Appropriation (Northern Territory
National Emergency Response) Act (No. 2) 2007‑2008
No. 127, 2007
An Act to appropriate money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund
for certain expenditure in relation to the Northern Territory National
Emergency Response, and for related purposes
[Assented to 17 August 2007]
The Parliament of Australia enacts:
Part 1—Preliminary
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Short title
This Act may be cited as the Appropriation
(Northern Territory National Emergency Response) Act (No. 2) 2007‑2008.
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Commencement
This Act commences on the day on which
it receives the Royal Assent.
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Definitions
In this Act:
administered assets and liabilities item
means an amount set out in Schedule 2 in relation to an entity opposite
the heading “Administered Assets and Liabilities”.
administered item means an amount set out in
Schedule 2 opposite an outcome of an entity under the heading “New
Administered Expenses”.
Agency means:
(a) an Agency within the meaning of
the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997; or
(b) the High Court of Australia.
Commonwealth authority has the same meaning
as in the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997.
Commonwealth company has the same meaning as
in the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997.
current year means the financial year ending
on 30 June 2008.
entity means any of the following:
(a) an Agency;
(b) a Commonwealth authority;
(c) a Commonwealth company.
expenditure means payments for expenses,
acquiring assets, making loans or paying liabilities.
Finance Minister means the Minister
administering this Act.
item means any of the following:
(a) a State, ACT, NT and local
government item;
(b) an administered item;
(c) an administered assets and
liabilities item;
(d) an other departmental item.
other departmental item means an amount set
out in Schedule 2 in relation to an entity:
(a) opposite the heading “Equity
Injections”; or
(b) opposite the heading “Loans”; or
(c) opposite the heading “Previous
Years’ Outputs”.
Portfolio Budget Statements means the
Portfolio Budget Statements that were tabled in the Senate or the House of
Representatives in relation to the Bill for the Appropriation Act
(No. 1) 2007‑2008 and the Bill for the Appropriation Act
(No. 2) 2007‑2008.
Portfolio Supplementary Estimates Statements
means the Portfolio Supplementary Estimates Statements that were tabled in the
Senate or the House of Representatives in relation to the Bill for this Act and
the Bill for the Appropriation (Northern Territory National Emergency
Response) Act (No. 1) 2007‑2008.
Special Account has the same meaning as in
the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997.
State, ACT, NT and local government item
means an amount set out in Schedule 2 opposite an outcome of an entity
under the heading “Payments to States, ACT, NT and local government”.
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Portfolio Statements
(1) The Portfolio Budget Statements and
Portfolio Supplementary Estimates Statements are hereby declared to be relevant
documents for the purposes of section 15AB of the Acts Interpretation
Act 1901.
Note: See paragraph 15AB(2)(g) of the Acts
Interpretation Act 1901.
(2) If the Portfolio Budget Statements or
Portfolio Supplementary Estimates Statements indicate that activities of a
particular kind were intended to be treated as activities in respect of a
particular outcome, then expenditure for the purpose of carrying out those
activities is taken to be expenditure for the purpose of contributing to
achieving the outcome.
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Notional payments, receipts etc.
For the purposes of this Act, notional
transactions between Agencies are to be treated as if they were real
transactions.
Note: This section applies, for example, to a
“payment” between Agencies that are both part of the Commonwealth. One of the
effects of this section is that the payment will be debited from an appropriation
for the paying Agency, even though no payment is actually made from the
Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Part 2—Basic appropriations
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Summary of basic appropriations
The total of the items specified in
Schedule 2 is $85,337,000.
Note 1: Items in Schedule 2 can be increased under
section 12 of the Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2007‑2008 (as
modified by section 10 of the Appropriation (Northern Territory
National Emergency Response) Act (No. 1) 2007‑2008).
Note 2: See also section 30A of the Financial
Management and Accountability Act 1997, which provides for adjustment of
appropriations to take account of GST.
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State, ACT, NT and local government items—basic appropriation
(1) For a State, ACT, NT and local government
item for an outcome of an entity, the Finance Minister may issue out of the
Consolidated Revenue Fund amounts that do not exceed, in total, the lesser of:
(a) the amount specified in the item;
and
(b) the amount determined by the
Finance Minister in relation to the item, having regard to the expenses
incurred by the entity in the current year in relation to the item.
(2) An amount issued out of the Consolidated
Revenue Fund for a State, ACT, NT and local government item for an outcome of
an entity may only be applied for the purpose of making payments to or for the
States, the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory and local
government authorities for the purpose of contributing to achieving that
outcome.
(3) A determination made under
paragraph (1)(b) is not a legislative instrument.
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Administered items—basic appropriation
(1) For an administered item for an outcome
of an entity, the Finance Minister may issue out of the Consolidated Revenue
Fund amounts that do not exceed, in total, the lesser of:
(a) the amount specified in the item;
and
(b) the amount determined by the
Finance Minister in relation to the item, having regard to the expenses
incurred by the entity in the current year in relation to the item.
(2) An amount issued out of the Consolidated
Revenue Fund for an administered item for an outcome of an entity may only be
applied for expenditure for the purpose of carrying out activities for the
purpose of contributing to achieving that outcome.
Note: The acquisition of new administered assets
will usually be funded from an administered assets and liabilities item.
(3) A determination made under
paragraph (1)(b) is not a legislative instrument.
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Administered assets and liabilities items—basic appropriation
(1) For an administered assets and liabilities
item for an entity, the Finance Minister may issue out of the Consolidated
Revenue Fund amounts that do not exceed, in total, the amount specified in the
item.
(2) An amount issued out of the Consolidated
Revenue Fund for an administered assets and liabilities item for an entity may
only be applied for expenditure for the purpose of carrying out activities for
the purpose of contributing to achieving any outcome that is specified in
relation to the entity:
(a) in Schedule 2 to this Act; or
(b) in Schedule 1 to the Appropriation
(Northern Territory National Emergency Response) Act (No. 1) 2007‑2008;
or
(c) in Schedule 2 to the Appropriation
Act (No. 2) 2007‑2008; or
(d) in Schedule 1 to the Appropriation
Act (No. 1) 2007‑2008.
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Other departmental items—basic appropriation
(1) For an other departmental item for an
entity, the Finance Minister may issue out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund
amounts that do not exceed, in total, the amount specified in the item.
Note: Generally, the Finance Minister is permitted,
but not obliged, to issue the amounts out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
However, subsection (3) imposes an obligation on the Finance Minister to
issue the amounts in certain circumstances.
(2) An amount issued out of the Consolidated
Revenue Fund for an other departmental item may only be applied for the
departmental expenditure of the entity.
(3) If:
(a) an Act provides that an entity
must be paid amounts that are appropriated by the Parliament for the purposes
of the entity; and
(b) Schedule 2 contains an other
departmental item for that entity;
then the Finance Minister, under subsection (1), must
issue out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund the full amount specified in the
item.
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Reduction of appropriations upon request
(1) The Finance Minister may, upon written
request by a Minister, make a written determination reducing an administered
assets and liabilities item or an other departmental item for an entity for
which the Minister is responsible by the amount specified in the determination.
(2) The Finance Minister may, upon written
request by the Chief Executive of an entity for which the Finance Minister is
responsible, make a written determination reducing an administered assets and
liabilities item or an other departmental item for that entity by the amount
specified in the determination.
(3) Where a determination is made, the amount
specified in the item is taken to have been reduced by the amount specified in
the determination.
(4) However, a determination is of no effect
if the determination has not been requested under subsection (1) or (2).
(5) In addition, a determination reduces an
amount specified in the item only to the extent that the amount of the
reduction is no greater than the lesser of the following:
(a) the amount requested under
subsection (1) or (2);
(b) the difference between the amount
specified in the item and the amount issued out of the Consolidated Revenue
Fund by the Finance Minister in respect of that item.
(6) For the purposes of
paragraph (5)(b), an amount is not taken to have been issued by the
Finance Minister until the amount is paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
(7) To avoid doubt, where a previous
determination has been made in relation to an item, the reference in
paragraph (5)(b) to the amount specified in the item is taken to be a
reference to the amount specified in the item as reduced by that previous
determination and any other previous determination.
(8) To avoid doubt, a determination made
under subsection (1) or (2) applies despite any other provision of this
Act.
(9) A determination made under
subsection (1) or (2) is a legislative instrument and, despite subsection
44(2) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003, section 42 of that
Act applies to the determination. However, Part 6 of that Act does not
apply to the determination.
(10) A written request made under
subsection (1) or (2) is not a legislative instrument.
Part 3—Miscellaneous
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Crediting amounts to Special Accounts
If any of the purposes of a Special
Account is a purpose that is covered by an item (whether or not the item
expressly refers to the Special Account), then amounts may be debited against
the appropriation for that item and credited to that Special Account.
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Conditions etc. applying to State, ACT, NT and local government items
(1) This section applies to any payment made
out of money appropriated by a State, ACT, NT and local government item for an
outcome specified in column 2 of the table in Schedule 1.
(2) The payment:
(a) must be made on the terms and
conditions (if any) from time to time determined, in the way described in
subsection (3), as applying to payments made:
(i) in relation to the
outcome; and
(ii) to or for a State, the
Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory or a local government
authority; and
(iii) out of money
appropriated by an annual Appropriation Act; and
(b) must be made in accordance with
any determination in writing made by the Minister specified in column 4 of the
table in Schedule 1 for the outcome as to amounts and times of payments.
(3) The way of determining the terms and
conditions applying to payments described in paragraph (2)(a) is for the
Minister specified in column 3 of the table in Schedule 1 for the outcome
to make the determination in writing before or after the commencement of this
Act.
(4) Determinations mentioned in
paragraph (2)(a) and determinations made under paragraph (2)(b) are
not legislative instruments.
(5) This section does not limit the
Commonwealth’s power to:
(a) apply terms and conditions to
payments made out of money that is not appropriated by a State, ACT, NT and
local government item; or
(b) determine the amounts and times of
those payments.
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Appropriation of the Consolidated Revenue Fund
The Consolidated Revenue Fund is
appropriated as necessary for the purposes of this Act.