Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) If, during a particular month, the Commonwealth receives:
(a) an amount of royalty payable under the Royalty Act by the registered holder of:
(i) a petroleum exploration permit; or
(ii) a petroleum retention lease; or
(iii) a petroleum production licence;
in relation to petroleum recovered under the permit, lease or licence in the offshore area of Western Australia; or
(b) an amount payable under Part 6.7 because of late payment of any such royalty;
then, before the end of the next month, the Commonwealth must pay to Western Australia an amount worked out using the formula:
where:
"royalty rate" means the percentage rate at which royalty is payable by the holder under the Royalty Act in relation to that petroleum (disregarding any determination under section 9 of the Royalty Act in relation to a well).
Reduction of payments to Western Australia--refunds of royalty
(a) the Commonwealth is liable to pay an amount under subsection (1) because the Commonwealth received, during a particular month, an amount mentioned in that subsection; and
(b) during that month, the Commonwealth paid a refund under paragraph 16(3)(b) of the Royalty Act to the registered holder of:
(i) a petroleum exploration permit; or
(ii) a petroleum retention lease; or
(iii) a petroleum production licence;
in respect of an amount of royalty payable under the Royalty Act;
the total of the amounts payable by the Commonwealth as mentioned in paragraph (a) is to be reduced by an amount worked out using the formula:
where:
"adjusted amount" means the amount that would have been paid under subsection (1) in respect of the amount of royalty if it were assumed that the provisional royalty (within the meaning of section 16 of the Royalty Act) had been equal to the determined royalty (within the meaning of that section).
Payment through COAG Reform Fund
(3) An amount that is payable by the Commonwealth under this section must be credited to the COAG Reform Fund for the purposes of paying the amount to Western Australia.
(4) The Treasurer must ensure that, as soon as practicable after an amount is credited to the COAG Reform Fund under subsection (3), the COAG Reform Fund is debited for the purposes of paying the amount to Western Australia.
(a) the COAG Reform Fund Act 2008 ; and
(b) the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 ;
the payment of an amount that the Commonwealth is liable to pay under this section is taken to be a payment by way of a grant of financial assistance.