The Secretary to the Treasury has forwarded me the following memorandum for advice:

• Section 2 of the Bill recently passed by Parliament granting a sum out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the purposes of financial assistance to the State of Western Australia reads as follows:

There shall be payable out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, which is hereby appropriated accordingly, for the purposes of financial assistance to the State of Western Australia to be applied by the State to such objects as the Parliament of the State shall from time to time have approved, during the year ending the thirtieth day of June one thousand nine hundred and twenty-six, such sum as, added to the payment which that State is entitled to receive for that year under the provisions of section five of the Surplus Revenue Act 1910, equals the sum of four hundred and fifty thousand pounds.

• It will be observed that it is provided that the amount of this grant shall ‘be applied by the State to such objects as the Parliament of the State shall from time to time have approved’, and I shall be glad to be advised whether, before the Commonwealth can make any payment in respect of this grant to the State, it is necessary that the Parliament of Western Australia shall have passed legislation appropriating the moneys.

Under section 2 of the Act there is an obligation upon the State of Western Australia to apply the amount granted under the Act to objects from time to time approved by the Parliament of that State.

The Act does not require that such objects shall be approved by the State Parliament by appropriation or otherwise before any payment is made by the Commonwealth.

The question submitted is answered in the negative.

[Vol. 22, p. 499]