Bills Digest no. 80,
2016–17
PDF version [611KB]
Daniel Weight
Economics Section
27
March 2017
Contents
Purpose of the Bill
Structure of the Bills
Appropriations generally
Constitutional requirements
The ‘ordinary annual services of the
Government’ and ‘other’ annual services of the Government
The Senate’s powers
Presentational requirements
Departmental and administered
expenses
Outcomes and programs
Appropriations for ‘outcomes’ of
non-corporate Commonwealth entities
Appropriations for corporate
Commonwealth entities
Non-operating appropriations
Appropriations for payments to the
states
Notional payments
Advance to the Finance Minister
Committee consideration
Senate Standing Committee for the
Scrutiny of Bills
Appropriation Bill (No. 3)
2016–2017
Appropriation Bill (No. 4)
2016–2017
Statement of Compatibility with Human
Rights
Concluding comments
Date introduced: 9
February 2017
House: House of
Representatives
Portfolio: Finance
Commencement: Both
Bills would commence on Royal Assent.
Links: The links to the No. 3 Bill,
its Explanatory Memorandum and second reading speech can be found on the
Bill’s homepage.
The links to the No. 4 Bill,
its Explanatory Memorandum and second reading speech can be found on the
Bill’s homepage.
Both of the Bills can be accessed through the Australian
Parliament website.
If Bills have been passed and have received Royal Assent, they
become Acts, which can be found at the Federal Register of Legislation
website.
All hyperlinks in this Bills Digest are correct as
at March 2017.
Purpose of
the Bill
The purpose of the Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2016–2017
(the ‘No. 3 Bill’) is to appropriate an additional $1,961,181,000 ($2.0 billion)
from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF)[1]
in the 2016–17 financial year for the ordinary annual services of the
Government.
The purpose of the Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2016–2017
(the ‘No. 2 Bill’) is to appropriate an additional $284,283,000 ($284.3 million)
from the CRF in the 2016–17 financial year for the other annual services of the
Government.
These amounts are in addition to amounts appropriated for
the Executive Government and Judiciary in May and December 2016 by:
- the Supply Act (No. 1) 2016–2017[2]
- the Supply Act (No. 2) 2016–2017[3]
- the Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2016–2017[4]
and
- the Appropriation Act (No. 2) 2016–2017.[5]
The details of the additional amounts proposed to be
appropriated were set out in the 2016–17 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook
(MYEFO) that was released by the Treasurer on 19 December 2016.[6]
The ‘Abstracts’ to Schedule 1 of the No. 3 Bill and
Schedule 2 to the No. 4 Bill provide the following summaries of the
amounts proposed to be appropriated by Portfolio by each Bill.[7]
Portfolio |
No. 3 Bill Total |
No. 4 Bill Total |
|
$'000 |
$'000 |
Agriculture and Water Resources |
12,474 |
5,456 |
Attorney‑General’s |
169,557 |
31,486 |
Communications and the Arts |
14,443 |
3,815 |
Defence |
818,084 |
267 |
Education and Training |
14,484 |
2,992 |
Employment |
19,712 |
1,063 |
Environment and Energy |
7,553 |
10,740 |
Finance |
18,862 |
218 |
Foreign Affairs and Trade |
99,631 |
9,680 |
Health |
143,127 |
18,496 |
Immigration and Border Protection |
199,729 |
300 |
Industry, Innovation and Science |
39,660 |
313 |
Infrastructure and Regional Development |
93,854 |
119,168 |
Prime Minister and Cabinet |
118,217 |
- |
Social Services |
168,470 |
79,928 |
Treasury |
23,324 |
361 |
Total |
1,961,181 |
284,283 |
Significant items within each Portfolio are identified in
the Assistant Minister to the Treasurer, Mr Sukkar’s, second reading speeches
to each Bill.[8]
Structure of the Bills
Part 1 of each Bill deals with preliminary matters,
including when the Acts commence, how to interpret the Acts, and the deeming of
notional payments between non-corporate Commonwealth entities to be real
transactions.[9]
Part 2 of each Bill outlines the quantum and types
of appropriation from the CRF.
Part 3 of each Bill provides for an Advance to the
Finance Minister (AFM).[10]
Part 4 of each Bill deals with technical matters
including crediting amounts to special accounts, the formal appropriation of
moneys from the CRF, and the automatic repeal of the subsequent Acts.
Schedule 1 of the No. 4 Bill nominates the
Ministers that are able to impose conditions on grants of financial assistance
to the states and territories proposed in that Bill.
Schedule 1 of the No. 3 Bill and Schedule 2
of Bill No. 4 contain the details of the amounts and types of appropriation proposed
to be made to each entity.
Appropriations generally
An appropriation is the legal release of moneys from the
CRF. Appropriation Acts, however, do not create a source of power for the Commonwealth
to spend money; they merely release that money from the CRF. The Commonwealth’s
power to spend money must be found in other parts of the Constitution.[11]
Under the terms of the Constitution, a Bill
proposing to appropriate moneys from the CRF must satisfy certain unique
requirements. An Appropriation Bill must also comply with certain
presentational requirements.
Constitutional
requirements
Section 81 of the Constitution provides:
All revenues or moneys raised or received by the Executive
Government of the Commonwealth shall form one Consolidated Revenue Fund [CRF],
to be appropriated for the purposes of the Commonwealth ...[12]
Section 83 of the Constitution provides that no
money may be withdrawn from the CRF ‘except under appropriation made by law’.[13]
The effect of these two sections is that all moneys received by the
Commonwealth must be paid into the CRF, and must not be spent before there is
an appropriation authorising specific expenditure.
Section 53 of the Constitution prevents proposed
laws appropriating moneys originating in the Senate.[14]
Further, under section 56 of the Constitution, all proposed laws for the
appropriation of moneys may only be introduced into the House of
Representatives following a recommendation by the Governor-General.[15]
As the Governor‑General only acts upon the advice of the Executive, this
provision of the Constitution prevents non‑government members of
the House of Representatives from introducing Bills that would propose to
appropriate money from the CRF.[16]
The ‘ordinary annual services of the Government’ and
‘other’ annual services of the Government
Section 54 of the Constitution requires that there
be a separate law appropriating funds for the ‘ordinary annual services of the
Government’, and that other matters must not be dealt with in the same Bill.[17]
However, neither the ‘ordinary annual services of the Government’ nor the ‘other’
annual services of the Government are defined in the Constitution.
A working distinction between ordinary and other annual
services was agreed in a Compact between the Senate and the Government in 1965.[18]
Several amendments have been made to the Compact since 1965 and, in 2010, the
Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations and Staffing recommended that the
Senate restate the Compact in a consolidated form.[19]
On 22 June 2010, the Senate resolved as follows:
(1) To reaffirm
its constitutional right to amend proposed laws appropriating revenue or moneys
for expenditure on all matters not involving the ordinary annual services of
the Government.
(2) That
appropriations for expenditure on:
(a) the construction of public
works and buildings;
(b) the acquisition of sites and
buildings;
(c) items of
plant and equipment which are clearly definable as capital expenditure (but not
including the acquisition of computers or the fitting out of buildings);
(d) grants to the states under
section 96 of the Constitution;
(e) new policies not previously
authorised by special legislation;
(f) items regarded as
equity injections and loans; and
(g) existing asset replacement
(which is to be regarded as depreciation),
are not
appropriations for the ordinary annual services of the Government and that
proposed laws for the appropriation of revenue or moneys for expenditure on the
said matters shall be presented to the Senate in a separate appropriation bill
subject to amendment by the Senate.
(3) That, in
respect of payments to international organisations:
(a) the
initial payment in effect represents a new policy decision and therefore should
be in Appropriation Bill (No. 2); and
(b) subsequent
payments represent a continuing government activity of supporting the
international organisation and therefore represent an ordinary annual service
and should be in Appropriation Bill (No. 1).
(4) That all appropriation
items for continuing activities for which appropriations have been made in the
past be regarded as part of ordinary annual services.[20]
Adherence to the Compact has not always been strict, and
the High Court has held that any disagreements between the Houses are not
justiciable.[21]
Any disputes, therefore, are to be determined between the Houses themselves.
The Senate’s powers
Section 53 of the Constitution provides, among
other things, that the Senate may not amend proposed laws appropriating revenue
or moneys for the ordinary annual services of the Government. The Senate may,
however, return such proposed laws to the House of Representatives and request,
by message, the omission or amendment of any items or provisions.
The Senate may amend proposed laws appropriating revenue
or moneys for purposes other than for the ordinary annual services of the
Government, as long as it does not ‘increase any proposed charge or burden on
the people’.[22]
Conceivably, the Senate could amend an appropriation Bill for the other annual
services of Government in order to, for example, redirect the proposed
appropriation to another purpose, or reduce the proposed appropriation to nil.
Where a Bill for the ordinary annual services of the
Government includes amounts that the Senate considers should, because of the
Compact, be included in a Bill for the other annual services of the Government,
the Senate may elect to deal with that Bill as if it were a Bill for the other
annual services of government. In other words, the Senate may treat such a Bill
as being susceptible to amendment.[23]
Presentational requirements
Departmental and administered expenses
Australian Accounting Standard 1050 Administered
Items requires that government agencies distinguish between revenues and
expenses that they administer for the Government, and those over which they
have some control.[24]
Generally, administered expenses are the costs of providing the programs that
agencies run for the Government, while departmental expenses are the costs
incurred in running agencies.
Appropriation Bills, therefore, distinguish between
‘administered’ expenses and ‘departmental’ expenses. Administered appropriation
may only be used for the program or outcome that it is appropriated for, while
departmental appropriation may be moved between different departmental
activities.[25]
Outcomes and programs
While the level of detail necessary for an Appropriation
Act to be valid is generally low, in the Pharmaceutical Benefits case
the High Court held:
... there cannot be appropriations in blank, appropriations for
no designated purpose, merely authorising expenditure ...[26]
The Appropriation Bills must therefore describe—in general
terms—the purpose for which moneys are to be used. The Bills use four methods
for describing the purposes of the proposed appropriations.
Appropriations for ‘outcomes’
of non-corporate Commonwealth entities
For non-corporate Commonwealth entities, the purposes of
operating appropriations (both departmental and administered) are specified
with reference to the ‘outcomes’ of those entities, as articulated in an
entity’s outcome statement. The Department of Finance’s Guide to preparing
the 2016-17 Portfolio Budget Statements advised as follows with respect to
outcome statements:
... outcome statements articulate Government objectives and
form an integral part of the appropriations framework. They:
1. explain the purpose for which annual appropriations are
approved by the Parliament for use by entities;
2. provide a basis for budgeting and reporting against the
use of appropriated funds; and
3. measure and assess entity and program non-financial
performance in contributing to Government policy objectives.
An outcome statement should provide an immediate
impression of what success looks like. It should provide readers with a sense
of what performance information is likely to be useful in assessing whether a
specific outcome is delivered satisfactorily.[27]
[emphasis added]
Outcome statements tend to be aspirational in nature.
Appropriations for corporate
Commonwealth entities
As corporate Commonwealth entities are legally distinct
from the Commonwealth itself, moneys cannot be appropriated directly to those
entities.[28]
Instead, amounts are appropriated to relevant departments for on‑payment
to corporate Commonwealth entities within the department’s portfolios.
Non-operating appropriations
Non-operating appropriations are amounts designated for
the capital needs of entities. Typically, these amounts are equity injections
into entities, or moneys for the purchase or development of the assets of
entities. Under the Compact, they can only ever be proposed in a Bill dealing
with the ‘other’ annual services of Government.
Appropriations for payments to
the states
Under section 96 of the Constitution, the Commonwealth
Parliament may make payments to the states with or without conditions. Amounts
intended for payment to the states are identified separately in appropriation
Bills. Again, because of the Compact, amounts to the states can only ever be
proposed in a Bill dealing with the ‘other’ annual services of Government.
Amounts to the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory are also
included with the amounts for the states.
Notional payments
Because of section 83 of the Constitution, all
withdrawals of monies from the CRF require an appropriation. Constitutionally,
however, payments between entities that are both part of the Commonwealth, such
as between two non-corporate Commonwealth entities, do not require an
appropriation as they are movements of moneys within the CRF, not a withdrawal.
To avoid the difficulties that might arise in working out
whether or not an individual payment does or does not require an
appropriation—that is, whether a payment is between entities that are both part
of the Commonwealth (such as between two departments), or whether a payment is
from the Commonwealth to an entity outside of the Commonwealth (such as to an
individual or a corporation)—the Appropriation Bills contain a deeming
provision that requires that all notional transactions between non-corporate
Commonwealth entities to be nonetheless treated as withdrawals from the CRF.[29]
Advance to the Finance
Minister
An advance to the Finance Minister is an appropriation of
moneys without any particular outcome or purpose specified. Typically, the advance
is established in the first Appropriation Acts each year and then replenished
whenever supplementary Appropriation Acts are passed.[30]
The Finance Minister may use the amount appropriated as an
advance to modify the schedule to the Appropriation Act, but only where:
the Finance Minister is satisfied
that there is an urgent need for expenditure, in the current year, that is not
provided for, or is insufficiently provided for, [...]:
(a) because of an erroneous
omission or understatement; or
(b) because the expenditure was unforeseen until after the
last day on which it was practicable to provide for it in the Bill for this Act
before that Bill was introduced into the House of Representatives.[31]
The amount of appropriation allocated to the Advance to
the Finance Minister in 2016–17 was $295 million in relation to the
ordinary annual services of the Government and $380 million in relation to the
other annual services of the Government.[32]
In order to access an advance, the Finance Minister must
issue a determination under the relevant Appropriation Act. A determination is
a legislative instrument, but disallowance and sunsetting under section 42
and Part 4 of Chapter 3 of the Legislation Act 2003[33]
respectively do not apply.[34]
The Federal Register of Legislation shows that, so far in 2016–17, there have
been no amounts drawn against either advance, as no instruments have been
registered.[35]
Despite no monies having been drawn against either Advance
to the Finance Minister so far in 2016–17, clause 10 of the No. 3 Bill would
reset the amount available under the Advance to the Finance Minister in
relation to the ordinary annual services of the Government to $295 million
and clause 12 of the No. 4 Bill would reset the amount other annual services of
the Government, had any monies been drawn thus far in 2016–17.
Committee
consideration
Senate Standing Committee for
the Scrutiny of Bills
In its Scrutiny Digest No. 2 2017, the Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills made comments in relation to both
Bills.[36]
Appropriation Bill (No. 3)
2016–2017
In relation to the No. 3 Bill, the Committee noted that
initial expenditure for some items of expenditure announced in the 2016–17
Budget were inappropriately being treated as part of the ordinary annual
services of Government because of their inclusion in the No. 3 Bill. These
measures were:
- ‘Launch
into Work pilot—establishment’ that is budgeted to cost $10 million over four
years[37]
- ‘Royal
Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern
Territory’ that is budgeted to cost $57.1 million over two years[38]
and
- ‘Rural
Health Commissioner and Pathway for Rural Professionals—establishment’ that is
budgeted to cost $4.4 million over four years.[39]
In relation to this matter, the Committee said:
The committee again notes that the government's approach to
the classification of items that constitute ordinary annual services of the
government is not consistent with the Senate resolution of 22 June 2010
relating to the classification of ordinary annual services expenditure in
appropriation bills.
...
The committee draws the 2010 Senate resolution to the
attention of Senators and notes that the inappropriate classification of items
in appropriation bills undermines the Senate's constitutional right to amend
proposed laws appropriating revenue or moneys for expenditure on all matters
not involving the ordinary annual services of the government. Such
inappropriate classification of items impacts on the Senate's ability to
effectively scrutinise proposed appropriations as the Senate may be unable to
distinguish between normal ongoing activities of government and new programs or
projects.
The committee draws this matter to the attention of Senators
as it appears that the initial expenditure in relation to some items in the
latest set of appropriation bills may have been inappropriately classified as
ordinary annual services (and therefore improperly included in Appropriation
Bill (No. 3) 2016–2017 which should only contain appropriations that are not
amendable by the Senate).
The committee will continue to draw this important matter to
the attention of Senators where appropriate in the future.[40]
Appropriation Bill (No. 4)
2016–2017
In relation to the No. 4 Bill, the Committee raised a specific
concern with clause 14 of the Bill, which would allow the Executive to
determine the terms and conditions that attach to the grants of financial
assistance to the states and territories proposed to be provided by that Bill
without further recourse to the Parliament. The Committee noted that under
section 96 of the Constitution, the Parliament, not the Executive, is
vested with the power to make grants to the states, but that typically the
Parliament delegates that power to the Executive via legislation.[41]
The Committee discussed similar concerns about earlier
Appropriation Bills, and noted the response provided by the Finance Minister,[42]
and which was considered by the Committee in its Report No. 8 of 2016.
In that Report, the Finance Minister is quoted as stating as follows:
I will ask my Department, in consultation with the Treasury,
to review the current suite of Budget documentation and give consideration to
including additional information on payments to the States, Territories and
local government in time for the next Budget.[43]
In its Scrutiny Report No. 2 of 2017, the Committee
thanked the Finance Minister for his continued engagement on the issue before
asking the Minister as follows:
... the committee ... seeks the Minister's advice in relation to
any progress that has been made in relation to including additional information
on payments to the States, Territories and local government in this year's
Budget documentation.[44]
The Committee also drew the attention of Senators to its
concerns regarding clause 14.[45]
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
As required under Part 3 of the Human Rights
(Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth),[46]
the Government has assessed both Bills’ compatibility with the human rights and
freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in
section 3 of that Act. In relation to the human rights implications of the
Bills, the Government states:
1 The
Bill seeks to appropriate money for the ordinary annual services of the
Government [or services that are not considered to be ordinary annual
services].
2 Accordingly,
the Bill performs an important constitutional function, by authorising the
withdrawal of money from the CRF for the broad purposes identified in the Bill.
3 However,
as the High Court has emphasised, beyond this, Appropriation Acts do not create
rights and nor do they, importantly, impose any duties.
4 Given
that the legal effect of Appropriation Bills is limited in this way, the Bill
is not seen as engaging, or otherwise affecting, the rights or freedoms
relevant to the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
5 Detailed
information on the relevant appropriations, however, is contained in the
portfolio statements.[47]
However, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights
has previously raised concerns about whether or not the allocation of funding proposed
in Appropriation Bills might engage human rights considerations; particularly
given the capacity for Appropriation Bills to give effect to a reduction in
funding for programs that might be aimed at the realisation of human rights.
In its assessment of the No. 3 and No. 4 Bills, the Committee
referred to its comments in relation to prior Appropriation Bills before
stating as follows:
The committee notes that the statements of compatibility for
the bills provide no assessment of their compatibility with human rights on the
basis that they do not engage or otherwise create or impact on human rights.
However, while the committee acknowledges that appropriations bills present
particular challenges in terms of human rights assessments, the appropriation
of funds may engage and potentially limit or promote a range of human rights
that fall under the committee's mandate.
Given the difficulty of conducting measure-level assessments
of appropriations bills, the committee recommends that consideration be given
to developing alternative templates for assessing their human rights
compatibility, drawing upon existing domestic and international precedents.
Relevant factors in such an approach could include consideration of:
- whether
the bills are compatible with Australia's obligations of progressive
realisation with respect to economic, social and cultural rights; and
- whether
any reductions in the allocation of funding are compatible with Australia's
obligations not to unjustifiably take retrogressive or backward steps in the
realisation of economic, social and cultural rights.[48]
The Committee stated that it did not require a response
from the Minister in relation to these concerns.[49]
Concluding comments
The requirement for the Executive to secure the passage of
Appropriation Bills from the Parliament is an important financial control on
the Executive by the Parliament. These Bills, if passed, will be effective in
releasing the proposed appropriations from the CRF.
If the comments by Senate Standing Committee for the
Scrutiny of Bills about the inappropriate allocation of funding between the two
Bills was to be addressed, Schedule 1 to the No 3. Bill and Schedule
2 to the No. 4 Bill would need to be amended to reallocate from the No. 3
Bill the proposed appropriation for the measures identified by that Committee as
properly belonging in the No. 4 Bill.
[1]. The
CRF consists of all revenues and moneys raised or received by the executive
government of the Commonwealth. The CRF is self-executing, which means that all
money received by the Commonwealth automatically becomes part of the CRF.
[2]. Supply Act (No. 1)
2016–2017.
[3]. Supply Act (No. 2)
2016–2017.
[4]. Appropriation Act
(No. 1) 2016–2017.
[5]. Appropriation Act
(No. 2) 2016–2017.
[6]. S
Morrison (Treasurer) and M Cormann (Minister for Finance), ‘2016–17 mid-year economic and fiscal outlook’, media
release, 19 December 2016.
[7]. Appropriation
Bill (No. 3) 2016–2017, Schedule 1, p. 9; Appropriation
Bill (No. 4) 2016–2017, Schedule 2, p. 11.
[8]. M
Sukkar (Assistant Minister to the Treasurer), ‘Second
reading speech: Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2016–2017’, House of
Representatives, Debates, 9 February 2017, p. 477; M
Sukkar (Assistant Minister to the Treasurer), ‘Second
reading speech: Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2016–2017,’ House of
Representatives, Debates, 9 February 2017, p. 478.
[9]. The
need for notional payments to be deemed to be real payments is explained on
page 6 of this Digest.
[10]. A
provision in the Annual Appropriation Acts that enables the Finance Minister to
provide additional appropriation to entities for urgent and unforeseen
expenditure in the current year. This is known as an Advance to the Finance
Minister. The Advance to the Finance Minister is explained further on page 7
of this digest.
[11]. Pape
v Commissioner of Taxation (2009) 238 CLR 1, [2009] HCA 23.
[12]. Australian Constitution,
section 81.
[13]. Ibid.,
section 83.
[14]. Ibid.,
section 53.
[15]. Ibid.,
section 56.
[16]. B
Wright and P Fowler, House
of Representatives practice, 6th edn, Department of the House of Representatives,
Canberra, 2012, p. 424.
[17]. Australian Constitution,
section 54: ‘The proposed law which appropriates revenue or moneys for the
ordinary annual services of the Government shall deal only with such proposed
appropriation’.
[18]. J
Odgers, Odgers'
Australian Senate practice, 14th edn, Department of the Senate,
Canberra, 2016, p. 386.
[19]. Senate
Standing Committee on Appropriations and Staffing, 50th
report: ordinary annual services of the government, The
Senate, Canberra, June 2010.
[20]. Australia,
Senate, Journals,
127, 2008–10, 22 June 2010, pp. 3642–43.
[21]. Osborne
v Commonwealth (1911) 12 CLR 321, [1911]
HCA 19 per Griffith CJ at [336].
[22]. Australian Constitution,
section 53.
[23]. Wright
and Fowler, House of Representatives practice, op. cit., p. 430.
[24]. Australian
Accounting Standards Board (AASB), Administered
items, AASB 1050, December 2013.
[25]. Combet
v Commonwealth (2005) 224 CLR 494, [2005]
HCA 61, per Gummow, Hayne, Callinan and Heydon JJ at [123].
[26]. Attorney-General
(Vic); Ex rel Dale v Commonwealth (‘Pharmaceutical Benefits case’) (1945) 71
CLR 237, [1945]
HCA 30, per Latham CJ at [253].
[27]. Department
of Finance, Guidance
for preparing the 2016–17 portfolio budget statements, March 2016,
p. 31.
[28]. Public Governance,
Performance and Accountability Act 2013, section 11, ‘Note’.
[29]. Appropriation
Bill (No. 3), clause 5; Appropriation Bill (No. 4), clause 5.
[30]. For
2016–17, a smaller Advance to the Finance Minister was set by Supply Act (No. 1)
2016–2017 and the Supply Act (No. 2)
2016–2017, pending the passage of the Appropriation Act
(No. 1) 2016–2017 and the Appropriation Act
(No. 2) 2016–2017.
[31]. Appropriation Act
(No. 1) 2016–2017, section 10; Appropriation Act (No.
2) 2016–2017, section 12.
[32]. Appropriation Act
(No. 1) 2016–2017, subsection 10(3); Appropriation Act
(No. 2) 2016–2017, subsection 12(3).
[33]. Legislation Act
2003.
[34]. Appropriation Act
(No. 1) 2016–2017, subsection 10(5); Appropriation Act
(No. 2) 2016–2017, subsection 12(5).
[35]. Supply Act (No. 1)
2016–2017; Supply Act (No. 2)
2016–2017; Appropriation
Act (No. 1) 2016–2017; Appropriation Act
(No. 2) 2016–2017.
[36]. Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, Scrutiny
digest, 2, 2017, The Senate, 15 February 2017.
[37]. S
Morrison (Treasurer) and M Cormann (Minister for Finance), Mid-year
economic and fiscal outlook 2016–17, Commonwealth of Australia, 19 December 2016,
p. 150.
[38]. Ibid.,
p. 137.
[39]. Ibid.,
p. 173.
[40]. Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, Scrutiny
digest, 2, 2017, op. cit., pp. 4–5.
[41]. See,
for example, Appropriation Bill (No. 4), clause 14 and Schedule 1.
[42]. Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, Alert
digest, 2, 2016, 24 February 2016; Senate Standing
Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, Report,
8, 2016, 9 November 2016.
[43]. Ibid.
[44]. Ibid.,
p. 8.
[45]. Ibid.,
p. 8.
[46]. Human Rights
(Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
[47]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2016–2017, p. 3; Explanatory
Memorandum, Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2016–2017, p. 4.
[48]. Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights, Human Rights Scrutiny Report, 2, 2017,
Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 21 March 2017, p. 46.
[49]. Ibid.,
p. 44.
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