Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Labor will support the supply bills that have been introduced in the parliament as part of the COVID-19 response. These bills broadly provide for seven months of funding in the 2020-21 financial year to allow for the continued operation of government, including the parliament. Our support will ensure essential functions of government are able to operate through this period of uncertainty. There are some exceptions to the seven-month rule, which include full-year funding for the National Disability Insurance Agency; full-year department funding for Services Australia, the ATO and the Department of Health to ensure service delivery is maintained; and full-year appropriations for the coronavirus economic and health response measures. Supply Bill (No. 1) 2020-2021 will appropriate $76.4 billion, Supply Bill (No. 2) 2020-2021 will appropriate $6.7 billion and the Supply (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2020-2021 will appropriate $150.5 million.

Like all supply and appropriation bills, these bills contain advance to the finance minister provisions. The advance to the finance minister allows the finance minister to authorise an amount of expenditure without the usual appropriation mechanisms for urgent and unforeseen circumstances or where there has been an error in an appropriation bill. These provisions are usually for a reasonable but modest amount. For example, in the 2019-20 appropriation bills passed in this place last year, bill 1 had a provision of $295 million and bill 2 had $380 million for a total of $675 million.

The supply bills that are before us right now are proposing an Advance to the Minister for Finance provision that totals $40 million. This is an unprecedented amount. However, given the unprecedented nature of the times we are in, we deem the provisions to be appropriate. After all, just over a week after the announcement of a $17.6 billion stimulus package, we had nearly a quadrupling of the amount with the $66 billion package that followed. We are aware of discussions around a third economic response package being considered, and I don't think anyone is in a position to understand how much that package might need to be. That's why we consider this larger provision to be appropriate.

But Labor support for this has been conditional, and, as part of our agreement to these bills and the advance to the finance minister provisions contained in them, we have sought and received the agreement of the government for a number of transparency and oversight provisions which we deem to be quite reasonable for the situation we find ourselves in. After negotiations with the Minister for Finance and, through him, with the government—and I acknowledge and appreciate the spirit and engagement on this—the government will issue a media release after every use of the Advance to the Minister for Finance on the Friday, I think, of the week that the advance was used and seek concurrence from the opposition for a proposed use of the advance to the finance minister of any sum greater than $1 billion.

Labor believes these transparency and oversight initiatives related to the advance to the finance minister will enhance scrutiny of this facility, which is appropriate, given the large amount of funding that we're talking about. As I indicated, Labor will support these bills. It's important that we have the level of certainty that essential operations of government can continue while the COVID-19 situation is dealt with.