House of Representatives

Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Finance and Administration, Senator the Honourable Nick Minchin)

Attachment C

Deeming provisions contained in the Financial Management Legislation Amendment Act 1999

Section 5 of the Financial Management Legislation Amendment Act 1999 (FMLA Act 99)

Section 5 of the FMLA Act 99 covers the conversion of components of the Reserved Money Fund (RMF) and components of the Commercial Activities Fund to Special Accounts.24

Subsection 5(5) provides that a reference in any instrument to a component of the RMF (that is, a name ending in "Reserve" or "Fund") is to be read as a reference to the same name, but ending with "Account".

Subsection 5(6) provides that:

•

A reference to transferring, paying, or debiting an amount from the CRF, and crediting a component of the RMF, is to be read as a reference to crediting the amount to the Account (paragraph 5(6)(a)).

•

A reference to transferring or paying, or debiting, an amount from a component of the RMF to, or crediting the amount to, the CRF, is to be read as a reference to debiting the amount from the Account (paragraph 5(6)(b)).

•

A reference to paying an amount out of a component of the RMF is to be read as a reference to paying the amount out of the CRF and debiting the amount from the Account (paragraph 5(6)(c)).

Section 6 of the FMLA Act 99

Section 6 of the FMLA Act 99 covers the abolition of the Loan Fund. It provides that a reference in any instrument to the Loan Fund is to be read as a reference to the CRF.

Section 7 of the FMLA Act 99

Section 7 of the FMLA Act 99 covers references to payments into the CRF. It provides that a reference in any instrument to payment of an amount into the CRF is to be read as a reference to payment of the amount to the Commonwealth, unless the amount is already public money.