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Australian Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills - Scrutiny Digests |
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Purpose
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Appropriation (Coronavirus Response) Bill (No. 1) 2021-2022 and
Appropriation (Coronavirus Response) Bill (No. 1) 2021-2022 seek to propose
appropriations from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the ordinary annual
services of the Government. The bills propose
additional appropriation to cover
the cash flow requirements for Coronavirus response programs that need funding
through February
and March 2022.
These bills are necessary due to the significant impacts of the COVID-19
variants on the Australian community, for which funding is
required before the
usual time for Parliamentary passage of Appropriation Bills (Nos. 3 and 4)
2021-2022.
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Portfolio
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Finance
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Introduced
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House of Representatives on 9 February 2022
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1.38 The committee considers that the Advance to the Finance Minister (AFM) provisions in clause 10 of Appropriation (Coronavirus Response) Bill (No. 1) 2021-2022 and clause 12 of Appropriation (Coronavirus Response) Bill (No. 2) 2021-2022 give rise to similar issues to those raised by the committee in Scrutiny Digest 8 of 2021 in relation to the Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2021-2022 and the Appropriation Act (No. 2) 2021-2022.[2]
1.39 The committee notes that the amount available under the AFM provisions in these bills—$5 billion—is the same as the total amount available under the Appropriation Act (No. 1) 2021-2022 and the Appropriation Act (No. 2) 2021-2022. However, subclause 10(3) of Appropriation (Coronavirus Response) Bill (No. 1) 2021-2022 and subclause 12(3) of Appropriation (Coronavirus Response) Bill (No. 2) 2021-2022 provide that an AFM determination under these bills must relate to expenditure for the purposes of responding to circumstances relating to COVID-19.
1.40 The committee welcomes the inclusion of these provisions which limit the purposes for which additional funds may be allocated to COVID-19 response measures.
1.41 The committee otherwise draws its general scrutiny concerns about AFM provisions to the attention of senators and leaves to the Senate as a whole the appropriateness of allowing the Finance Minister to determine the specific purposes for which up to $5 billion in additional funds may be allocated in legislative instruments not subject to disallowance.
1.42 In Scrutiny Digest 13 of 2021, the committee welcomed advice from the minister that the additional transparency measures applying in relation to AFM determinations made since the 2020-2021 supply bills would continue in relation to future appropriation bills and that details of these transparency measures would be included within explanatory memoranda to future bills.[3]
1.43 The committee thanks the minister for responding constructively to its proposals regarding the provision of additional information about transparency measures applying to AFM provisions within explanatory memoranda to future appropriation bills.
1.44 In light of the fact that the bill has already passed both Houses of the Parliament, the committee makes no further comment on these matters.
[1] Clause 10 of Appropriation (Coronavirus Response) Bill (No. 1) 2021-2022; Clause 12 of Appropriation (Coronavirus Response) Bill (No. 2) 2021-2022. The committee draws senators' attention to these provisions pursuant to Senate Standing Order 24(1)(a)(iv) and (v).
[2] Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, Scrutiny Digest 8 of 2021, pp. 8-11.
[3] Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, Scrutiny Digest 13 of 2021, pp. 20-21.
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URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/AUSStaCSBSD/2022/21.html