Full text of nuclear-free N.Z. Bill ...

Press, 17 December 1985, Page 26

Full text of nuclear-free N.Z. Bill ...

PA Wellington This is the text of the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Bill introduced to Parliament on Tuesday. A Bin intituled: An Act to establish in New Zealand a Nuclear Free Zone, to promote and encourage an active and effective contribution by New Zealand to the essential process of disarmament and international arms control, and to implement in New Zealand the following treaties:— Treaties

(a) The South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty of August 6, 1985 (text of which is set out in the First Schedule to this Act): (b) The Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water of August 5, 1963 (the text of which is set out in the Second Schedule to this Act): (c) The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of July 1, 1968 (the text of which is set out in the Third Schedule to this Act): (d) The Treaty on the Non-Profiferation of the Emplacement of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the seabed and the seafloor and in the subsoil thereof of February 11,1971

(the text of which is set out in the Fourth Schedule to this Act): (e) The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stock-, piling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons, and on their Destruction, of April 10, 1972 (the text of which is set out in the fifth schedule to this Act): Be it inacted by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: 1. Short Title:- This Act may be cited as the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act, 1985. Definitions 2. Interpretation:— In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:— “Biological weapon” means any microbial, or biological agent, or toxin, designed for use as a weapon in armed conflict or for other hostile purposes; and includes equipment designed to facilitate such use: “Distress” includes force majeure, emergencies, or extreme weather conditions:

“Foreign military aircraft” means any aircraft, as defined in section 2 of the Defence Act, 1971, which is for the time being engaged in the service of or subject

to the authority or direction of the military authorities of any state other than New Zealand:

“Foreign warship” means any ship, as defined in section 2 of the Defence Act 1971, which:— (a) Belongs to the armed forces of a state other than New Zealand, and:— (b) Bears the external marks that distinguishes ships of that state’s nationality, and:— (c) Is under the command of an officer duly commissioned by the government of that state, and:— (d) Is manned by a crew under regular arined forces discipline: “Internal waters of New Zealand ” means the internal waters of New Zealand as defined by section 4 of the Territorial Sea and Exclusive Economic Zone Act, 1977: “Nuclear explosive device” means any nuclear weapon or other explosive device capable of releasing nuclear energy, irrespective of the purpose for which it could be used, whether assembled, partly assembled, or unassembled; but does not include the means of transport or delivery of such a weapon or device if separable from and not an indivisible part of it:

“Passage” means continuous and expeditious navigation without stopping or an-

choring, except as much as there are, incidental to ordinary navigation, or are rendered necessary by distress or for the purpose of rendering assistance to persons, ships, or aircraft in distress: “Territorial sea of New Zealand” means the territorial sea of New Zealand as defined by section 3 of the Territorial Sea and Exclusive Economic Zone Act, 1977.

3. Act to bind the Crown:— This Act shall bind the Crown:— 4. New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone:— There is hereby established the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, which shall comprise:— (a) All of the land, territory, and inland waters within the territorial limits of New Zealand, and:— (b) The internal waters of New Zealand; and (c) The territorial sea of New Zealand, and:— (d) The airspace above the areas specified in paragraphs (a) to (c) of this section. Prohibitions Prohibitions in Relation to Nuclear Explosive Devices and Biological Weapons:— 5. Prohibition on acquisition of nuclear explosive devices:— (1) No person, who is a New Zealand citizen or a person ordinarily resident in New Zealand,

shall, within the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone:— (a) manufacture, acquire, or possess, or have control over, any nuclear explosive device, or:— (b) Aid, assist, or abet any person to manufacture, acquire, possess, or have control over any nuclear explosive device.

(2) No person, who is a New Zealand citizen or a person ordinarily resident in New Zealand, and who is a servant or agent of the Crown, shall, beyond the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone:—

(a) Manufacture, acquire, or possess, or have control over, any nuclear explosive device, or.—

(b) Aid, assist, or abet any person to manufacture, acquire, possess, or have control over any nuclear explosive device.

6. Prohibition on stationing of nuclear explosive devices:— No person shall emplant, emplace, transport on land or inland waters, stockpile, store, install, or deploy any nuclear explosive device in the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone. 7. Prohibition on testing of nuclear explosive devices:— No person shall test any nuclear explosive device in the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone.

8. Prohibition of biological weapons:— No person shall manufacture, station, acquire, or possess, of have

control over any biological weapon in the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone.

9. Entry into Internal Waters of New Zealand:— (1) When the Prime Minister is considering whether to grant approval to the entry of foreign warships into the internal waters of New Zealand, the Prime Minister shall have regard to all relevant information and advice that may be. available to the Prime Minister,, including information and advice concerning the strategic and security interests of New Zealand. The Prime Minister may only grant approval for the entry into the internal waters of New Zealand by foreign warships if the Prime Minister is satisfied that the warships will not be carrying any nuclear explosive device upon their entry into the internal waters of New Zealand. 10. Landing in New Zealand:— (1) When the Prime Minister is considering whether to grant approval to the landing in New Zealand of foreign military aircraft, the Prime Minister shall have regard to all relevant information and advice that may be available to the Prime Minister, including information and advice concerning the strategic and security interests of New Zealand.

(2) The Prime Minister may only grant approval to

the landing in New Zealand by any foreign military aircraft if the Prime Minister is satisfied that the foreign military aircraft will not be carrying any nuclear explosive device when it lands in New Zealand.

(3) Any such approval may relate to a category or class of foreign military aircraft and may be given for such period as is specified in the approval. 11. Visits by nuclear powered ships:— Entry into the internal waters of New Zealand by any ship whose propulsion is wholly or partly dependent on nuclear power is power is prohibited. Savings 12. Passage through territorial sea and straits — Nothing in this Act shall apply to or be interpreted as limiting the freedom ofcfa) Any ship exercising the right of innocent passage (in accordance with international law) through the territorial sea of New Zealand, or:— (b) Any ship or aircraft exercising the right of transit passage (in accordance with international law) through or over any strait used for international navigation, orfe) Any ship or aircraft in distress. 13. Immunities:— Nothing

in this Act shall be interpreted as limiting the immunities ofc-

fa) Any foreign warship or other government ship operated for non-commer-cial purposes, or:— (b) any foreign military aircraft, or.— (c) Members of the crew of any ship or aircraft to which paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of this section applies. 13. Offences and penalties — (1) Every person commits an offence against this Act, who contravenes, or fails to comply with, any provision of sections 5 to 8 of this Act (2) Every person who commits an offence against this Act is liable on conviction on idictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years. 15. Consent of the Attor-ney-General to proceedings in relation to offences — (1) No information shall be laid against any person for.— (a) An offence against this Act, or—(b) The offence of conspiring to commit an offence against this Act, orfe) the offence of attempting to commit an offence against this Act, except with the consent of the AttorneyGeneral:— Warrant Provided that a person alleged to have committed any offence mentioned in .this subsection may be arrested, or a warrant for any such person’s arrest may be issued and executed, and any such person may be remanded in custody or on bail, not withstanding that the consent of the AttorneyGeneral to the laying of any information for the offence has not been obtained, but no further or other proceedings shall be taken until that consent has been obtained.

(2) The Attorney-General may, before deciding whether or not to give consent under subsection (1) of this section, make such inquiries as the Attorney-Gen-eral thinks fit.

Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control 16. Establishment of Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control. There is hereby established a committee, to be called the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control. 17. Functions and powers of committee — (1) The functions of the committee shall be:— (a) To advise the Minister of Foreign Affairs on such aspects of disarmament and arms control matters as it thinks fit: (b) To advise the Prime Minister on the implementation of this Act: (c) To publish from time to time public reports in relation to disarmament and arms control matters and on the implementation of this Act. (2) The committee shall have all such powers as are reasonably necessary or expedient to enable it to carry out its functions. 18. Membership of Committee:— (1) The Committee shall consist of seven members, of whom:— Chairman (a) One shall be the Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control, who shall be the chairman, and—(b) One shall be the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, or another officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, nominated from time to time by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and:— (c) One shall be the Secre-

tary of Defence, or another officer of the Ministry of Defence, nominated from time to time to by the Secretary of Defence, and:— (d) Four shall be appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. (2) Each member of the Committee appointed under subsection (1) (d) of this section holds office at the pleasure of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. (3) The functions and powers of the Committee shall not be affected by any vacancy in its membership. 19. Procedure of the Committee:- Subject to any directives given by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Committee may regulate its procedure in such manner as it thinks fit 20. Remuneration and travelling expenses — The Committee is hereby declared to be a statutory board within the meaning of the Fees and Travelling Allowances Act, 1951.

(2) There shall be paid to the members of the Committee, out of money appropriated by Parliament for the purpose, remuneration by way of fees or allowances, and travelling allowances and expenses, in accordance with the Fees and Travelling Allowances Act, 1951, and the provision of that Act shall apply accordingly. 21. Money to be appropriated by Parliament for purposes of this Act:— AU fees, salaries, aUowances, and other expenditure payable or incurred under or in the administration of this Act shall be payable out of money to be appropriated by Parliamant for the purpose. Amendments to other Acts:—

22. Amendments to the Marine PoUution Act, 1974:— (1) The Marine Pollution Act, 1974 is hereby amended by inserting, after section 21 (as enacted by section 4 of the Marine PoUution Amendment Act 1980), the following section: "21a. Offence to dump radioactive waste:—

(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, the persons mentioned in subsection (2) of this section commit an offence if:-

“(a) Any radioactive waste is taken on board any ship or aircraft in New Zealand or in New Zealand waters for the purpose of dumping, on—“(b) Any radioactive waste is dumped into New Zealand waters from any ship or aircraft to which this part of this Act applies, or:—

"(c) Any radioactive waste is dumped into the sea from any offshore instaUation or fixed or floating platform, or other artificial structure to which this part of this Act applies, or:—

“(d) Any radioactive waste is dumped into the sea, other than in New Zealand waters, from any New Zealand ship or hometrade ship or New Zealand aircraft.

“(2) The persons who are

guilty of an offence under subsection (1) of this section are as foUows:—

"(a) In any case to which paragraph (a), or paragraph (b), or paragraph (d) of that subsection appUes, the owner and the master of the ship, or (as the case may be) the owner of the aircraft and the person in possession of the aircraft "(b) In any case to which paragraph (c) of that subsection applies, the owner of the offshore installation or fixed or floating platform or other artificial structure and the person having control of its operations. “(3) For the purposes of this section, radioactive waste means material and substances of any kind, form, or description having a specific radioactivity exceeding 100 kilobecquerels per kilogram and a total radioactivity exceeding 3 kilobecquerels. “(4) Every person who is guilty of an offence under this section:— “(a) Is Uable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $lOO,OOO, and:— “(b) Is also Uable to pay such amount as the Court may assess in respect of the expenses and costs that have been incurred, or wiU be incurred, in removing or cleaning up, or dispersing the waste to which the offence relates. Dumping "(5) Nothing in paraShs (a), (b), and (d) of on 22 (1) of this Act or in paragraph (a) of section 22 (2) of this Act appUes in respect of the dumping of radioactive waste.” (2) Section 22b of the Marine PoUution Act, 1974, (as enacted by section 4 of the Marine PoUution Amendment Act, 1980), is hereby amended by inserting, after subsection (6), the foUowing subsection: “(6a) Notwithstanding anything in this Act, no permit shall authorise the dumping of radioactive waste (as defined in section 21a (3) of this Act).” 23. Amendment to Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities Act, 1968:— The, Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities Act, 1968, is hereby amended by inserting, after section 10, the following section:— “10a. PrivUeges and immunities of international inspectors pursuant to disarmament treaties — The Governor-General may, from time to time, by Order in Council, confer upon any persons who are appointed as inspectors* pursuant to any international agreement on disarmament or arms control aU or any of the privUeges and immunities specified in the third schedule to this Act.” 24. Amendment to Official Information Act, 1982:— The Official Information Act, 1982, is hereby amended by inserting in the first schedule, after the item relating to the Phosphate Commission of New Zealand, the foUowing item:— “Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control.”