Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

APPROPRIATION BILL (NO. 5) 2011-2012

There are two supplementary additional estimates bills this year: Appropriation Bill No. 5 and Appropriation Bill No. 6.

The supplementary additional estimates bills seek appropriation authority from parliament for the additional expenditure of money from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. These funds are sought in order to meet requirements that have arisen since additional estimates. The total appropriation being sought through the supplementary additional estimates bills this year is a little over $390 million.

Turning now to Appropriation Bill No. 5, the total appropriation being sought in this bill is $250.3 million. This proposed appropriation arises from: changes in the estimates of program expenditure; variations in the timing of payments; forecast increases in program take-up; reclassifications; and from policy decisions taken by the government since the last budget.

I now outline the major appropriations proposed in the bill.

The government will provide $34.7 million to the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. This includes funding to support the government's commitment to assisting commercial and national broadcasters to vacate the 700 MHz spectrum (the digital dividend spectrum) by replacing and retuning existing transmission equipment so that this spectrum can be cleared for new uses as soon as possible after the switch-off of analog services on 31 December 2013.

The government will provide the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs with $112.6 million. This will provide funding for the Family Support Program and will give organisations earlier access to funds essential to the continued delivery of services under this program.

The government will provide the Department of Health and Ageing with $44.1 million. This will support increasing payments in 2011-2012 for Primary Care Financing, Quality and Access, and for Rural Health Services.

The government will provide the Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport with $43.7 million. This includes grant payments to support 'The Wolverine', Western Sydney Football, the Jim Stynes Achievement Scholarship and a contribution to the Olympic Park Precinct Community Sports Centre.

The remaining amounts that appear in Appropriation Bill No. 5 relate to estimates variations, minor reclassifications and other minor measures.

APPROPRIATION BILL (NO. 6) 2011-2012

Appropriation Bill No. 6 provides additional funding to agencies for:

The total additional appropriation being sought in Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2011-2012 is $140.5 million, the more significant amount of which I will now outline.

The Department of Health and Ageing will receive $119.9 million in this bill. This relates to a re-appropriation of operating appropriation as capital appropriations for IT infrastructure for the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record initiative. The bill also provides funding to support replenishment of the National Medical Stockpile.

The remaining amounts that appear in bill 6 relate to estimates variations, minor reclassifications and other minor measures.

I would like to turn now to the General Drawing Rights Limit for the nation-building funds, which specify the maximum limit on payments from the funds in a financial year exclusive of GST. The General Drawing Rights Limit for the Building Australia Fund proposed in this bill will increase the limit declared in Appropriation Act (No. 4) 2011-12. The change recognises adjustments in the timing of payments to better reflect project milestones and previously announced funding.

Debate adjourned.

Ordered that the resumption of the debate be made an order of the day for a later hour.