(1) This Act may be cited as the Chatham Islands Council Act 1995.

(2) Except as provided in section 8(7), this Act shall come into force on 1 November 1995.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

The Chatham Islands County Council is hereby dissolved.

The Chatham Islands County is hereby abolished.

There is hereby constituted a district, to be known as The Chatham Islands Territory, which district comprises the islands known as the Chatham Islands and the area of the territorial sea adjoining those islands.

A territorial authority to be known as the Chatham Islands Council is hereby constituted for the Chatham Islands Territory.

(1) Except as otherwise provided under this or any other Act, the Chatham Islands Council has the functions, duties, and powers of—

• (a) a territorial authority under—

  • (i) the Local Government Act 2002; and

  • (ii) the Local Government Act 1974; and

  • (iii) the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002; and

  • (iv) the Resource Management Act 1991; and

  • (v) any other public Act; and

• (b) a regional council under the Resource Management Act 1991; and

• (c) a regional authority under the Building Act 2004.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in this Act or any other Act, the Chatham Islands Council shall have the functions, duties, and powers conferred on the former council by or under any Act that is for the time being in force.

(1) The first election of the Chatham Islands Council shall be held on 14 October 1995 and the members of the Chatham Islands Council to be elected at that first election shall comprise a Mayor and 8 other members.

(2) For the purposes of the first election of the Chatham Islands Council, the Returning Officer and the principal administrative officer for the Chatham Islands Territory shall be respectively the Returning Officer and the principal administrative officer for the Chatham Islands County.

(3) The first election of the Chatham Islands Council shall be conducted by postal voting.

(4) Notwithstanding section 6 of the Local Elections and Polls Act 1976, every member of the Chatham Islands Council who is elected at the first election of members of the Chatham Islands Council shall come into office on the later of—

• (a) 1 November 1995; or

• (b) the day next after the day on which he or she is declared to be elected by the Returning Officer.

(5) Notwithstanding section 4 of the Local Elections and Polls Act 1976, no election of the Chatham Islands County Council shall be held on 14 October 1995.

(6) Every member of the Chatham Islands County Council shall, unless he or she sooner vacates office by reason of death, resignation, retirement, or disqualification, vacate his or her office as a member of the Chatham Islands County Council when the members of the Chatham Islands Council elected at the first election of the Chatham Islands Council come into office.

(7) This section shall come into force on the day on which this Act receives the Royal assent.

Where the Chatham Islands Council is required to give public notice under any Act, that public notice shall consist of—

• (a) notices or placards affixed to a noticeboard that is accessible to the public without charge in Waitangi, Kaingaroa, Owenga, and Pitt Island; and

• (b) broadcasts transmitted on not less than 2 days on radio or television received generally within the Chatham Islands Territory (with 2 or more broadcasts on each of those days), which broadcasts shall specify—

  • (i) that the Chatham Islands Council is giving public notice; and

  • (ii) the general effect of the notice; and

  • (iii) each of the locations at which the public notice can be accessed under paragraph (a) and each of the places at which copies of the notice can be obtained.

Where the Chatham Islands Council adopts a report under section 10 or section 11, the Chatham Islands Council—

• (a) shall make that report available for public inspection at its office; and

• (b) shall make copies of that report available to the public—

  • (i) free of charge; or

  • (ii) at a reasonable charge; and

• (c) shall, within 20 working days after its adoption, send copies of that plan and report to—

  • (i) the Secretary for Local Government; and

  • (ii) the Controller and Auditor-General; and

  • (iii) the Parliamentary Library.

(1) The Chatham Islands Council shall adopt financial systems and reporting and record keeping procedures in accordance with this section and shall in addition establish and maintain a system of internal control designed to provide reasonable assurance as to the integrity and reliability of financial reporting of the Chatham Islands Council.

(2) The Chatham Islands Council shall adopt financial systems and reporting and record keeping procedures that shall—

• (a) identify the expenses, revenues, and financial performance of the various activities of the Chatham Islands Council and of each of its significant activities:

• (b) correctly record and correctly explain the transactions of the Chatham Islands Council:

• (c) at any time enable the financial position of the Chatham Islands Council to be determined with reasonable accuracy:

• (d) enable a fair reflection of the financial position and performance of the Chatham Islands Council to be presented at the end of the financial year:

• (e) enable the financial statements for the Chatham Islands Council to be readily and properly audited:

• (f) show in a full and complete manner—

  • (i) all revenue and expenses:

  • (ii) all assets and liabilities including contingent liabilities and guarantees:

  • (iii) the application of all funds held or received for any particular purpose (such as special funds, rates, targeted rates, and trusts) and the amount and location of such funds while held by the Chatham Islands Council:

• (g) enable the Chatham Islands Council to prepare the funding and financial policies required by section 102 of the Local Government Act 2002 and to comply with the principles of financial management set out in section 101 of the Local Government Act 2002.

(3) Nothing in section 223F of the Local Government Act 1974 applies in respect of the Chatham Islands Council.

(1) The Chatham Islands Council may, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, levy dues on goods imported into or exported from the Chatham Islands Territory by any means whatsoever.

(2) The Chatham Islands Council may from time to time decide, not less than 14 days after giving public notice of its intention to do so, to fix by resolution rates of dues payable under this section.

(3) Without limiting the powers conferred upon the Chatham Islands Council by this section, the Chatham Islands Council, by a resolution that levies dues under this Act and is made not less than 14 days after the Council has given public notice of its intention to do so, may—

• (a) provide for dues to be levied on—

  • (i) any specified goods:

  • (ii) goods of any specified class or classes:

  • (iii) all goods except goods of a specified class or of specified classes:

  • (iv) all goods imported into or exported from the Chatham Islands Territory by any means whatsoever:

• (b) provide for dues to be levied at different rates in respect of different goods or different classes of goods or both:

• (c) specify, in relation to goods imported into or exported from any island within the Chatham Islands Territory, a rate of dues that is different from that payable in respect of goods imported into or exported from the other islands within the Chatham Islands Territory:

• (d) specify, in relation to goods carried by sea, a rate of dues that is different from that payable in respect of goods carried by air:

• (e) specify the basis of measurement by which the amount of the dues payable in respect of any specified goods or any specified class of goods is to be determined:

• (f) specify the period of time within which dues on any goods or any class of goods are to be paid:

• (g) specify any goods or any classes of goods in respect of which dues are not payable:

• (h) specify circumstances in which dues are not to be payable in respect of any goods.

All money received by the Chatham Islands Council from council dues collected in accordance with this Act shall form part of the general revenues of the Chatham Islands Council.

(1) The persons jointly and severally liable to pay council dues in respect of any goods carried in any ship or aircraft are as follows:

• (a) the owner of the goods:

• (b) any consignor, consignee, shipper, or agent for the sale or custody of the goods:

• (c) any person entitled to the possession of the goods either as owner or agent for the owner:

• (d) in the case of goods landed from a ship or unloaded from an aircraft and not claimed within 7 days thereafter, the owner and master of the ship or, as the case may be, the owner and pilot of the aircraft.

(2) The consignor and consignee of any goods carried in a ship or aircraft shall, until the contrary is shown, be deemed to be the persons so named in the manifest of the ship or aircraft, as the case may be.

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Chatham Islands Council may from time to time, by written notice given to any person (being a person who operates a ship or aircraft between the Chatham Islands Territory and any other part of New Zealand), require that person to collect, on behalf of the Chatham Islands Council, any council dues payable in respect of goods imported into or exported from the Chatham Islands Territory on any ship or aircraft operated by that person.

(3A) A person required by notice under subsection (3) to collect council dues on behalf of the Chatham Islands Council—

• (a) holds the dues collected in trust for the Chatham Islands Council; and

• (b) must pay those dues into a separate account at a bank.

(4) A person in respect of whom a notice under subsection (3) is in force—

• (a) shall be entitled to reimbursement of all reasonable costs and expenses (including reasonable remuneration for clerical and other work) incurred in collecting dues and in complying with subsection (5); and

• (b) may, with the agreement of the Chatham Islands Council, retain, in payment of the reimbursement to which that person is entitled under paragraph (a), an agreed amount or proportion of any council dues collected by that person.

(5) Where any person is required by a notice given under subsection (3), to collect council dues payable in respect of goods carried on any ship or aircraft, that person shall, within 28 days after the end of each month in which any council dues are collected by that person, pay to the Chatham Islands Council the amount of the council dues so collected (less any amount retained by that person in accordance with any agreement entered into under subsection (4)(b)) and shall deliver to the Chatham Islands Council, at the same time, a return setting forth—

• (a) particulars of the goods in respect of which the council dues were paid; and

• (b) the dates on which the council dues were paid to that person; and

• (c) the names of the persons by whom the council dues were paid; and

• (d) the dates on which the goods were imported into or exported from the Chatham Islands Territory; and

• (e) particulars of the ships or aircraft on which the goods were carried; and

• (f) the amounts (if any) retained by that person in accordance with any agreement entered into under subsection (4)(b); and

• (g) such other relevant particulars as the Chatham Islands Council may from time to time require.

(5A) If a person required by notice under subsection (3) to collect council dues does not pay them to the Chatham Islands Council in accordance with subsection (5), the Chatham Islands Council may—

• (a) add to the amount owing a penalty of 10% of the amount owing; but

• (b) remit all or part of a penalty added under paragraph (a).

(5B) Subsection (5A) applies only to council dues that are payable 3 months or more after the commencement of the Chatham Islands Council Amendment Act 2002.

(6) The Chatham Islands Council may at any time revoke a notice given under subsection (3) by giving to the person to whom that notice was given a written notice revoking the notice given under subsection (3).

(7) Every person commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,500—

• (a) who fails to comply with a notice under subsection (3); or

• (b) who fails to comply with subsection (5).

Every person referred to in section 16 who is liable to pay council dues under this Act (other than the owner of the goods) may, out of any money in his or her hands received on account of those goods or belonging to the owner thereof, retain the amount of any council dues so paid by that person, together with any reasonable expenses that that person may have incurred by reason of the payment and liability.

(1) Where a ship or aircraft is to arrive in the Chatham Islands Territory, the master in command of the ship or the pilot in command of the aircraft or the agent of the master or pilot in command shall, before the arrival of the ship or aircraft at its destination in the Chatham Islands Territory, transmit to the Chatham Islands Council, or an officer or agent of the Chatham Islands Council, by facsimile or other means of communication, a copy of the bills of lading, freight lists, or manifest of the goods intended to be landed from the ship or aircraft, or other proper account of all goods intended to be landed from the ship or aircraft, and the name or names of the consignees to whom the goods are intended to be delivered.

(2) Every such bill of lading, freight list, manifest, or other account—

• (a) shall contain full particulars of the number of items, weights, or measurements of the goods, according as freight is payable thereon by number, weight, or measurement; and

• (b) shall show the amount of the freight charge.

(3) Every person exporting goods from the Chatham Islands Territory shall, before the goods are loaded on the ship or aircraft, deliver to the chief executive of the Chatham Islands Council, or other person nominated by the Chatham Islands Council, a true and full account of all the goods, containing full particulars of the number of items, weights, or measurements of the goods as required by the Chatham Islands Council (which account shall include the amount of the freight charge).

The Chatham Islands Council may, for the purpose of ensuring that council dues are paid, verify the goods being imported into or exported from the Chatham Islands Territory.

(1) The Chatham Islands Council may, for the purposes of section 19, from time to time appoint any officer or agent of the Council as a Verification Officer.

(2) Where any Verification Officer has reasonable cause to believe that any goods on which council dues are payable are being transported, or have been transported, or are to be transported by ship or aircraft to or from the Chatham Islands Territory, that Verification Officer may, for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of any information provided to the Chatham Islands Council or its officer or agent under section 18,—

• (a) require any such ship or aircraft to be stopped:

• (b) search any such ship or aircraft:

• (c) open, or require to be opened, any container that—

  • (i) is being transported on any such ship or aircraft; or

  • (ii) has been transported on any such ship or aircraft; or

  • (iii) is to be transported on any such ship or aircraft.

(3) Every person commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,500 who wilfully obstructs or hinders any Verification Officer in the execution of his or her duties.

(1) The Chatham Islands Council shall supply to every officer or agent appointed as a Verification Officer under section 20 a written warrant under the seal of the Chatham Islands Council evidencing that the appointed officer or agent has the authority vested in a Verification Officer by that section.

(2) The production by any person of the warrant provided under subsection (1) shall be sufficient proof of that person's authority to act as a Verification Officer.

(3) Every Verification Officer shall, if so required, produce the warrant supplied to that Verification Officer under subsection (1) before exercising any power under section 20.

(4) Every person appointed as a Verification Officer shall, on the termination of his or her appointment, surrender to the Chatham Islands Council the warrant supplied to that person under subsection (1).

Every person commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,500 who, not being the holder of a warrant under section 21, represents himself or herself to be a Verification Officer.

(1) Every person commits an offence who, being a master, owner, consignor, consignee, shipper, aircraft pilot, or agent,—

• (a) evades or attempts to evade the payment of any council dues; or

• (b) makes a false declaration in respect of any goods liable to payment of council dues.

(2) Every person who commits an offence against subsection (1) is liable on conviction—

• (a) to a fine not exceeding $1,500; or

• (b) where the amount of the council dues which that person has evaded or attempted to evade or in respect of which that person has made a false declaration exceeds $1,500, to a fine not exceeding the amount of those dues.

(3) The imposition on any person of a fine upon that person's conviction for an offence against subsection (1) does not preclude the Chatham Islands Council from recovering the amount of any unpaid council dues in respect of any goods to which the offence related.

The amount of any unpaid council dues may be recovered by the Chatham Islands Council as a debt in any court of competent jurisdiction from any person liable to pay them under this Act.

(1) Council dues under this Act may be levied and collected in addition to any levies and charges made pursuant to this Act or any other Act.

(2) The Chatham Islands Council may appoint the same officer or agent to collect both council dues and any other fees, charges, or dues which it is empowered to charge or levy by virtue of any other Act.

(1) The Chatham Islands Council shall have a single resource management document.

(2) That document shall contain all that information that the Resource Management Act 1991 requires be contained in—

• (a) a regional policy statement; and

• (b) a regional coastal plan; and

• (c) a district plan.

(3) That document may contain, in addition, provision for—

• (a) such matters as are provided for in section 67 of the Resource Management Act 1991; and

• (b) regional rules made in accordance with section 68 of the Resource Management Act 1991.

(4) The Chatham Islands Council may develop, in addition to the document specified in subsection (1), one or more regional plans in accordance with section 65 of the Resource Management Act 1991.

(5) Notwithstanding section 28(b) of the Resource Management Act 1991, the Minister of Conservation shall have the function of approving such part of the document specified in subsection (1) as relates to the coastal marine area.

(6) The Chatham Islands Council shall publicly notify the proposed Chatham Islands resource management document no later than 2 years after the commencement of this Act.

Where the Resource Management Act 1991, or any regulations made pursuant to that Act, specifies any period of time within which the consent authority or any other person must perform any action in the course of the consent hearing process, and where the consent is required for an activity within the area of the Chatham Islands Territory, that time period shall be extended by 5 working days.

Notwithstanding section 38 of the Resource Management Act 1991, the Chatham Islands Council may authorise—

• (a) any of its officers; or

• (b) any of the officers of the new Ministry or the Ministry of Fisheries or the Department of Conservation or the New Zealand Police, subject to such terms and conditions as to the payment of salary and expenses and as to the appointment of his or her duties as may be agreed between the relevant authorities,—

to carry out all or any of the functions and powers as an enforcement officer under that Act.

(1) The Chatham Islands Council may make bylaws to do all or any of the following things:

• (a) regulate the time when and place at which council dues are payable:

• (b) provide for such other matters as may be necessary to enable the objects of this Act to be carried out effectually.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) limits the power of the Chatham Islands Council to make bylaws under any other Act.

The following enactments are hereby repealed:

• (a) the Chatham Islands County Council Empowering Act 1980:

• (b) the Chatham Islands County Council (Rates and Dues Validation) Act 1991.

Amendment(s) incorporated in the Act(s).

Amendment(s) incorporated in the Act(s).

Amendment(s) incorporated in the Act(s).

The provisions of the Schedule shall apply in respect of the dissolution of the former council and the establishment of the Chatham Islands Council.