Bills Digest No. 138 2000-01
Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2001-2002
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as introduced
and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest does not have
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the subsequent official status of the Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Endnotes
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2001-2002
Date Introduced: 22 May
2001
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Finance and
Administration
Commencement: Royal
Assent
To appropriate $4,524,716,000 million
for payments for purposes other than the ordinary services of government,
including capital expenditure, administered expenses for new outcomes
and grants to the States and Territories.
A concise assessment of the 2001-2002 Budget can be found
in the Parliamentary Library e-brief Budget 2000.
This Bill, together with the Appropriation Bill (No.
1) 2001-2002 (which deals with ordinary annual services of government)
and the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill 2001-2002, are
introduced in May each year.
Details on the major new expenditure initiatives announced
in the Budget are contained in the Bills Digest for Appropriation Bill
(No. 1) 2001-2002. The $4,524,716,000 million appropriated by this Bill
compares to $5,128,526,000 million for the equivalent 2000-2001 Act.(1)
Clause 6 lists the total amount appropriated
by the Bill - that is $4,524,716,000 million.
In regard to allocation to the States and Territories
for the outcomes specified in Schedule 1 of the Bill, clause
7 provides that the Finance Minister may issue the lesser of the amount
specified in the relevant departmental allocation and the amount determined
by the Finance Minister to be the actual expenditure incurred for that
purpose. The clause also contains the requirement that the funds may only
be allocated to achieve the specified outcome.
Clause 8 contains similar provisions as clause
6 but relates to administered items.
Where an appropriation is made for an administered capital
purpose, the outcome that may be achieved must be a purpose listed in
Schedule 2 of the Bill or in the Schedule to the Appropriation
Bill (No. 1) 2001-2002 (this reflects the allocation of all capital expenditure
in this Bill) (clause 9).
In relation to appropriations for capital expenditure
for a Department, where an Act provides that an amount is to be allocated
to a Department and this Bill contains a capital item for the Department,
the Finance Minister must issue the full amount of the item (clause
10). This is similar to clause 7 in Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2001-2002
and reflects the difference in the Minister's role in relation to Departmental
and administered capital items [ie. the Minister has no discretion in
relation to Department items].
The Finance Minister will be given power to issue a maximum
additional $215 million over the year to take account of urgent unforeseen
expenditure or where there has been an 'erroneous omission or understatement'
in relation to extra expenses (clause 11). The Minister may also
increase the amount in a Departmental capital item/s by a maximum of $20
million per Department (clause 12). Parliament must be notified
of increased spending under clauses 11 and 12.
The relevant Minister listed in column 3 of Schedule
1 of the Bill will be able to determine conditions under which payments
to the States and Territories may be made (clause 14).
Clause 15 will formally appropriate the funds
from the Consolidated Revenue Bill for the purposes of the Bill.
- Appropriation Act (No. 2) 2000-2001.
Ian Ireland
1 June 2001
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
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ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 2000
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library, 2000.
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