Constitution Act 1934

Subject to this section, any person who shall directly or indirectly himself or by any person whatsoever in trust for him or for his use or benefit or on his account, undertake, execute, hold, or enjoy in the whole or in part, any contract or agreement with the Government of the State shall be incapable of being elected or of sitting or voting as a Member of either House during the time he shall execute, hold, or enjoy any such contract or any part or share thereof or any benefit or emolument arising from the same, and if any Member shall enter into any such contract or agreement or having entered into it shall continue to hold it, his seat shall be vacant.

Subsection (1) does not render a person incapable of being elected or of sitting or voting as a Member of either House or render the seat of a Member vacant by reason only of the making, entering into, or acceptance of a contract or agreement by a corporation (not being a prescribed corporation) consisting of more than 30 members where the contract or agreement is made, entered into, or accepted for the general benefit of the corporation.

For the purposes of subsection (2), a prescribed corporation is a corporation – in which a Member or other person to whom that subsection relates holds one-fifth or more of – the total number for the time being of the issued shares of all classes; or the total amount of the stock for the time being; in which the Member or other person is entitled to exercise, or to control the exercise, of one-fifth or more of the total voting rights; or that is, by virtue of section 50 of the Corporations Act, related for the purposes of that Act to any corporation to which paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of this subsection relates.

For the purposes of subsection (2A), shares or stock held, or voting rights exercisable, by a member of the family of the Member or other person shall be deemed to be shares or stock held, or voting rights exercisable, by that Member or person.

The provisions of subsection (1) shall not apply in respect of any contract or agreement – for the purchase or lease of any land of the Crown under and in pursuance of any Act authorizing the same; for the sale or surrender of any land resumed or acquired by the Crown for any public purpose under the provisions of any Act if the purchase money or consideration has been determined by arbitration or by a judicial tribunal or has been approved by a resolution of both Houses; for or in respect of a loan to the Treasurer or any person authorized to borrow on behalf of the State; for or in relation to the making of a loan by Tasmania Development and Resources, if the loan is made upon the like conditions and at the same rate of interest (if any) as would be applicable if the loan were made to any other private person; for or in relation to the education of a person who is wholly or partly dependent on a Member (including, but without prejudice to the generality of this paragraph) – the conveyance of such a person to or from a college, school, or other educational establishment; the granting or payment to such a person of any allowance in connection with a course of studies; and the granting, tenure, or enjoyment of any bursary, scholarship, award, or exhibition – if the contract or agreement is entered into or made by the Member as a private citizen and upon and subject to the same conditions as would be applicable if it had been entered into or made with any other private person; for the provision or supply of any prescribed service or the sale or supply, by public auction or public tender, of any goods or the provision for any insurance or indemnity which the State or any State instrumentality on its behalf supplies or undertakes to, for, or for the use of, the public generally if the same – is entered into by the Member as a private citizen; and is subject to the like conditions, and for a consideration of the like amount, or calculated upon a like basis, as would be applicable respectively to such contract or agreement if the same were made by the State or such State instrumentality with any other private person; or for or in relation to the making of a loan, before the transfer date within the meaning of the Public Sector Superannuation Reform Act 2016, by– the Retirement Benefits Fund Board– if the loan is made upon the like conditions and at the same rate of interest as would be applicable if the loan were made to any other private person.

Subsection (1) does not operate so as to render a person incapable of being elected, or of sitting or voting, as a Member of either House by reason of his having entered into any contract or agreement to which that subsection relates if, but only if – the contract or agreement was entered into by the Member before the date on which he was nominated for election; and not later than 6 months after the date of his election as a Member the contract or agreement is effectually terminated or rescinded.

For the purposes of this section, a contract or agreement with the Government of the State is a contract or agreement – that is entered into by or on behalf of the State, or by any Minister of the Crown in his capacity as such, or by any Department; or that is entered into by or on behalf of a State instrumentality.

In this section – agricultural operations includes horticulture, dairy farming, bee keeping, poultry farming, and the use of land as grazing land or pasture land; corporation means a corporation within the meaning of the Corporations Act; member of the family, used in relation to a Member or other person, means – the spouse or partner of that Member or person; and a child or stepchild (whether legitimate or illegitimate) of that Member or person; partner means the person with whom a person is in a personal relationship, within the meaning of the Relationships Act 2003; prescribed service means – electricity; gas; water; public transport facilities; sewerage or drainage facilities; medical, surgical, dental, or hospital treatment; professional or technical services in connection with the carrying on of agricultural operations; and any other service that is declared, by resolution of both Houses, to be a prescribed service for the purposes of this section;State instrumentality means any person or body of persons (whether incorporated or unincorporated) constituted, established, or appointed under an Act or in the exercise of the prerogative rights of the Crown to administer or control any department, business, or undertaking on behalf of the State, and (without affecting the generality of this definition) includes – the Hydro-Electric Corporation; the Transport Commission; the Forestry corporation;Tasmania Development and Resources;Tasmanian Irrigation Pty Ltd (ACN 133 148 384); the Commission within the meaning of the Public Sector Superannuation Reform Act 2016; the Rivers and Water Supply Commission; and the Hobart Regional Water Authority.