VPRS 13946 Valuations (All States) of Transferred Properties

This volume, originally published by the Commonwealth of Australia in 1908 summarises the valuations reached for property to be transferred to the Commonwealth by the States after 1901. It is believed to have been completed in the Office of the Government Valuer (part of the Department of Public Works). It was handed to the Secretary for Lands in 1943 by F C Ridoutt who had been part of the Office of the Government valuer and later was employed by the Surveyor-General.Details are repeated for each State with separate sections for the valuation of sites transferred to the Postmaster-General's Department, sites for postal purposes, defences and those relating to trade and customs. This volume was then used for further annotations by the responsible State department. These include details of the volume and folio of title and the date of transfer to the Commonwealth, details of retransfers to the State of Victoria and also some relevant Department of Crown Lands and Survey file numbers. (It is unknown at what time these may have been added).Under the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia 1901 a number of functions passed from the individual former colonies to the Commonwealth of Australia. The most obvious of these functions were those relating to defence and the military forces, posts and telegraphs, customs and navigation including lighthouses along the coast. As part of this, property used by the states for the exercise of these functions was similarly transferred to the Commonwealth.Section 85 of the Constitution provided for these transfers of property stating that when a function was transferred the property used exclusively in connexion with this department, shall become vested in the Commonwealth . Further, property not used exclusively by the department could also be acquired. The Section further provided that valuations of property so acquired should be made with the view of compensating the State for its loss.Other property for the exercise of Commonwealth functions could also be acquired from the States under the Lands Acquisition Act 1906 and its subsequent amendments. This Act also provided for the leasing of land to the Commonwealth as well as the sale. The Act asserted the State's right to compensation and provided for the assessment of this, the means of payment and for the resolution of any disputes.For many properties legal title did not pass from the State to the Commonwealth until the early 1930s although the Commonwealth had acquired the properties at the time it assumed responsibility for the provision of related services. The formal transfer of title for many properties occurred subsequent to the 1927 Commonwealth / States Financial Agreement enacted in Victoria as the Commonwealth and States Financial Agreement Act 1927 (No 3554) with the First Schedule embodying the Agreement. Under this Agreement the Commonwealth assumed all liability for the public debt of the States, equivalent to the value of the properties at 5% interest in exchange for freehold title to the properties.