Page 3069 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 22 August 2017
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I will now refer to the present procedures for claims for compensation in order to highlight some of the problems currently being experienced. When land is acquired by compulsory process, the landowner and other people who hold an interest in that land are entitled to compensation. The amount of compensation is determined under section 45 of the act and related provisions in division 6.2. The process for effecting a payment of compensation is currently triggered by the interest holder, such as the person whose lands have been acquired, making a claim under section 56 of the act. If the interest holder does not make a claim then the compensation process does not commence and no payment of compensation occurs.
Currently, there is no time limit on the making of a claim under section 56. It is possible for land to be acquired under the act with no follow-up claim for compensation to be made for years afterwards, or indeed at all. If no claim is made, it is not currently possible for the territory to step in with a formal offer of compensation. The territory cannot take statutory action to bring the compensation matter to resolution. This has implications for both the interest holder and the territory. It means that the territory can have a liability for compensation of an uncertain, undefined amount for an indefinite time period. This is not in anyone’s interest. It is contrary to the need for timely payment of compensation to the interest holder, the efficient administration of the territory’s finances and the efficient administration of the Lands Acquisition Act.
Consistent with section 45 of the act, the amount of compensation potentially includes legal or other professional costs reasonably incurred by the person in relation to the acquisition. As the act currently stands, these costs could potentially increase for an indefinite period, to the cost of the territory. This delay in determining compensation payable is not consistent with one of the principles behind the making of the original act—that is, the completion of the acquisition of land process expeditiously.
With this in mind, I now turn to the key amendments. The amendments made by this bill address these issues in the following way. The proposed measure in the bill applies if three years elapse since the acquisition of the land and a claim for compensation has still not been made. The bill makes it possible for the executive, after this three-year period, to make an offer of compensation to the person whose interest in the land has been acquired. This is the effect of new section 61A, inserted by clause 5. New section 61A(3) requires the offer to be made by written notice, setting out the quantum of the compensation on offer and the methodology used by the executive in determining the compensation amount.
Importantly, the making of an offer by the executive in this circumstance has a particular effect. If the executive makes an offer under new section 61A, the interest holder loses the right to initiate the compensation process by making a claim for compensation under section 56 of the act. This is the effect of new section 61A(4) in clause 5.
In this way the proposed measure facilitates the compensation process because it permits the executive to effectively kickstart the compensation process with a formal
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