Bills Digest no. 111 2007–08
Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2007-08
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as
introduced and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest
does not have any official legal status. Other sources should be
consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the
Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage history
Purpose
Background
Financial implications
Main provisions
Contact officer & copyright details
Passage history
Appropriation Bill (No. 6)
2007-08
Date introduced:
13 May 2008
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Finance and Deregulation
Commencement:
For both Bills: on Royal
Assent
Links: The
relevant links to the Bill, Explanatory Memorandum and second
reading speech can be accessed via BillsNet, which is at http://www.aph.gov.au/bills/.
When Bills have been passed they can be found at ComLaw, which is
at http://www.comlaw.gov.au/.
Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2007-08 appropriates approximately
$626.5 million for the ordinary annual services of the
Government.
Appropriation Bill No. 6 (No. 6) 2007-08 appropriates
approximately $501.9 million for the non-ordinary (or other )
annual services of the Government.
Section 83 of the Constitution provides
that no monies may be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund
(CRF) except under an appropriation made by law . Laws authorising
spending are either:
- special appropriations, or
- six (usually) annual Appropriation Acts.
Special appropriations which account of about three quarters of
spending are spending authorised by Acts for particular purposes.
Examples are age pensions, carer payments, and the seniors
concession allowance paid under the Social Security
(Administration) Act 1999, and the Family Tax Benefits A and B
paid under A New Tax System (Family Assistance)
(Administration) Act 1999.
Appropriation Bill (No. 1) appropriates funds for the ordinary
annual services of the Government . By comparison Appropriation
Bill (No. 2) appropriates funds for other annual services. Section
54 of the Constitution requires that there be a separate law
appropriating funds for the ordinary annual services of the
Government. That is why there are separate bills for ordinary
annual services and for other annual services. The distinction
between ordinary and other annual services was set out in a Compact
between the Senate and the Government in 1965 (the Compact has been
updated to take account of the adoption of accrual budgeting).
Funding requirements usually change after the Budget is brought
down. Governments make new policy commitments that need to be
funded. Agencies reassess their requirements and, if necessary,
submit requests for additional funding. The Government may agree to
additional funding if the amounts in the three Budget Appropriation
Acts are inadequate and so has to seek parliamentary approval for
additional spending. The process whereby additional funds are
provided is called additional estimates
and begins around November of the Budget year. The approved
additional estimates are incorporated into Appropriation Bills 3
and 4 and Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill No. 2.
These Bills are the counterparts of Appropriation Bills No. 1 and 2
and Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill No. 1
respectively.
Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements are the additional
estimates counterparts of Portfolio Budget Statements and contain
explanations of Appropriation Bills 3 and 4 and Appropriations
(Parliamentary Departments) Bill No. 2. The Senate estimates
committees also scrutinise the additional estimates Bills.
Parliament usually passes the additional estimates Bills around
April.
The Government can introduce as many Appropriation Bills as it
believes necessary. Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2007-08 and
Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2007-08 are examples of Appropriation
Bills supplementary to Appropriation Bill (No. 1) and Appropriation
Bill (No. 2) and to the additional estimates Bills. Such Bills are
referred to as supplementary additional estimates. The Portfolio
Supplementary Additional Estimates Statements are the counterparts
of the Portfolio Budget Statements for the annual Appropriation
Bills.
In the second reading speech for Appropriation Bill (No. 5)
2007-08, the Minister for Finance and Deregulation, the Hon.
Lindsay Tanner, MP, stated that the Government was seeking
additional funding for universities.[1] Under this measure, the Government
proposes to provide $500.0 million in 2007-08 to Australian
universities as a contribution towards capital investment in five
priority areas including IT communications in research and
teaching, laboratories, libraries and places to study, teaching
spaces, and critical student amenities. According to the
Government, the measure will begin to address past capital
under-investment in these priority areas. Funding will be
distributed among universities through grants taking into account
each university s share of funds under the existing Institutional
Grant Scheme and its share of total domestic students.
The Minister also announced measures affecting the Department of
the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, notably measures
under the Water for the Future program. There are five
projects under this program. Under the National Rainwater and
Greywater Initiative which was an election commitment the
Government will provide $250.0 million over six years (including
$50.0 million in 2012-13 and $24.0 million in 2013-14) to provide
rebates of up to $500 for up to 500,000 homes towards the cost of
installing rainwater tanks or new piping for grey water use. This
measure is designed to help reduce the impact of drought and
climate change on Australia s towns and cities. The measure also
includes $3.0 million in 2008-09 to provide up to $10,000 to every
surf life saving club in Australia for the installation of a
rainwater tank, or as a contribution towards a larger water saving
project.
The second project also an election commitment is the National
Urban Water and Desalination Plan. Under this Plan, the Government
will provide $1.0 billion over six years (including $192.0 million
in 2012-13) for desalination, water recycling and stormwater
harvesting projects in Australian cities with populations of over
50,000. The private sector, water utilities and State, Territory
and local governments will be able to apply for funds, which will
be provided through grants and refundable tax offsets of up to 10
per cent of project costs, capped at a maximum of $100.0 million
per project. This measure includes funding for a Centre of
Excellence in desalination technology in Perth ($20.0 million), a
Centre of Excellence in water recycling in Brisbane ($20.0
million), the Glenelg to Adelaide water recycling project ($30.2
million) and the Geelong Shell water recycling project ($20.0
million).
Under the third project the National Water Security Plan for
Cities and Towns, again an election commitment the Government will
provide $254.8 million over five years to work with governments and
local water authorities to minimise water loss, invest in more
efficient water infrastructure, refurbish older pipes and water
systems, and fund practical projects to save water. This measure
will help reduce the impact of drought and climate change on
Australia s towns and cities.
The fourth proposal taking early action brings forward $400.0
million of funding from 2011-12 under Water for the Future, to
accelerate investment in water savings infrastructure and to
purchase water entitlements from willing sellers. This reflects the
Government s recognition that urgent action is needed to tackle the
water crisis. This measure is an election commitment.
Finally, under the Water Efficiency Western Australia project,
the Government will provide $35.0 million in 2007-08 (brought
forward from 2011-12) under the Water for the Future
program, to make an initial contribution to the Harvey Water Piping
Project in Western Australia. The project involves upgrading
irrigation supply infrastructure to reduce seepage and evaporation,
with the water saved to be piped to Perth. The Government s
remaining contribution of $14.0 million is expected to be provided
in 2008-09, from within existing funding for the program. This
measure is also an election commitment.
In the second reading speech for Appropriation Bill (No. 6)
2007-08, the Minister for Finance and Deregulation announced
additional funding for Digital Education Revolution.[2] Under this program, the
Government will provide $1.2 billion over five years. A National
Secondary School Computer Fund will be established to provide
grants of up to $1.0 million to eligible secondary schools to
assist them in providing new or upgraded computers and
communications technology to students in Years 9 to 12. Funding
will also be available to contribute toward the provision of high
speed fibre-to-the-premises broadband connections to schools and to
provide support to ensure the effective deployment and installation
of computers and ICT equipment purchased under the Fund.
Additionally, funding will be provided for collaborative work
between the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments and
non-government school systems and industry to develop a unified
technical framework and to fund administration costs of Block Grant
Authorities which will manage funding for non-government schools.
This measure was an election commitment.
Under the Ageing Carers additional support program, the
Government will provide $100.0 million in 2007-08 to State and
Territory governments under the Commonwealth State Territory
Disability Agreement to increase the availability of supported
accommodation for people with a disability where their carers are
ageing. The funding will allow the States and Territories to build
or purchase new facilities with the capacity to care for more
people with disabilities. These facilities will allow older carers
to plan for the transition of their children with a disability from
the family home to other accommodation arrangements.
According to the second reading speech, the Government will
provide an additional $182.4 million in 2007-08 to the Department
of Health and Ageing to fund a range of initiatives including $100
million towards a $389.5 million program to upgrade health
facilities. The Government will provide $389.5 million over five
years in grants and recurrent funding to support health care
facilities and improve patient outcomes. This includes funding for
advanced medical technology, improved facilities and services and
medical training infrastructure. This measure will bring the
benefits of advanced medical technology to communities around
Australia. An additional 12 Medicare-eligible magnetic resonance
imaging units will be provided, along with new and upgraded
technology in hospitals around the country. Funding will also
support upgrades to hospitals and community health centres and
expand services to areas of need. This includes improved access to
renal dialysis and a mobile sexual assault referral centre for
remote communities in the Northern Territory. The Government is
also committed to catering for Australia s future health needs.
This measure invests in medical training infrastructure to help
meet the training needs of medical graduates and provide a skilled
health workforce in years to come. This measure was an election
commitment.
The Government is also seeking $75 million in 2007-08 towards
providing up to $600.0 million over four years to reduce waiting
lists for elective surgery in public hospitals in each State and
Territory. This funding includes $150.0 million to provide more
than 25,000 new procedures to help clear the backlog of people who
have been waiting longer than the clinically recommended time for
elective surgery. A further $150.0 million will be provided to make
systemic improvements to Australia s hospital system, including the
construction of additional day surgery units. A further $300.0
million will be available in incentive payments to States and
Territories that meet elective surgery waiting list reduction
targets. The funding will be provided if performance benchmarks are
met. This measure was an election commitment.
An amount of $75 million is to be provided to the Department of
Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local
Government in 2007-08 towards the development of feasibility and
planning studies for projects to address urban congestion. The
projects include the Western Metro rail link, and the eastern
section of the M5 in New South Wales; components of the East-West
transport corridor, and Western Ring Road in Victoria; key sections
of the Bruce Highway and Gateway Motorway in Queensland; a
transport master plan for the Perth Airport; and a Transport
Sustainability Study in South Australia.
The Government proposes to eliminate the excise exemption of
condensate.[3] This
will result in Western Australia losing revenue. The Government
proposes to provide Western Australia with ongoing compensation for
the loss of its share of offshore petroleum royalty revenue as a
result of the imposition of crude oil excise on condensate, at an
estimated cost of $406.6 million over the three forward estimates
years. An initial payment of $80 million will be made to the
Western Australian Government in 2007-08, with payments in
subsequent years adjusted to equal the impact of removing the
condensate exemption on payments to Western Australia relating to
the offshore petroleum royalty.
The amount sought under Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2007-08 is
$626 540 000.
The amount sought under Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2007-08 is
$501 897 000.
The provisions in Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2007-08 are
virtually identical with those in Appropriation Act (No. 5)
2006-07, and those in Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2007-08 are
virtually identical with those in Appropriation Act (No. 6)
2006-07. The reader is referred to the Bills
Digest for Appropriation Act (No. 5) 2006-07 and Appropriation
Act (No. 6) 2006-07.
Clause 13 of Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2007-08
which is titled Appropriation of the Consolidated Revenue
Fund expands the comparable clause in Appropriation Act
(No. 5) 2006-07 by adding the words including the operation of this
Act as affected by the Financial Management and Accountability
Act 1997 . The purpose of this change seems to be the
recognition that the Financial Management and Accountability Act
also governs the appropriations process.
Clause 3 in Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2007-08
contains definitions. A definition not included in previous
Appropriation Acts is that of Chief Executive. Clause
3 defines this as having the same meaning as in the
Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997. (The
Financial Management and Accountability Act itself defines Chief
Executive to include either a person identified by regulations to
be the Chief Executive, or a person who is the Secretary of an
Agency under the Public Service Act 1999 or the
Parliamentary Services Act 1999, section 5).
Similar to Clause 13 of Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2007-08,
clause 15 of Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2007-08
expands the comparable clause in Appropriation Act (No. 6) 2006-07
by adding the words including the operation of this Act as affected
by the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997
.
Richard Webb
23 May 2008
Bills Digest Service
Parliamentary Library
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