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

It is proposed to pay to the credit of Trust Account, Uniform Clothing and Necessaries (Naval) Account, the following amounts voted in the Appropriation Act 1911-19112, viz.:

Under Division 52, Permanent Force (Sea-going), Sub-division 2-

Item 2. Uniform Clothing and Necessaries .................................................. £10,000

Item 4. Compensation for damages to or loss of clothing ...................................... 1,000

Under Division 54, Naval Reserve, Sub-division 2-

Item 2. Cloth for Uniforms............................................................................. 880

Under Division 55, Senior Cadets, Sub-division 1 -

Item 5. Cloth for Uniforms............................................................................. 5,000

Section 62a of the Audit Act 1901-1909 provides that moneys standing to the credit of a Trust Account may be expended for the purposes of the Account.

Will the Secretary kindly advise me whether the moneys voted for the various purposes set forth in the votes and transferred to the Trust Account, should be applied only for such purposes, or whether all moneys in the Trust Account may be expended for the purposes of the Account, irrespective of the votes under which they were credited to the Account.

In my opinion the moneys have been voted by Parliament for specific purposes, and can only be applied to the purposes for which they were voted.

It would have been different if the moneys had been voted generally for the purposes of the Trust Account into which they are directed to be paid.⁽²⁾

[Vol. 9, p. 379]

(1) This date is derived from the Parliamentary Paper (see endnote (2)), but in the Opinion Book the date is 19 January 1912.

(2) This opinion was published in Commonwealth of Australia, Parl. Papers 1912, Vol. II. p. 1030.