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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2346 ..

I am pleased to present to the Legislative Assembly the Law Reform (Repeal of Laws) Bill.

Within the body of NSW legislation applied in the ACT in 1909 and 1910 were some 550 private Acts made in NSW between 1832 and 1910.

Private acts have particular application to a person or group, such as a public company or local authority, and do not have general application. NSW private acts typically dealt with the construction of large public works (including bridges and railways), the incorporation of companies and associations, divorces and corrections to wills or other legal instruments.

As legislators today, we do not use the device of the Private Act. The common practice of making such laws fell into disuse early this century.

The Private Acts proposed to be repealed, many of which remain in force in NSW, are irrelevant in the Territory today. They have never been reprinted in the ACT.

Accordingly, while there may be doubt about whether any particular Act continued to apply in the Territory, it is proposed to repeal them to avoid any further doubt about the matter.

The opportunity is also being taken to repeal 3 ACT laws which are spent.

I commend the Bill to the Assembly.

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