Treasurer's Advance Authorisation Bill 2025
Receipt and first reading
Bill received from the Assembly and, on motion by Hon Samantha Rowe (Parliamentary Secretary), read a first time.
Second reading speech
Hon Samantha Rowe (East Metropolitan Region—Parliamentary Secretary) (5:31 pm): I move:
That the bill be now read a second time.
This bill seeks to increase the Treasurer's advance limit for 2024–25 by $1.93 billion from the currently approved limit of $1.08 billion to $3.01 billion.
The Treasurer's advance authorises the Treasurer to draw funds from the consolidated account for amounts that were not factored into the budget appropriation acts. This allows for the release of central funding for items that exceed the appropriated budget or new items that have been determined as needing to be reflected in the current year that emerged after the budget bills were introduced to Parliament. It also provides for short-term repayable advances to agencies for working capital and similar purposes.
The annual Treasurer's advance limit is set automatically by section 29(1) of the Financial Management Act 2006 and is calculated as 3% of the amount appropriated in the previous financial year. For 2024–25, this equates to a Treasurer's advance limit of $1.08 billion. If this automatic limit proves insufficient, section 29(3) of the FMA allows the Treasurer's advance limit to be increased by way of a Treasurer's advance authorisation act.
The Pre-election Financial Projections Statement 2024–25 projected that a total of $2.51 billion is expected to be drawn against recoverable advances, excesses and new items in 2024–25, exceeding the currently approved Treasurer's advance limit. Details of all expected drawdowns against the 2024–25 Treasurer's advance were disclosed in appendix 4 of the Pre-election Financial Projections Statement 2024–25 and the Government Mid-year Financial Projections Statement 2024–25. The most significant components of the $2.51 billion forecast to be drawn against the Treasurer's advance include a $469.7 million funding increase for Synergy, primarily to deliver the Commonwealth government's electricity rebates to households and eligible small businesses; additional funding of $416.2 million for WA Health, mainly to support higher activity funding to address price-related pressures and service expansion in hospitals; and $321.9 million for the Department of Communities, primarily to meet increased demand for key services, particularly in the child protection system, as well as to deliver additional affordable and social housing dwellings.
The approval of the appropriation for the items outlined in the Pre-election Financial Projections Statement 2024–25 will not change the state's fiscal outlook as the financial impacts have already been reflected in that publication. Consistent with previous bills, allowance is also made for any additional appropriation funding that could materialise by 30 June 2025 either through the 2025–26 budget process or other unforeseen cashflow requirements, such as funding emergency support for natural disasters. It is anticipated that the proposed increase to the Treasurer's advance will provide sufficient capacity for the government to respond to emerging issues for the remainder of 2024–25.
As with all previous bills, the increase in the Treasurer's advance provides the authority to meet higher funding requirements, but it does not commit the state to any other additional spending. However, the Cook Labor government has flagged that it intends to use funds authorised through the Treasurer's advance to enable the payment of the second round of the WA student assistance payment in term 2 of 2025. The passage of the bill in this timeframe is necessary to enable the government to deliver this cost-of-living assistance to WA families this financial year. Any unspent capacity on the Treasurer's advance will lapse at 30 June 2025, with actual expenditure to be reported in the 2024–25 Annual Report on State Finances, which is to be released in September 2025.
As the authority for the release of excess funding needs to be in place before any such funds can be drawn down during the remainder of 2024–25, the passage of the bill is required as soon as possible. This urgency reflects the later-than-usual resumption of Parliament this year as a result of the March 2025 state election.
Pursuant to standing order 126, I advise that this bill is not a uniform legislation bill. It does not ratify or give effect to an intergovernmental or multilateral agreement to which the government of the state is a party; nor does this bill by reason of its subject matter introduce a uniform scheme or uniform laws throughout the Commonwealth. I commend the bill to the house and table an explanatory memorandum.
(See paper 99.)
Debate adjourned, pursuant to standing orders.
