FINANCE
WHETHER PURPOSES OF APPROPRIATION AND TRUST ACCOUNT MUST BE IDENTICAL TO ENABLE PAYMENT OF MONEYS INTO ACCOUNT
AUDIT ACT 1901-1909, s. 62A: APPROPRIATION ACT 1910-1911
The Secretary to the Treasury has forwarded the following memorandum to me for advice:
It is proposed to close the 'Defence Clothing Material Account' included in the Schedule to the Audit Acts 1901-1909 and to establish a new Trust Account to be called the 'Defence Clothing Account', the purposes of the account to be defined as 'Purchase of material for Defence Uniforms also purchase of uniforms and other articles of Kit'.
It is desired to know whether it will be legal to pay into such account any balances available under the following votes included in the Appropriation Act 1910-1911 viz.-
| 140 | Divn. | 117, | Subd. | 3 | Universal | Cadet | Training | &c. |
| 165 | " | 137, | " | 3 | " | " | " | |
| 184 | " | 155, | " | 3 | " | " | " | |
| 201 | " | 173, | " | 3 | " | " | " | |
| 218 | " | 191, | " | 3 | " | " | " | |
| 236 | " | 209, | " | 3 | " | " | " | |
| 306 | " | 10, | " | 1 | Item 2 Supply Of Cloth For Uniforms &c. | |||
Trust Accounts are established under section 62Aof the Audit Act 1901-1909. The only provision for the payment of moneys into a Trust Account is sub-section (5) of section 62A, which reads as follows:
(5) The following moneys may be paid to the credit of the Trust Account to which they relate:-
- All moneys appropriated by law for the purposes of any Trust Account:
- All moneys received from the sale to any person or Commonwealth Department of any articles purchased or produced, or for work paid for; with moneys standing to the credit of a Trust Account:
- All moneys paid by any person for the purpose of any Trust Account: and
- Pay due to a member of the Militia Forces and unclaimed in the hands of an Accounting Officer for three months.
I am of opinion that none of the following votes come within sub-section (5) in relation to the proposed Trust Account, viz: [subdivision 3 of each of the divisions numbered 117, 137, 155, 173, 191, 209], as the purposes of those votes and the purposes of the proposed Trust Account are quite different.
I am also of opinion that Item 2 of Subdivision 1 of Division 10 would not come within the sub-section in relation to the proposed Trust Account, because the purposes of the vote and the purposes of the proposed Trust Account are not identical-the purposes of the Trust Account being wider than the Parliamentary appropriation.
See opinions of 27 July 1909(1) and 4 August 1909(2) (to the Auditor-General).
[Vol. 8, p. 333]
(1)Opinion No.342.
(2)Opinion No.343.