Criminal Code Amendment (Agricultural Protection) Act 2019

No. 67, 2019

An Act to amend the Criminal Code Act 1995, and for related purposes

Contents

1 Short title 1

2 Commencement 2

3 Schedules 2

Schedule 1—Agricultural protection 3

Criminal Code Act 1995 3

Criminal Code Amendment (Agricultural Protection) Act 2019

No. 67, 2019

An Act to amend the Criminal Code Act 1995, and for related purposes

[Assented to 19 September 2019]

The Parliament of Australia enacts:
1 Short title

This Act is the Criminal Code Amendment (Agricultural Protection) Act 2019.
2 Commencement 1

Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.
Commencement information Commencement information Commencement information
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3
Provisions Commencement Date/Details
1. The whole of this Act The day after this Act receives the Royal Assent. 20 September 2019

Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.

 2

Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.
3 Schedules

Legislation that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.
Agricultural protection

Criminal Code Act 1995

 1 Section 473.1 of the Criminal Code

Insert:

abattoir means a place where animals are slaughtered (whether or not for human consumption), but does not include a restaurant.

agricultural land means land in Australia that is used for a primary production business. For the purposes of this definition, it is immaterial:

Crown land means land that is the property of:

but does not include land that is subject to a lease to a person other than:

forestry means:

meat by-product includes skin, hide, tallow, meat meal and inedible offal.

primary production business means any of the following:

private land means land other than Crown land.

statutory authority means a body established for a public purpose by or under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory.

 a

whether a part of the land is used for residential purposes; or

 b

whether a part of the land is used for a business that is not a primary production business.

 a

the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory; or

 b

a statutory authority;

 c

the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory; or

 d

a statutory authority.

 a

planting or tending trees in a plantation or forest that are intended to be felled; or

 b

felling trees in a plantation or forest.

 a

a business of grazing;

 b

a business of operating animal feedlots;

 c

a business of dairy farming;

 d

a business of farming animals for the purpose of producing meat or meat by-products;

 e

a business of poultry farming;

 f

a business of aquaculture;

 g

a business of bee-keeping;

 h

a business of operating an abattoir;

 i

a business of operating livestock sale yards;

 j

(j) a business of operating a registered establishment (within the meaning of the Export Control Act 1982);

 k

a business of operating a fish processing facility;

 l

a business of growing fruit;

 m

a business of growing vegetables;

 n

a business of growing nuts;

 o

a business of growing crops;

 p

a business of viticulture;

 pa

a business of operating:

 i

a wood processing facility; or

 ii

a wood fibre processing facility;

 q

a business of forestry that is carried on on private land.

 2 At the end of Division 474 of the Criminal Code

Add:

Subdivision J—Offences relating to use of carriage service for inciting trespass, property damage, or theft, on agricultural land

Penalty: Imprisonment for 12 months.

Note 1: The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 provides that an individual is not subject to any civil or criminal liability for making a public interest disclosure.

Note 2: Section 1317AB of the Corporations Act 2001 provides that a person who makes a disclosure that qualifies for protection under Part 9.4AAA of that Act is not subject to any civil or criminal liability for making the disclosure.

Note 3: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in this subsection (see subsection 13.3(3)).

Penalty: Imprisonment for 5 years.

Note 1: The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 provides that an individual is not subject to any civil or criminal liability for making a public interest disclosure.

Note 2: Section 1317AB of the Corporations Act 2001 provides that a person who makes a disclosure that qualifies for protection under Part 9.4AAA of that Act is not subject to any civil or criminal liability for making the disclosure.

Note 3: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in this subsection (see subsection 13.3(3)).

 474.46 Using a carriage service for inciting trespass on agricultural land 1

(1) A person (the offender) commits an offence if:

 a

the offender transmits, makes available, publishes or otherwise distributes material; and

 b

the offender does so using a carriage service; and

 c

the offender does so with the intention of inciting another person to trespass on agricultural land; and

 d

the offender is reckless as to whether:

 i

the trespass of the other person on the agricultural land; or

 ii

any conduct engaged in by the other person while trespassing on the agricultural land;

could cause detriment to a primary production business that is being carried on on the agricultural land.

 2

Subsection (1) does not apply to material if the material relates to a news report, or a current affairs report, that:

 a

is in the public interest; and

 b

is made by a person working in a professional capacity as a journalist.

 2A

In a prosecution for an offence against subsection (1), the defendant does not bear an evidential burden in relation to the matters in subsection (2), despite subsection 13.3(3).

 3

Subsection (1) does not apply to conduct engaged in by a person if, as a result of the operation of a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory, the person is not subject to any civil or criminal liability for the conduct.

 4

Subsection (3) does not limit section 10.5 (lawful authority).

 474.47 Using a carriage service for inciting property damage, or theft, on agricultural land 1

(1) A person (the offender) commits an offence if:

 a

the offender transmits, makes available, publishes or otherwise distributes material; and

 b

the offender does so using a carriage service; and

 c

the offender does so with the intention of inciting another person to:

 i

unlawfully damage property on agricultural land; or

 ii

unlawfully destroy property on agricultural land; or

 iii

commit theft of property on agricultural land.

 2

Subsection (1) does not apply to material if the material relates to a news report, or a current affairs report, that:

 a

is in the public interest; and

 b

is made by a person working in a professional capacity as a journalist.

 2A

In a prosecution for an offence against subsection (1), the defendant does not bear an evidential burden in relation to the matters in subsection (2), despite subsection 13.3(3).

 3

Subsection (1) does not apply to conduct engaged in by a person if, as a result of the operation of a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory, the person is not subject to any civil or criminal liability for the conduct.

 4

Subsection (3) does not limit section 10.5 (lawful authority).

When a person commits theft

 5

For the purposes of this section, a person commits theft of property if:

 a

the property belongs to another person; and

 b

the person dishonestly appropriates the property with the intention of permanently depriving the other person of the property.

 6

An expression used in subsection (5) and in Chapter 7 has the same meaning in that subsection as it has in that Chapter.

 7

In a prosecution for an offence against this section, the determination of dishonesty is a matter for the trier of fact.

 8

Sections 131.2 to 131.11 apply (with appropriate modifications) in determining whether a person commits theft of property (within the meaning of this section).

 474.48 Implied freedom of political communication 1

This Subdivision does not apply to the extent (if any) that it would infringe any constitutional doctrine of implied freedom of political communication.

 2

(2) Subsection (1) does not limit the application of Acts Interpretation Act 1901 to this Act.section 15A of the

3 Subsections 475.1A(1) and (2) of the Criminal Code

Omit “or G”, substitute “, G or J”.

 4 Paragraphs 475.1B(1)(a) and (2)(a) of the Criminal Code

Omit “or F”, substitute “, F or J”.

[Minister’s second reading speech made in—

House of Representatives on 4 July 2019

Senate on 9 September 2019]

(117/19)