Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Australian Politics and Policy
and ordinances are all examples of subordinate legislation. The parliament, as a
precondition to the delegation of legislative power, provides mechanisms by which
subordinate legislation is monitored and, if a house decides, ‘disallowed’.
Financial appropriation
Just as we have to juggle to pay our bills, so too do governments. But, unlike us,
governmentsneedtoseekauthorisationfromparliamentfirst.Theyneedtopass
their budget in order to continue to pay for the services they are expected to deliver
in areas such as health, education, police, defence and the upkeep of roads, for
programs like the National Disability Insurance Scheme, or to provide drought relief
or disaster assistance to suffering communities. Much of this money is collected
through our ongoing taxes. To ensure it will be spent wisely, all governments need
to inform and seek general approval from the parliament first.
One of the most essential constitutional legacies inherited from Westminster is
the lower house’s control of public finances. The laws and controls can generally be
summarised as follows:
• Tax cannot be levied without the consent of parliament through legislation.
• The executive cannot borrow money upon the public credit without legislative
authority.
• While money raised by taxation and other revenue vests in the executive
(usually the Crown), no money can be paid from the money collected without
a distinct authorisation of parliament.
• Revenues collected are deposited in a single fund usually called the Consolidated
Revenue Fund.
A Bill approving expenditure to be deducted from the Consolidated Revenue Fund
is called an Appropriation Bill. There are usually also laws providing for the audit
and account of public expenditure, including a requirement that at the end of each
financial year the treasurer must forward a statement of all transactions of the
Consolidated Revenue Fund and details of appropriation paid to each department
to the auditor-general for certification.
If the parliament decides to block a government’s budget (this can be played
out for an extended period of time as budget Bills bounce back and forth between
the two chambers), the government will fall or a double dissolution trigger will
be pulled. The most famous example of this process occurred during the Whitlam
government’s term of office in the 1970s. 16
16 Parliament of Australia n.d.
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