This Act may be cited as the Southland Electric-power Supply Act, 1936.

In this Act—

The Minister is hereby empowered, without further appropriation than this section, to pay out of the Public Account, on behalf of the Board, such sums as may be necessary to repay any moneys borrowed by the Board in London and for the time being outstanding.

On the repayment of the moneys aforesaid by the Minister, the Public Trustee shall be deemed to hold, on account of the Minister, the accumulated sinking funds held by him as Commissioner of the Board’s sinking funds established in respect of the said moneys, and shall, if and when directed by the Minister so to do, pay the same into the Public Account to the credit of the Electric Supply Account.

On payment by the Minister in accordance with the last preceding section of the moneys borrowed by the Board in London, the sum of one million three hundred and thirty-two thousand pounds (being the sum which the Board proposed to borrow in London for the repayment of those moneys) shall be deemed to be a debt owing in London by the Board to the Crown.

With respect to the aforesaid sum of one million three hundred and thirty-two thousand pounds, the following special provisions shall apply:—

All moneys paid by way of sinking fund under paragraph (b) of the last preceding subsection shall be credited to the Electric Supply Account, and may be used in the repayment of any moneys borrowed for the purposes of that Account.

The Board may at any time after the fifteenth day of March, nineteen hundred and forty-nine, on giving to the Minister not less than six months’ notice in writing of its intention so to do, repay the amount owing by it to the Crown, and for the purpose of computing the amount owing the following special provisions shall apply, namely:—

As soon as possible after the passing of this Act a poll of the ratepayers of the district shall be taken on a proposal that the undertaking of the Board (together with all its assets and liabilities) be acquired by the Government of New Zealand on behalf of the Crown.

At the poll to be taken under this section the proposal shall be submitted in the form in the Schedule hereto.

Every ratepayer in the district shall be entitled to one vote only, notwithstanding that he may be the occupier of more than one rateable property in the district.

The proposal shall be deemed to be carried if a majority of the valid votes recorded at the poll is in favour thereof, but not otherwise.

For the purposes of the poll under this section an officer of the Public Service shall be appointed as Returning Officer, and the Returning Officer shall make all necessary arrangements for the conduct of the poll.

For the purposes of the poll every local authority within the district shall make its roll of ratepayers available to the Returning Officer, and shall, on demand, supply to the Returning Officer such information and render such clerical or other assistance as he may require.

The poll under this section shall be taken by postal ballot, and the Minister shall, by notice to the Returning Officer, fix a day as the latest day on which the completed voting-papers may be received by the Returning Officer.

On the completion of the poll the Returning Officer shall make a declaration as to the result thereof, and shall forward the same to the Minister, who shall cause notice thereof to be published in the Gazette.

The notice published in the Gazette shall be conclusive evidence of the result of the poll.

The cost of the poll shall be paid out of moneys to be appropriated by Parliament for the purpose.

Every ratepayer, on recording his vote at the poll to be taken under this Act, shall sign a declaration, in the form set out in the Schedule hereto, to the effect that he has not recorded more than one vote at the poll.

Every person who makes a false declaration under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of twenty-five pounds.

If at the poll taken under this Act the proposal is carried that the undertaking of the Board be acquired by the Government of New Zealand on behalf of the Crown, the Governor-General may by Order in Council declare that, on a date to be fixed in that behalf, the district shall be abolished and the Board thereof dissolved.

On the date so fixed the following provisions shall have effect, namely:—

1932, No. 23.

If the title to any land which by this Act is vested in the Crown is subject to the provisions of the Land Transfer Act, 1915, the District Land Registrar shall, on the application of the Minister of Public Works, register His Majesty the King as the proprietor thereof for the estate and interest therein of the Board, and for the purposes of this section the certificate of the said Minister that any property is vested in the Crown by virtue of this Act shall be accepted by the District Land Registrar as sufficient evidence of the fact so certified.

On the transfer to His Majesty of the property of the Board in accordance with the last preceding section, the undertaking theretofore carried on by the Board shall be carried on by the Minister of Public Works in accordance with the provisions of the State Supply of Electrical Energy Act, 1917, and the undertaking and any extensions thereof that may thereafter be made by the said Minister shall, as that Minister may determine, be deemed to be a scheme approved by him in accordance with that Act or be deemed to form part of an existing scheme thereunder.

In addition to all moneys which the Minister of Finance has heretofore been authorized to borrow for the purposes of the State Supply of Electrical Energy Act, 1917, the said Minister may borrow, on the security of and charged upon the public revenues of New Zealand, such sums of money as he thinks fit, not exceeding in the aggregate the sum of one million seven hundred thousand pounds.

The sums so borrowed shall bear interest at such rate as the Minister of Finance prescribes.

All moneys borrowed under the authority of this section shall, as and when borrowed, be paid into the Public Account to the credit of the Electric Supply Account, and may from time to time be applied for the purposes of this Act.

This section shall be deemed to be an authorizing Act within the meaning of the New Zealand Loans Act, 1932, and the moneys herein authorized to be borrowed shall be borrowed under and subject to the provisions of that Act accordingly.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, make regulations for the purposes of the poll to be taken under this Act, and may make all such other regulations as may be deemed necessary for the purpose of giving full effect to this Act.