State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971

This Act may be cited as the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971.

The dictionary in schedule 2 defines particular words used in this Act.

This Act shall be administered by the Minister and, subject to the Minister, by the Coordinator-General.

The Governor in Council, may, by commission under his or her hand and the Public Seal, appoint a person to hold the office of Coordinator-General.

The appointee shall be paid, during his or her tenure of office, a salary at such rate as the Governor in Council determines from time to time.

The Governor in Council may, by commission under his or her hand and the Public Seal, appoint a person or persons to hold the office of Deputy Coordinator-General.

An appointee shall be paid, during his or her tenure of office, a salary at such rate as the Governor in Council determines from time to time.

Subject to this section, an appointee to an office referred to in section 4 or 5 shall hold office for the period fixed by the Governor in Council and specified in the instrument whereby the appointee is appointed but shall be eligible for reappointment thereto unless the appointee has become debarred under any Act from holding or continuing in such office.

A person appointed to an office referred to in section 4 or 5 shall be deemed to have vacated his or her office in the following circumstances—

if the person engages in remunerative employment outside the duties of the office to which the person is appointed;

if the person engages in any trade or business save as a member of a body corporate that consists of more than 20 persons;

if the person becomes bankrupt or takes advantage of the laws in force for the time being relating to bankrupt or insolvent debtors;

if the person absents himself or herself from duty for 14 consecutive working days or for a total of 28 days in any calendar year save on account of illness or pursuant to leave approved by the Minister who is hereby empowered so to do;

if the person is convicted in the State of an indictable offence for which the person is liable to be imprisoned for 12 months at the least or is convicted elsewhere of an offence that, if committed by the person in the State would constitute an indictable offence upon conviction whereof the person would be so liable;

if the person dies;

if the person is concerned in any agreement made for the purposes of this Act save in the person’s capacity as Coordinator-General or, as the case may be, Deputy Coordinator-General or, save as aforesaid, if the person participates in or claims to be entitled to participate in the profits arising from such an agreement;

if the person resigns by signed written notice addressed to the Governor in Council and furnished to the Minister.

However, subsection (1)(a) does not apply to a person if the person’s remunerative employment is—

under another office and because of the person’s appointment to the office mentioned in section 4 or 5; or

as the chief executive.

A person appointed to an office referred to in section 4 or 5 may be removed from office by the Governor in Council on account of misbehaviour, incapacity, or being unfit, in the opinion of the Governor in Council, to hold the office.

This section applies if a Deputy Coordinator-General—

vacates his or her office; or

can not perform the functions of the office of Deputy Coordinator-General because of absence or another reason.

The Minister may appoint a person to act as the Deputy Coordinator-General in place of the person mentioned in subsection (1).

The person appointed under subsection (2) holds office for the term, and on any conditions stated in—

the person’s instrument of appointment; or

a notice signed by the Minister and given to the person.

The term of the appointment—

must be no more than 3 months; and

can not be extended.

In appointing a person to act under this section, the Minister must consult with—

the Coordinator-General; and

Public Sector Commissioner under the Public Sector Act 2022.

The corporation sole constituted under section 8A of the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1938 is hereby preserved, continued in existence and constituted under this Act under the name and style The Coordinator-General.

The corporation sole is constituted by the person who at the material time is the Coordinator-General.

The corporation sole under the name and style assigned to it by this section shall have perpetual succession and an official seal and shall be capable in law of suing and being sued and, subject to this Act, may take, acquire by grant, purchase, take on lease, sell, exchange, lease, assign, transfer, surrender to the Crown and hold property real and personal and may do and suffer all such acts and things as are necessary for the proper exercise and performance of the powers and functions of the Coordinator-General to the same extent as a natural person might do or suffer.

All courts, judges, justices and persons acting in a judicial capacity shall take judicial notice of the appointment of the Coordinator-General and of a Deputy Coordinator-General and of their respective signatures and of the official seal of the Coordinator-General affixed to any document, and, in the absence of proof to the contrary, shall presume that such signature or seal was duly affixed.

For the purposes of this Act the Coordinator-General represents the Crown and has and may exercise all the powers, privileges, rights and remedies of the Crown.

The Coordinator-General shall have such functions as are assigned to the Coordinator-General by this Act or by regulation made under this Act or by or under any other Act.

The Coordinator-General shall, of his or her own motion or at the direction of the Minister, undertake and commission such investigations, prepare such plans, devise such ways and means, give such directions, and take such steps and measures, as the Coordinator-General thinks necessary or desirable to—

secure the proper planning, preparation, execution, coordination, control and enforcement of a program of works, planned developments, and environmental coordination for the State and for areas over which the State claims jurisdiction; or

perform any other function of the Coordinator-General.

The Coordinator-General shall furnish to the Minister such recommendations as the Coordinator-General thinks fit to make concerning any matter that arises out of or is connected with the performance by the Coordinator-General of his or her functions assigned to the Coordinator-General by or under this Act or that may assist in the proper administration of this Act.

Subject to section 111, the Coordinator-General, with the approval of the Minister, may either generally or otherwise as provided by the instrument of delegation, by writing under the Coordinator-General’s seal, delegate to any person or body of persons all or any of the Coordinator-General’s powers and functions except this power of delegation.

A power or function so delegated, if exercised or performed by the delegate, shall be exercised or performed by the delegate in accordance with the instrument of delegation.

A delegation may be limited to any part or parts of the State and may be made subject to such terms as the Coordinator-General thinks fit including a requirement that the delegate shall report to the Coordinator-General upon the delegate’s exercise or performance of the delegated power or function.

Where pursuant to this Act or to any other Act the exercise or performance of any power or function, the subject of a delegation, is made to depend upon the opinion or belief of the Coordinator-General in relation to any matter, that power or function may be exercised or performed upon the opinion or belief of the delegate who is considering the exercise or performance of that power or function.

The Coordinator-General may make such and so many delegations of the same power or function and to such number of persons or bodies of persons as the Coordinator-General considers necessary or desirable.

A delegation is revocable at the will of the Coordinator-General and does not prevent the exercise of a power or the performance of a function by the Coordinator-General.