexpired portion of the term of office of his predecessor.

Every member shall come into office on his election or appointment, and shall, unless his office sooner becomes vacant, hold office until the election or appointment of his successor in accordance with this Act, but shall be capable of re-election or reappointment.

At the first meeting of every Board hereafter constituted the Board shall elect one of its members to be the Chairman thereof, who shall retain office until the annual meeting of the Board.

Within thirty days after the second Wednesday in May in every year every Board shall hold an annual meeting, and at that meeting the Board shall elect one of its members to be the Chairman thereof.

In the event of there being an equality of votes at any election of Chairman the matter shall be decided by lot as between the members having such equality of votes.

When the Chairman of a Board resigns his office by writing under his hand delivered to the Secretary or to any member of the Board, or ceases to be a member of the Board, his office as Chairman shall become vacant, and the Board shall as soon as may be thereafter elect one of its members to be the Chairman thereof.

Every person elected as Chairman of the Board shall hold office until the election of his successor, unless his office sooner becomes vacant.

At every meeting of a Board the Chairman, if present, shall preside.

If the Chairman is absent from any meeting, or if there is for the time being no Chairman, the members present shall choose one of their number to act as Chairman at that meeting, and the member so chosen shall have the same powers at that meeting as if he were the Chairman of the Board.

Notwithstanding anything in section ninety hereof, the Chairman may be paid such annual allowance, at a rate not exceeding two hundred pounds, as the Board from time to time determines.

No alteration in the amount of such allowance shall take effect during the term of office of any Chairman.

For the purposes of this section a person re-elected as Chairman shall he considered a new Chairman.

The Board may at any time and from time to time appoint a Deputy Chairman, who shall act as Chairman during the temporary absence or incapacity of the Chairman.

While so acting the Deputy Chairman may do all acts that the Chairman as such might do.

The fact that the Deputy Chairman exercises any power, duty, or function of the Chairman shall be sufficient evidence of his authority so to do; and no person shall be concerned to inquire whether any occasion has arisen requiring or authorizing him so to do, or be affected by notice that no such occasion has arisen.

A Board may from time to time appoint standing or special committees consisting of members of the Board, and may delegate to those committees any matters for consideration, or inquiry, or management, or regulation; and may delegate to any such committee any of the powers and duties by this Act conferred or imposed upon the Board, except the powers to borrow money, make a rate, make a by-law, execute a deed or contract, or institute an action.

Every such committee shall be subject in all things to the control of the Board, and shall carry out all directions, general or special, of the Board given in relation to such committee or its affairs.

The Board appointing any committee may appoint a member of such committee to be the chairman thereof; and, if no such appointment is made, the committee may make the appointment. The Board may from time to time remove the chairman, and appoint another in his stead.

The Board may from time to time discharge, alter, continue, or reconstitute any committee appointed by it.

For the transaction of general business the Board shall hold ordinary meetings at its office at such times as it appoints.

Every question before the Board shall be decided by the votes of a majority of the members present.

The Chairman shall have a deliberative vote, and, in any case in which the votes are equal, a casting-vote also.

No business shall be transacted at any meeting unless a quorum is present thereat during the whole time during which the business is transacted (such quorum to be fixed by by-law).

The Board may at any time hold a special meeting, to be called either on a resolution of the Board or on a requisition in writing delivered to the Board, and signed by the Chairman or by any three members, specifying the day for which such special meeting is to be called.

Every notice of a special meeting shall be in writing under the hand of the Secretary, and shall be sent to each member four clear days at least before such meeting.

Every notice of a special meeting shall, unless served personally, be sent through the post-office in a prepaid envelope, addressed to each member, and shall be deemed to have been duly served on the day following that in which the envelope containing the same is posted, and in proving such service it shall be sufficient to prove that the envelope containing the notice was properly addressed and put into the post-office. A certificate in writing signed by the Secretary that the envelope containing the notice was so addressed and posted shall be conclusive evidence thereof.

In the case of extraordinary business to be brought before an ordinary meeting, or of a special meeting, or of a proposal to alter or revoke a resolution, the notice of the meeting shah set forth the business to be brought before the meeting.

The validity of acts done by a Harbour Board shall not be affected by any error or defect in the election or appointment of any member of the Board, or by the fact that the full number of members has not been elected or appointed, or by the fact that any person acting as a member of the Board is disqualified or that any member has vacated his seat.

Every Board may from time to time appoint and employ a Secretary, Treasurer, clerk, Harbourmaster, a collector or collectors of dues, pilots, wharfinger, and all such other officers and servants to assist in the execution of this Act as it thinks proper, and may from time to time remove or discontinue the office of any of such persons and appoint others in the room of such as are so removed or as die or resign.

Such salaries and allowances shall be paid out of the Harbour Fund to the said persons respectively as the Board thinks reasonable.

One person may hold two or more of any of such offices.

During the absence of any officer of the Board by reason of illness, leave of absence, or other cause, the duties and powers of such officer may be performed and exercised by an acting-officer to be appointed by the Board either generally or for some occasion only, or by the Chairman temporarily:

Provided always that any such temporary appointment by the Chairman must be approved at the next ordinary meeting of the Board.

A minute duly made and authenticated of the appointment of any such officer shall, as regards all persons having any business with the Board and acting in good faith, be deemed conclusive evidence of the validity of the appointment and of his authority to act as such, and shall relieve all persons having business as aforesaid from the necessity of making any inquiry in the matter.

Before any officer entrusted by the Board with the custody or control of moneys by virtue of his office enters upon such office the Board shall take sufficient security from him for the faithful execution thereof.

There shall be for every Board a fund, to be termed “the Harbour Fund,” consisting of the moneys arising from the following sources:—

Nothing herein shall be deemed to give any Board a right to have, collect, or receive any dues in respect of coastal lights the management and control of which is vested in the Minister.

The Clerk or other proper officer of the Court in which any fines payable to the Harbour Fund are recovered shall pay the same into the Harbour Fund at such times and in such manner as the Minister of Finance directs.

The Clerk or other proper officer of the Court in which any such fines are inflicted shall, once in every three months, furnish the Board with a written statement thereof, signed by him, distinguishing therein those that have from those that have not been paid into such fund.

Where any fines payable to the Harbour Fund are by law required or permitted to be paid in stamps, and have been so paid, the Clerk or other proper officer aforesaid shall certify to the Minister of Finance the amount of the same, that they have been so paid, and the name of the Board entitled to receive the same; and thereupon the said Minister, without further appropriation by Parliament than this Act, shall pay the amount of such fines out of the Consolidated Fund to the Harbour Fund.

All moneys arising from any of the sources aforesaid, or received by way of loan under this Act or a special Act, shall be paid into such bank as the Board from time to time determines, to an account to be called “the Harbour Fund Account.”

Such fund shall be applied by the Board in payment of all charges and expenses incurred by the Board in carrying this Act into execution, and in doing all acts and things which the Board is by this or any other Act empowered or required to do.

All moneys of the Board amounting to five pounds and upwards shall, within three days after they have come to the hands of the proper officer of the Board, be paid into the bank.

No money shall be drawn out of the bank except by authority of the Board; and all moneys shall be paid by the Board in cash, or by cheque signed by the Treasurer and countersigned by the Chairman or by any two of such of the members of the Board as are from time to time authorized by the Board to sign cheques.

All moneys paid or purporting to be paid by the Board by promissory note or bill shall be deemed to be moneys unlawfully expended or applied within the meaning of section seven of the Public Revenues Amendment Act, 1912, and the provisions of that section or any provisions that may hereafter be substituted therefor shall apply with respect thereto accordingly.

Until other provision is made in that behalf under this Act, all harbour dues which at the commencement of this Act are payable by law within any harbour shall continue to be levied and shall be payable and paid as if the same had been made payable by this Act.

Harbour dues shall be made by by-laws in the manner provided by this Act, and shall be chargeable equally to all persons in respect of the same description of ships, the same description of voyage, and the same description of goods.

Except as provided by sections two hundred and four and two hundred and five of the Customs Law Act, 1908, no foreign ship employed in the coasting trade of New Zealand, nor any goods carried in such ship, shall, during the time such ship is so employed, be subject to any higher or other rate of harbour dues, or other charges whatsoever, or to any other rules as to the employment of pilots, or any other rules or restrictions whatsoever, than British ships employed in like manner, or goods carried in such ships.

No exemption from dues (including under that term every privilege of paying smaller dues than the public at large under like circumstances) shall be allowed in any harbour on account of any of the following reasons, that is to say:—

No Board shall levy any dues unless the dues levied are applied to some shipping purpose the benefit whereof is enjoyed by the ships or goods on which such dues are levied.

In this section the term “shipping purpose” includes—

No Board shall take any dues in respect of any wharf, dock, pier, quay, or other harbour-work until such work is completed so far as to be fit for the reception of ships, or for whatever purpose it or any part of it is intended.

The Board shall not levy any rate or toll within the limits of any harbour or harbour district other than that over which the Board has jurisdiction:

Provided that this section shall not affect the right of the Board to levy and collect any rate or toll made or levied under the authority of any Act before the coming into operation of this Act as security for any loan.

The Board shall, before taking any dues, publicly exhibit and at all times keep exhibited full particulars of the dues for the time being payable, and for this purpose shall either—

If any Board fails to comply with the requirements of this section it shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds for every day during which such failure continues.

Where any ship is registered at a port in the United Kingdom or any British possession, the amount of tonnage specified in the certificate of such registry shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be the tonnage of such ship.

In the case of ships of any foreign country which has adopted the provisions of the Imperial Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, in respect of the measurement of tonnage, such ships shall be deemed to be of the tonnage denoted in their certificates of registry or other national papers.

Where any question arises as to the tonnage of any ship not registered as aforesaid, any officer of Customs, or other person appointed in that behalf by the Collector of Customs, at the port in which such ship then is may measure such ship, and such officer or person in so doing shall follow the law regulating the measurement of shipping for the time being in force in New Zealand.

A Board may by by-law provide that all or any harbour dues payable on the registered tonnage of ships shall, in the case of any British or foreign ship (not being a home-trade ship within the meaning of the Shipping and Seamen Act, 1908) which carries as cargo in any uncovered space upon deck, or in any covered space not included in the cubical contents forming the ship’s registered tonnage, any timber, stores, or other goods, except fresh fruit, be payable as if there were added to the ship’s registered tonnage the tonnage of the space occupied by such goods at the time at which such dues become payable.

The tonnage so to be added shall be determined in the manner prescribed by section two hundred and twenty-two of the Shipping and Seamen Act, 1908.

Any by-law made under this section may apply with respect to dues already made as well as to dues hereafter made.

Where a difference arises between the person authorized to collect any such dues and the owner of goods respecting the weight or quantity of any goods liable to dues,—

The following persons shall be liable to pay the dues payable by or in respect of any ship, that is to say: The owner and master, and any consignee or agent thereof who has paid or made himself liable to pay any other charge on account of such ship in the port of her arrival or discharge, or in the port from which she clears outwards.

The following persons shall be liable to pay the dues payable in respect of any goods carried in any ship, that is to say: The owner of such goods, and any consignor, consignee, shipper, or agent for the sale or custody of such goods, and any person entitled to the possession of such goods either as owner or agent for the owner, and in the case of goods landed from a ship upon any wharf, and not claimed within seven days thereafter, the persons mentioned in the last preceding section.

The consignor and consignee of any goods carried in a ship shall, until the contrary is shown, be deemed to be the persons so named in the ship’s manifest.

Every consignor, consignee, shipper, or agent (not being the owner or master of any ship or goods) by this Act made liable for the payment of any dues in respect of such ship or goods, as the case may be, may, out of any moneys in his hands received on account of such ship or goods, or belonging to the owner thereof, retain the amount of dues so paid by him, together with any reasonable expenses he may have incurred by reason of such payment and liability.

A Board may give to any person credit for not more than three months for any dues:

Provided that sufficient security shall be taken, previously to the giving of credit, for payment by such person of the dues for which the credit is given.

A Board may, by by-laws made in the manner provided by this Act, prescribe the nature of the security and the terms and conditions on which credit may be given, and impose fines for any breach or non-observance thereof.

If any master, owner, consignor, consignee, shipper, or agent evades or attempts to evade the payment of any dues, he shall be liable to a fine, either not exceeding ten pounds, or in case the amount of the dues which he has evaded or has attempted to evade exceeds ten pounds, then not exceeding such amount

The Collector of Customs may refuse to receive any entry or give any shipping bill, discharge, or clearance, or to take any report inwards or outwards, of any ship liable to dues payable to a Board, until the master of the ship produces to him a certificate, under the hand of the collector of such dues, that the dues so payable in respect of the ship have been paid, or, if there is any difference as to the dues payable, until such Collector of Customs is satisfied that sufficient security has been given for the payment of the dues when ascertained, and of the expenses arising from non-payment thereof.

All dues payable to the Board may be recovered by the Board as a debt in any Court of competent jurisdiction.

Any person authorized to collect dues may distrain any ship and the tackle thereof, or any goods in respect of which dues are payable, and may keep such ship and tackle or goods respectively until such dues are paid; and, if the same are not paid within seven days after the distress, may cause the property distrained or any part thereof to be sold, and out of the proceeds of sale may pay the amount of such dues and the expenses of the distress, keeping, and sale.

The power given under this section is in addition to the other remedies by this Act provided for the recovery of dues.

If after such distress, and before payment of the dues distrained for, the ship distrained is taken out of the harbour, the owner, agent, master, or other person in charge of the ship shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds, or not exceeding the amount distrained for together with the expenses of and incident to the distress, whichever sum is the greater.

Where a difference arises concerning the amount of any dues payable, or of the charges occasioned by any distress, the person distraining may detain the ship, tackle, or goods distrained until such amount is ascertained by a Magistrate’s Court, or until he is satisfied that sufficient security has been given for the payment of such amount when ascertained and of the expenses arising from non-payment thereof.

Such Court shall, on application made for that purpose, determine such amount, and award such costs to be paid by either party to the other as the Court thinks reasonable.

In respect of any harbour light, signal, buoy, or beacon heretofore maintained by the Government, or by any Board, or which may hereafter, with the sanction of the Minister, be maintained, erected, or placed in any harbour by any Board, the Governor-General in Council may—

And reduce, alter, or increase all such ducs.

The dues so fixed as aforesaid shall be paid accordingly by the master of the said ship or other person or persons by whom the said dues if levied in respect of coastal lights would be payable, and shall be recoverable in the same manner as coastal light dues are recoverable.

All dues leviable under the last preceding section shall be applied for the purposes of the construction, placing, maintenance, and improvement of the harbour lights, or signals, or buoys, or beacons, in respect of which the same are levied, and for no other purpose.

The Board to whom such dues are paid shall keep a separate account of the receipt and expenditure of such dues, and shall once in every year, or at such other time as the Minister determines, send a copy of such account to the Marine Department, in such form and with such particulars in relation thereto as the Minister requires.

Nothing in this Act shall charge with any dues—

Every person who claims and takes the benefit, or endeavours to take the benefit, of any exemption under this section without being entitled thereto is liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

In this section “dues” extends to all dock dues or rates leviable under this Act or any other Act now or hereafter in force, but does not include any sums actually expended by a Board for labour or material in connection with the docking or slipping of a vessel.

Vessels engaged in the whale-fisheries, yachts, and missionary ships not trading to or from any ports in New Zealand, and not conveying goods for hire, shall be exempt from all harbour dues except for services rendered by the officers or servants of the Board, and from pilotage rates, except where the services of a pilot are actually made use of.

Vessels putting into any port in distress or through stress of weather, or for water or provisions, or to refit, or for the purpose of docking only, and vessels calling at any port for orders, shall be exempt from all harbour dues, except for berthage, storage, dock, slip, or other accommodation actually provided and for services rendered by the officers and servants of the Board, and from pilotage rates, except where the services of a pilot are actually made use of:

Provided that if, after any vessel has put into port under circumstances conferring on it exemption from harbour dues and pilotage rates, any of its cargo is discharged for purposes of sale or any fresh cargo is taken on board in that port, the vessel shall thereupon become liable for such dues and rates as from the date of its entry into the port.

If any other vessel (whether laden with cargo or in ballast) for which harbour dues have been paid is obliged, from stress of weather or other sufficient cause, after leaving the harbour to return thereto with the same cargo or ballast, no further dues shall be payable, except for services rendered by the officers or servants of the Board.

The Board may from time to time make by-laws providing that harbour-improvement rates, not exceeding in any case two shillings and sixpence a ton by weight or by measurement, as expressed in such by-law, shall be levied upon all or any goods discharged at or shipped from the port.

Such by-laws may prescribe—

Where under any Act or Ordinance power is given to a Board to make and levy a rate for any purpose connected with a harbour, or to provide for the payment of interest and sinking fund on money borrowed in respect of such harbour, by levying a rate on lands or other rateable property as described in such Act or Ordinance (hereinafter referred to as the Board’s rating-area) every such rate shall be made and levied in the manner prescribed by the Rating Act, 1908; and for that purpose the Board shall be deemed to be a local authority within the meaning of that Act.

If the Board’s rating-area comprises the district or part of the district of more than one local authority, the rate may be made and levied upon the valuation rolls of each such district; but no such rate shall exceed the limit fixed as the maximum amount of the rate by any special Act authorizing the Board to make and levy the rate, or if no such limit is fixed by any such special Act, then the sum of three farthings in the pound on the capital value of the rateable property of the district, or its equivalent on the unimproved value or annual value, according to the system of rating in force in the district.

In lieu of itself making and levying any rate as aforesaid, the Board may by special resolution direct such rate, to an amount fixed by the resolution but not exceeding the maximum amount authorized, to be made and levied within the Board’s rating-area, and in that case and while such resolution remains unrevoked the rate shall be made, levied, and collected on behalf of the Board by the local authorities within the Board’s rating-area in manner as hereinafter mentioned.

Where the Board, in lieu of itself making and levying any rate, by special resolution directs such rate to be made and levied, and fixes the amount in the pound of such rate, it shall cause a copy of such special resolution to be forwarded separately to each local authority within the limits of whose jurisdiction the Board’s rating-area or any part thereof affected by such rate is situate.

Every such local authority shall forthwith proceed to make, levy, and collect such rate in the part or parts of the Board’s ratingarea within its jurisdiction in such manner, as nearly as may be, and with such powers, and the rate shall be payable by and recoverable from such persons and in such manner in every respect, as if the limits of the jurisdiction of such local authority were coincident with such part or parts of the Board’s rating-area, and as if the rate were to be levied by such local authority for its own purposes under the powers of rating then by law vested in it.

Where any person is liable to be rated in respect of property lying partly within and partly without the Board’s rating-area, the local authority within whose jurisdiction such property is situate shall deduct from the amount of the rates that would be levied on the property if it were wholly within the rating-area such part as it, in its absolute discretion, thinks fit.

The local authority may, for the purpose of collecting any such rate, make an adjustment thereof according to the system of rating in force, upon the basis that one shilling in the pound on the annual value is equivalent to three farthings in the pound on the capital value.

All such rates shall be held by every local authority as trustee for the Board, and shall be handed over to such Board as collected:

Provided that every such local authority shall be entitled to retain all reasonable costs and expenses incurred in and about making and levying, collecting, and recovering the rates, and a reasonable remuneration for clerical and other work; and if any dispute arises as to the amount so to be retained or otherwise in relation thereto the same shall be decided by such person as the Governor-General appoints for the purpose.

If any local authority refuses or neglects to make and levy and to take all necessary steps to collect and recover any such rate as aforesaid, every member thereof at the time of such neglect or refusal shall be liable to a fine of fifty pounds.

The Board may expend moneys out of the Harbour Fund in and about preparing and passing through Parliament, or opposing in its passage through Parliament, any Bill in cases where the interests of the Board are concerned.

Except as otherwise provided in the case of the Chairman, no member of a Board shall be paid any remuneration for his services as a member of such Board, nor in respect of his attendance at any meetings thereof; but he may be paid the amount of expenses actually incurred in travelling to or from any such meeting, or to or from any meeting of any committee of the Board, or on any business of the Board that is authorized by the Board.

A Harbour Board affiliated to the Harbours Association of New Zealand may from time to time, out of its Harbour Fund, pay the annual subscription of the Board to the association and the actual reasonable travelling-expenses, properly vouched, of its representatives incurred in attending meetings of the conference and of the executive.

The Board shall cause books to be provided and kept, and true and regular accounts to be entered therein of all sums received and paid by the Board by virtue of this Act or any special Act and of the several purposes for which such sums were received and paid; and such books shall at all reasonable times be open without fee or reward to the inspection of any of the members of the Board and any debenture holder or creditor of the Board.

Any member of the Board and any such debenture-holder or creditor may take copies of or extracts from the said books without paying anything for the same.

Any officer or other person having the custody of such books who does not, on the reasonable demand of any member of the Board or of any such debenture-holder or creditor, permit him to inspect the said books, or to take such copies or extracts as aforesaid, is liable to a fine of five pounds for each such offence.

The accounts of the Harbour Fund shall be kept under the several heads as follow:—

If the balance in any of the said accounts other than the General Account is at any time insufficient to meet the lawful charges thereon, the Board may transfer from the General Account such sums as may be necessary to meet such charges, and may at any time repay any such advance out of any excess in the receipts over the liabilities of any such account.

Except as provided by this section, no transfer shall be made from any one to any other of the accounts above mentioned.

The Board may, in any case where it is deemed advisable that any sum of money at credit of any account should be placed on deposit at interest, deposit such sum of money with the Public Trustee or any bank approved by the Board, or, with the consent of the Governor-General in Council, may deposit such sum with any incorporated building society or any investment company whose business includes the receipt of money on deposit.

Notwithstanding anything hereinbefore contained, the Board may appropriate in any year any part of the Harbour Fund, not appropriated for any special purpose, towards the creation of a special fund to provide for the following contingencies:—

The Board may invest all moneys so appropriated, and the interest and profits accruing therefrom, in such securities as it from time to time determines.

The Board may at any time and from time to time repay into the Harbour Fund the whole or any part of the moneys so appropriated or invested and the accumulations thereof, except in the case of moneys set apart for the contingencies mentioned in paragraph (e) of subsection one hereof.

Every Harbour Board shall in every year cause its accounts to be balanced to the thirty-first day of December in each year, and a true statement and account to be made out of all contracts entered into, and of all moneys received or expended by virtue of this Act or any special Act during the preceding year, and of all its available assets, and of all debts then owing by it.

Notwithstanding anything in the last preceding section or section one hundred hereof, the annual statement and account required to be made by the last preceding section shall, in the case of the Greymouth Harbour Board, be made in respect of the period of twelve months ending on the thirty-first day of March in each year, and the said statement and account shall be produced at a meeting of the said Board to be held during the first week in May in each year, or at some adjournment thereof.

Except as otherwise provided in this section, the provisions of the said sections shall, with the necessary modifications, apply to the Harbour Board hereinbefore referred to.

Forthwith after the drawing-out and balancing of such statement and account they shall be laid before the Audit Office, which office shall be the auditor of the Board.

The statement and account referred to in the last preceding section, audited as mentioned in that section, and either allowed or disallowed by the Audit Office, shall be produced at a meeting of the Board to be held at the office of the Board at noon on the third Monday in March in each year, or at some adjournment thereof, at which meeting all holders of debentures, creditors, and other persons interested may be present.

Such statement and account, if and when adopted at such meeting or adjournment, shall be signed by the Chairman, and three copies thereof shall be sent to the Minister, who shall within ten days after receipt thereof lay the same before Parliament if sitting, and if not, then within ten days after the commencement of the next ensuing session.

The statement so signed shall be publicly notified at least once, or, at the option of the Board, a notice stating that the statement will be open for inspection during office hours at the office of the Board for a period of not less than thirty days shall be publicly notified at least twice.

A copy of the statement shall be furnished by the Secretary to the Board on demand, without fee, to any holder of debentures or creditor of the Board.

Where by any special Act power has been or is given to a Harbour Board to borrow money, then, subject to the provisions of such special Act, such power shall be exercised in the manner and subject to the conditions of this Act.

Where such power was given by any repealed Act or Ordinance, then in so far as the power has not been fully exercised it may be exercised notwithstanding such repeal; and in the case of every Board affected by this provision the powers conferred by this Act shall be deemed to have been conferred by special Act.

All rights in respect of moneys borrowed by a Board, or the interest due or to accrue due thereon, and all remedies for enforcing the payment of such moneys or interest, shall and may be exercised against the Board by the holders of any mortgage, bond, debenture, or other security issued under any repealed Act or Ordinance authorizing the borrowing as effectually as if the same had been issued under the authority of this Act and a special Act.

In order to raise the money which by any special Act the Board is authorized to raise, the Board may issue debentures under the common seal of the Board to the extent specified in the special Act.

Every debenture issued under this Act shall be in the form numbered (1) in the Third Schedule hereto or to the effect thereof, and shall be numbered consecutively so that no two debentures shall at any time bear the same number, and shall be for a sum of not less than twenty pounds.

No such debenture shall be sold at such a price as will produce to the purchaser an interest of more than seven per centum per annum on the price paid.

Every debenture shall be repayable, both as to the principal and interest, at a place within or out of New Zealand named in the debenture, and at a time named therein not longer than fifty years from the issue thereof; and shall state on the face thereof the funds upon which the principal and interest are secured.

The interest on every debenture shall not exceed seven per centum per annum on the amount thereof, and shall be payable half-yearly or otherwise; and separate coupons for each sum so payable, in the form numbered (2) in the Third Schedule hereto or to the effect thereof, and numbered consecutively for each debenture, shall be attached thereto.

The signatures to coupons attached to debentures issued under this Act may be made by facsimiles thereof in lithograph or such other manner to represent the signature of the person signing such coupon; but no advantage shall be taken of this provision, and no coupon shall be issued until the original debenture has been signed by the person whose signature is represented on such coupon.

Debentures and coupons respectively shall be transferable by delivery; and payment to any person in possession of any such debenture or coupon of the sum named therein shall discharge the Board from all liability in respect of such debenture or coupon.

The Board may appoint any company, or any two or more persons, within or out of New Zealand, to be agents for raising and managing any loan authorized to be raised under any special Act; and such agents shall have full power to raise such loans by bonds, debentures, or otherwise in such manner, at such times, in such parts, and upon such terms and conditions as the Board directs, and to give and grant any necessary discharge or acquittance for the moneys raised under any such loan, or otherwise to dispose of moneys as the Board prescribes.

All such bonds and debentures shall be signed by the Chairman and countersigned by the Treasurer of the Board, or shall be signed by the agents (if any) for raising the loan.

Pending the raising of any moneys authorized to be raised, the Board or, as the case may be, the agents raising the same may borrow any sum or sums of money, not exceeding the whole amount then authorized to be raised, by the hypothecation or mortgage of any debentures hereby authorized to be issued; but all moneys so borrowed shall be a first charge upon and shall be repaid out of the loan when raised.

All such debentures and the interest payable thereon shall be a first charge upon all moneys in the Harbour Fund, excepting moneys theretofore pledged as security for any loans or appropriated to any special purpose.

In addition to any security hereby authorized, the Board may from time to time pledge or otherwise give security over the proceeds and profits of Crown lands set aside as endowments as herein provided, in such manner as the Board thinks fit; and, in the event of the Board so doing, such proceeds and profits shall be paid by the Receiver of Land Revenue to such Trustees or other persons as may be agreed upon between the Board and the holder of the security.

Where power is given to a Board by any Act to borrow money on the security of any land by mortgage, and it appears to the Board that such money could be more advantageously obtained by the issue of debentures, the Governor-General in Council, on being satisfied as to the nature of the transaction and the validity of the securities, may authorize the Board applying to him in that behalf to issue debentures from time to time for any sums not exceeding the amount originally authorized to be borrowed or not exceeding the said amount less any portion thereof that is already borrowed.

Every such debenture shall be subject to the provisions of the Act authorizing the loan and of this Act; and on the issue of any such debentures all the powers contained in the first-mentioned Act authorizing the raising of money on mortgage shall absolutely cease and determine in respect of and be reduced by an amount of money equivalent to the amount of the debentures issued under the authority of any such Order in Council.

Before raising any loan the Board may make provision for the repayment thereof either—

In order to provide funds for the creation of a sinking fund or for the repayment of debentures coming due by periodical drawings, the Board may permanently appropriate any part of the Harbour Fund not appropriated for any special purpose.

The Board shall appoint, and may from time to time remove and reappoint, Commissioners within or out of New Zealand to whom it shall pay all moneys so appropriated as a sinking fund or for the repayment of debentures as above provided.

Such Commissioners may be the Public Trustee alone, or may include any company within or out of New Zealand as one of such Commissioners.