The Secretary of the River Murray Commission has forwarded me the following memorandum for advice:

During the discussion by the River Murray Commission at its recent meeting of the subject of tolls, the question was raised as to the interpretation to be placed upon the first sentence of clause 42 of the Agreement, which reads:

No tolls shall be collected, in respect of navigation except such as are prescribed by the Commission for the use of weirs and locks constructed for the purposes of this Agreement.

You informed the Commission that you would consult with the Commonwealth Solicitor-General as to whether the intention of the Agreement was that tolls should be collected only in respect of vessels passing through locks, or whether it could be taken that any vessel passing down the River, and using either the navigable pass or the lock, would be liable to the payment of tolls.

The question involved in the above minute is whether the 'navigable pass' is a weir or lock within the meaning of clause 42 of the Agreement.

I am informed that the 'navigable pass' referred to consisted of a series of movable barriers to the flow of a section of the River.

These barriers are left in position during the dry season and vessels then pass through the lock gates. When the River is high the barriers are removed and vessels then use the 'navigable pass'.

The barriers in some cases work on hinges at the bottom of the River and in others on concrete runways.

A navigable pass is constructed in conjunction with locks and sluices, the latter being an obstruction of a permanent character.

'Weir' is described in the Standard Dictionary as being: 'That part of a dam, embankment, canal-bank, etc., which contains gates, and over which surplus water flows'.

The article on 'Weirs' in the Encyclopaedia Britannica refers to 'movable weirs', which can be lowered or removed so as to leave the channel quite open in flood time.

Upon the information supplied to me as to the nature of a 'navigable pass', I am of opinion that that part of the works is a weir within the usually accepted meaning of the term.

I am accordingly of opinion that tolls may be prescribed for vessels using navigable passes.

[Vol. 18, p. 207]