Amount remaining in the Consoldiated Revenue Account on 2018 Budget Release date
Dear Department of Finance,
I request a document that shows how much money remained in the Consolidated Revenue Account on the day the 2018 budget was announced in the Australian commonwealth parliament.
Documents that show the total amount of money allocated for the 2018 budget as announced in the Australian commonwealth parliament in 2018.
Yours faithfully,
Eddie
Thank you for your email to the Freedom of Information Team at the
Department of Finance. An officer will respond to your email shortly. In
the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact
the FOI Team on (02) 6215 1783.
Kind regards,
FOI Team, Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
T: 02 6215 1783 E: [Finance request email]
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
Thank you for your email, which has been forwarded to the Department’s FOI
Team for their consideration. A member of the FOI Team will respond to
your email in the next couple of days.
Kind regards
FOI Coordinator
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Eddie
Freedom of Information Request – FOI 18/74
Thank you for your email to the Department of Finance (Finance) requesting
access to the following under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI
Act):
… a document that shows how much money remained in the Consolidated
Revenue Account on the day the 2018 budget was announced in the Australian
commonwealth parliament.
Documents that show the total amount of money allocated for the 2018
budget as announced in the Australian commonwealth parliament in 2018.
Your request was received by Finance on 15 July 2018. The statutory period
for processing your request commences from the day after Finance received
your request. This matter is due on 14 August 2018.
The processing period may be extended if we need to consult third parties,
impose a charge or for other reasons. We will advise you if this happens.
Publicly available information
Finance will notify you if there is publicly available information that
may satisfy your request. If this is the case, we will liaise with you to
discuss next steps with regards to your request.
Liability to pay a charge
You will be notified of any charges in relation to your request as soon as
possible, before we process any requested documents or impose a final
charge.
Publication
As required by the FOI Act, any documents provided to you under the FOI
Act will be published on our [1]disclosure log, unless an exemption
applies or the documents are characterised as containing personal
information. Documents will be published within one working day after they
are released to you.
Policy to exclude junior officer contact details and signatures
Finance has adopted a policy to generally exclude from any documents
released under FOI, the names and contact details of junior staff (non-SES
officers) and staff employed under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act
1984 (adviser level and below). Finance has also adopted a policy to
exclude signatures from any documents released under FOI (unless publicly
available). Finance’s preference is to reach agreement with FOI applicants
to exclude these details from the scope of the request. Where there is no
objection, the names and contact details of junior officers, as well as
any signatures appearing in identified documents, will be redacted under
section 22 of the FOI Act on the basis that these details are irrelevant
to the request.
Please contact the FOI Team on the below contact details if you wish to
discuss your request.
Kind regards
FOI Officer
[2]cid:image001.jpg@01D20F6A.7457D930
FOI Officer, Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
T: 02 6215 1783 E: [3][Finance request email]
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
UNCLASSIFIED
References
Visible links
1. http://www.finance.gov.au/foi/disclosure...
3. mailto:[Finance request email]
UNCLASSIFIED
Good afternoon Eddie
Please find attached a decision in relation to your FOI request (our
reference FOI 18/74).
Kind regards
FOI Officer
[1]cid:image001.jpg@01D20F6A.7457D930
FOI Officer, Legal and Assurance Branch
Business Enabling Services
Department of Finance
T: 02 6215 1783 E: [2][Finance request email]
A: One Canberra Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
UNCLASSIFIED
References
Visible links
2. mailto:[Finance request email]
Eddie left an annotation ()
This has been refused. It seems very odd.
Quote - They claim to have consulted widely within finance and across its functional areas and found that there no areas within Finance that hold documents within the scope of my request, or have any knowledge or records of documents within the scope of my request. – Unquote.
Section 81 of the Commonwealth of Australia constitution states:
“All revenues or moneys raised or received by the Executive Government of the Commonwealth shall form one Consolidated Revenue Fund, to be appropriated for the purposes of the Commonwealth in the manner and subject to the charges and liabilities imposed by this Constitution.”
This part of their reply seems to indicate to me that no-one in government knows how much money remained in the Consolidated Revenue Account on the day the of the Australian 2018 Budget was announced.
Some questions that come to mind:
How could it be that no-one in government and Finance deportment in particular, not know?
Does the nations treasurer know?
Are books of account maintained for the Consolidated Revenue Account?
Who controls the entry of funds into the for the Consolidated Revenue Account?
Are no books of account maintained for the Consolidated Revenue Account?
If they do not know how much money was in the account when the 2018 budget was announced, what fiduciary and monetary standards were in place at the time?
When was the Consolidated Revenue Account last audited?
How often each year is it audited?
Rumor has it there is literally trillions of dollars in this account which has been built up over many years.
Why do Government Departments which are there to provide a service to the Australian people, not publish two basic measures for release to the Australian people in the name of transparent government.
a) How much money did the announced 2018 annual budget absorb?
b) What was the total amount remaining in the Consolidated Revenue Account after the announced budget was accounted for?