EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Select Legislative Instrument 2009 No. 250

Issued by the Authority of the Special Minister of State

Parliamentary Entitlements Act 1990

Parliamentary Entitlements Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1) Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1)

The Parliamentary Entitlements Act 1990 (the Act) provides Members of each House of Parliament (Members) with a range of benefits, including those set out in Part 1, Schedule 1 to the Act. Section 12 of the Act provides, in part, that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of section 9 of the Act.

Subsection 9(1) of the Act provides that a benefit set out in Schedule 1 to the Act may be varied or omitted by a determination made by the Remuneration Tribunal under the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973.

Subsection 9(2) of the Act provides that a benefit set out in Schedule 1 to the Act may be varied or omitted by the regulations. Parliamentary Entitlements Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1) (the Amendment Regulations) amend the Parliamentary Entitlements Regulations 1997 (the Principal Regulations), with effect from 1 October 2009, in part, to:

(a)           combine the printing entitlement, provided under the Principal Regulations, with the Communications Allowance, provided under clauses 10.4 to 10.13 of Remuneration Tribunal Determination 2006/18 (the Determination), to form a new printing and communications entitlement; and

(b)          insert a requirement that the printing and communications entitlement (which can, in part, be used for the establishment and maintenance of websites) and item 7, Part 1, Schedule 1 to the Act (which, in part, provides for office accommodation in the electorate) not be used for ‘electioneering’ purposes.

These Regulations would amend the Amendment Regulations to:

·               amend the provisions in the Amendment Regulations that provide for the calculation of the quantum of the printing and communications entitlement for the period 1 October 2009 to 30 June 2010, to:

o       provide the maximum Communication Allowance available to a Senator or Member as at 1 July 2009 (i.e. $0.55 per enrolled voter for Members, and $27,500 for Senators);

o       enable carryover of the Communications Allowance entitlement, including the Charter Transport entitlement where it has been aggregated with the Communications Allowance entitlement (from the 2008‑09 financial year) as provided by the Determination; and

o       remedy an unexpected windfall provided by the Amendment Regulations, which reset the printing and communications entitlement (on a pro rata basis for the period 1 October 2009 to 30 June 2010) without any deduction for actual spend up until 1 October 2009; and

·               correct the unintended consequence that the electioneering prohibition would operate too broadly, by removing its application from:

o       the printing and communications entitlement to the extent that it provides for the establishment and maintenance of websites (the prohibition on electioneering will continue to apply to all other aspects of the printing and communications entitlement from 1 October 2009); and

o       the provision of the Act relating to office accommodation (including for personal staff) in the electorate, together with the equipment, facilities, office requisites and stationery necessary to operate the office, as approved by the Special Minister of State.

Details of the Regulations are set out in the Attachment.

 

Consultation and Regulatory Impact

No consultation in relation to these Regulations was undertaken because they do not have a direct or significant indirect impact on business, and do not restrict competition. The Office of Best Practice Regulation has confirmed that the preparation of a Regulation Impact Statement is not necessary, as the amendments have a nil or low impact on business or the economy or individuals, apart from the Federal Parliamentarians affected.

ATTACHMENT

 

Details of the Parliamentary Entitlements Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1 ) Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1)

Terminology used in this Attachment

 

Regulation 1 – Name of Regulations

This regulation provides that the title of the Regulations is the Parliamentary Entitlements Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1) Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 1).

Regulation 2 – Commencement

This regulation provides for the Regulations to commence on 30 September 2009. This means they will amend the Amendment Regulations immediately before the Amendment Regulations commence on 1 October 2009.

Regulation 3 – Amendment of the Amendment Regulations

This regulation provides that the Amendment Regulations are amended as set out in Schedule 1.

Schedule 1 – Amendments

Item [1] substitutes item [2] of the Amendment Regulations. Item [2] of the Amendment Regulations inserted new regulations 3AA, 3AB and 3AC into the Principal Regulations. New regulations 3AA, 3AB and 3AC provide for a new printing and communications entitlement for Members and are being amended by the Regulations.

Regulation 3AA

New regulation 3AA is the same as regulation 3AA made by the Amendment Regulations except for the following changes:

·        replaces the reference to subsection 5(1) of the Act in subregulation 3AA(1), to paragraph 5(1)(b) to clarify that the printing and communications entitlement is an additional benefit for the purposes of that paragraph of the Act;

·        insertion of a new subregulation 3AA(4) and minor amendment to subreglation 3AA(3) of the Amendment Regulations. Subregulation 3AA(3) of the Amendment Regulations provides that the printing and communications entitlement must only be used for parliamentary or electorate purposes and prohibits the entitlement being used for party, electioneering, personal or commercial purposes, or for the production of how-to-vote material. The amendment to subregulation 3AA(3) provides that it is subject to subregulation 3AA(4). New subregulation 3AA(4) provides that, if the entitlement is used on or after 1 October 2009 for the establishment or maintenance of a website, the entitlement must be used only for parliamentary or electorate purposes and must not be used for party, personal or commercial purposes. This ensures that the prohibition on not using the entitlement for electioneering purposes does not apply in respect of the establishment or maintenance of websites. Excluding websites removes the consequence of the prohibition on electioneering operating too broadly. The prohibition against electioneering in respect of other uses of the printing and communications entitlement otherwise remains in place; and

·        other minor technical amendments to renumber provisions in regulation 3AA, to provide for new subregulation 3AA(4).

Regulation 3AB

Regulation 3AB deals with the quantum of the printing and communications entitlement for a MHR. This provision remains unchanged in respect of the quantum of the entitlement for the 2010‑11 and future financial years, but is amended in respect of the 2009-10 financial year.

The calculation of the quantum of the printing and communications entitlement for the 2009-10 financial year has been amended to provide Members with the maximum Communications Allowance available and to enable Members to include the full amount of their entitlement to carry-over their Communications Allowance under the Determination (from the 2008-09 financial year). Further, for MHRs who represent electorates of 10,000km² or more and who had aggregated their Communications Allowance and Charter Transport entitlements under the Determination, a mechanism is provided to include the maximum aggregated Communications Allowance and Charter entitlement, plus a full carryover of aggregated entitlements, in the calculation of the quantum of their printing and communications entitlement for the period 1 October 2009 to 30 June 2010.

A heading is inserted before subregulation 3AB(1) and states ‘2009-2010 financial year’. Subregulation 3AB(1) provides that the printing and communications entitlement for the period 1 October 2009 to 30 June 2010 is the amount worked out using subregulation (2) or (3), where subregulation (2) deals with MHRs who had not aggregated their Communications Allowance and Charter Transport under the Determination and subregulation (3) deals with MHRs who had aggregated their Communications Allowance and Charter Transport under the Determination.

Calculation that applies to MHRs whose 2009-10 Communications Allowance and Charter Transport entitlement were not aggregated at the end of 30 September 2009

A heading is inserted before subregulation 3AB(2) and states ‘No aggregation of charter transport entitlement and communications allowance’. Subregulation 3AB(2) provides that if, immediately before 1 October 2009, the MHR’s entitlement under clause 6.2 (the Charter Transport entitlement) and 10.4 (the Communications Allowance) of the Determination were not aggregated, the amount of the printing and communications entitlement for the period 1 October 2009 to 30 June 2010 is the lesser of the first amount and the second amount worked out using the table in subregulation 3AB(2).

The calculation for the first amount is outlined in item 1 of the table, as follows.

Item 1(a) of the table requires the following amounts to be added together:

·   the amount of the MHR’s printing entitlement under the Principal Regulations for the 2009‑2010 financial year;

·   the amount of the MHR’s Communications Allowance under clause 10.4 of the Determination for the 2009‑2010 financial year; and

·   the amount (if any) of the MHR’s Communications Allowance carried over on 1 July 2009 in accordance with clauses 10.5 and 10.6 of the Determination.

Item 1(b) subtracts from the total in item 1(a) any amount of the MHR’s printing entitlement and Communications Allowance that the MHR spent during the period 1 July to 30 September 2009.

The result of the calculations in items 1(a) and (b) is the first amount.

Example

Member B represents an electorate which is smaller than 10,000km² and does not aggregate his or her communications allowance and charter transport entitlements.

The first amount for Member B is:

-    Printing entitlement under regulation 3 at 1 July 2009 = $100,000 per annum

-    Communications Allowance under clause 10.4 at 1 July 2009 = $0.55 per enrolled voter per annum (e.g. $55,000)

-    2008-09 carryover under clause 10.5 = $0 to $55,000 (e.g. $10,500)

-    Actual amount spent between 1 July and 30 September 2009 (e.g. $35,500)

 

Printing entitlement + Communications Allowance + carryover – amount spent =

 

$100,000 + $55,000 + $10,500 – $35,500 = $130,000

The calculation for the second amount is outlined in item 2 of the table, as follows.

Item 2(a) of the table requires the following calculation:

·   $75,000 multiplied by 0.7479. The reference to $75,000 is the fixed reduced value of the printing component of the printing and communications entitlement from the 2010‑2011 (and subsequent financial years), pro‑rated by a ratio of 273:365 – i.e. for the period 1 October 2009 to 30 June 2010.

Item 2(b) requires the result from item 2(a) to be added to:

·   the amount of the MHR’s Communications Allowance under clause 10.4 of the Determination for the 2009‑10 financial year; and

·   any amount of the MHR’s Communications Allowance carried over on 1 July 2009 in accordance with clauses 10.5 and 10.6 of the Determination.

The result of the calculations in items 2(a) and (b) is the second amount.

Example

The second amount for Member B is:

-    Printing component as at 1 October 2009 = $75,000 per annum × 0.7479

-    Maximum Communications Allowance available = $0.55 per enrolled voter per annum (e.g. ($55,000)

-    2008-09 carryover under clause 10.5 = $0 to $55,000 (e.g. $10,500)

 

Printing component × 0.7479 + communications component + carryover =

$56,093 + $55,000 + $10,500 = $121,593

The second amount ($121,593) is the lesser amount and will be the amount available to Member B for printing and communications for the period 1 October 2009 to 30 June 2010.

Calculation that applies to MHRs whose 2009-10 Communications Allowance and Charter Transport entitlement were aggregated at the end of 30 September 2009

A heading is inserted before subregulation 3AB(3) and states ‘Aggregation of charter transport entitlement and communications allowance’. Subregulation 3AB(3) provides that if, immediately before 1 October 2009, the MHR’s entitlement under clause 6.2 (the Charter Transport entitlement) and 10.4 (the Communications Allowance) of the Determination were aggregated, as permitted by clause 11.1 of the Determination, the amount of printing and communications entitlement for the period 1 October 2009 to 30 June 2010 is the lesser of the first amount and the second amount worked out using the table in subregulation 3AB(3).

The calculation for the first amount is outlined in item 1 of the table, as follows.

Item 1(a) of the table requires the following amounts to be added together:

·   the amount of the MHR’s printing entitlement under the Principal Regulations for the 2009‑2010 financial year;

·   the amount of the MHR’s Charter Transport entitlement under clause 6.2 of the Determination for the 2009‑2010 financial year;

·   the amount of the MHR’s Communications Allowance under clause 10.4 of the Determination for the 2009‑2010 financial year; and

·   the amount (if any) of the MHR’s Communications Allowance or Charter Transport entitlement, carried over in accordance with the following clauses of the Determination:

o          6.4 – Charter Transport carryover, limited to up to 20 per cent of the total value of the entitlement, if unused, from the 2008-09 financial year; and

o          10.5 or 10.6 – Communications Allowance carryover, limited to the value of the entitlement for the 2008-09 financial year (excluding any unspent entitlement carried over from the 2007‑08 into 2008-09 financial years), if unused; or

o          11.3 – aggregated carryover to the total value of the Communications Allowance and Charter Transport carryover limits mentioned above.

Item 1(b) subtracts from the total in item 1(a) any amount of the MHR’s printing entitlement, Charter Transport entitlement and Communications Allowance that the MHR spent during the period 1 July to 30 September 2009 (including any amounts spent that were part of the MHR’s aggregated entitlement under clause 11.1 of the Determination).

The result of the calculations in items 1(a) and (b) is the first amount.

Example

Member C represents an electorate which is larger than 10,000km² and aggregated their Communications Allowance and Charter Transport entitlement on 1 August 2009.

The first amount for Member C is:

-         Printing entitlement under regulation 3 at 1 July 2009 = $100,000 per annum

-         Aggregated entitlement under clause 11.1 at 1 July 2009 =

·   $0.55 per enrolled voter per annum (e.g. $55,000) +

·   Charter transport entitlement under clause 6.2 (e.g. $79,475)

-         2008-09 carryover under clause 11.3 = total carryover available under clause 6.4 and 10.6 (e.g. $19,000)

-         Actual amount spent between 1 July and 30 September 2009 (e.g. $35,500)

Printing entitlement + aggregated entitlement + carryover – amount spent =

$100,000 + $55,000 + $79,475 + $19,000 – $35,500 = $217,975

The calculation for the second amount is outlined in item 2 of the table, as follows.

Item 2(a) of the table requires the following calculation:

·   $75,000 multiplied by 0.7479. As indicated above, the reference to $75,000 is the fixed reduced value of the printing component of the printing and communications entitlement for the 2010‑2011 and subsequent financial years, pro-rated by a ratio of 273:365 – i.e. for the period 1 October 2009 to 30 June 2010.

Item 2(b) requires the result from item 2(a) to be added to:

·   the amount of the MHR’s Communications Allowance under clause 10.4 of the Determination for the 2009‑2010 financial year;

·   the amount of the MHR’s Charter Transport entitlement under clause 6.2 of the Determination for the 2009‑2010 financial year;

·   the amount (if any) of the MHR’s Communications Allowance or Charter Transport entitlement, carried over in accordance with clauses 6.4, 10.5, 10.6 or 11.3 of the Determination (as outlined above).

The result of the calculations in items 2(a) and (b) is the second amount.

Example

The second amount for Member C is:

 

-         Charter transport entitlement under clause 6.2 (e.g. $79,475)

-         2008-09 carryover under clause 11.3 = total carryover available under clause 6.4 and 10.6 (e.g. $19,000)

-         Printing component as at 1 October 2009 = $75,000 per annum

-         Maximum communications allowance available = $0.55 per enrolled voter per annum (e.g. ($55,000)

Charter transport + carryover + (printing component x 0.7479) + communications =

$79,475 + $19,000+ $56,093 + $55,000 = $209,568

 

The second amount ($209,568) is the lesser amount and will be the amount available to the Member for printing and communications for the period 1 October 2009 to 30 June 2010.

 

Paragraph 3AB(4)(a) provides that where a calculation is made under subregulation (3), the amount is to be used for:

·   the MHR’s printing and communications entitlement;

·   the MHR’s Charter Transport entitlement, to the extent that the MHR would have been entitled to this entitlement under clauses 6.2 and 6.4 of the Determination for the 2009‑2010 financial year. That is, the quantum of the Charter Transport entitlement for 2009-10 as specified in the Determination is replaced by this amount and its use is limited to the other conditions of the entitlement specified in the Determination).

Subregulation 3AB(4)(b) provides that the entitlements provided by clauses 6.2 and 6.4 of the Determination (in relation to the quantum of the Charter Transport entitlement), are taken to be the amount worked out in accordance with subregulation 3AB(1). This ensures that someone who uses their entitlement in accordance with subregulation 3AB(1) cannot also use the entitlements provided in clauses 6.2 and 6.4 of the Determination for the 2009-10 financial year (i.e. no double-dipping under the Determination as well as under subregulation 3AB(1)).

Subregulation 3AB(5) provides that where a MHR has aggregated entitlements and the quantum of their entitlement is as calculated using subregulation 3AB(3), the carry-over amount available from the 2009-10 financial year into the 2010-2011 financial year is the lesser of:

·   the maximum amount that would have been available under clauses 6.2 and 6.4 of the Determination, if paragraph 3AB(4)(b) did not apply (that is, had the quantum of the entitlement been what was specified in the Determination), reduced by the amount the MHR spent on charter transport (for the period 1 October 2009 to 30 June 2010) and further reduced (if necessary) to the amount specified in clause 6.4 of the Determination (i.e. up to 20 per cent of the value of the entitlement unused in the 2009-10 financial year); and

·   the amount under subregulation 3AB(1) that remains, following expenditure by the MHR on printing, communications and charter transport for the period 1 October 2009 to 30 June 2010.

Example

Member C has available an amount of $209,568 for the period 1 October 2009 to 30 June 2010. Member C spends $200,000 on printing, communications and charter. The amount that is unspent at the end of 2009-10 is only $9,568.

Of the $200,000 spent in the period 1 October 2009 to 30 June 2010, Member C spent $75,000 for charter transport.

-         $95,370 is the maximum amount for 2009-2010 that Member C had available for charter transport (i.e. $79,475 (available under clause 6.2), plus $15,895 (20 per cent carryover available under clause 6.4)). $75,000 is $20,370 less than the maximum that Member C had available to spend on charter transport.

-         Therefore, the maximum carryover available to Member C for 2010-11 in accordance with clause 6.4 is $15,895 (20 per cent of $79,476).

-         The amount that is unspent at the end of 2009-10 is only $9,568.

 

The amount that is unspent at the end of 2009-10 ($9,568) is the lesser amount and will be carried over into Member C’s charter transport entitlement under the Determination for 2010-11.

Subregulation 3AB(6) replaces previous subregulation 3AB(1)(a) and (b)(ii) of the Amendment Regulations without any substantive changes. It provides that for financial years after 2009-10 (i.e. from 2010-11 onwards), the quantum of the printing and communications entitlement for a MHR is the sum of:

·        the product of the standard rate of postage and the number of enrolled voters within the electoral boundaries for the Member’s electorate, as at the last working day in the March before a financial year; and

·        the reduced value of the printing entitlement – namely $75,000.

Subregulation 3AB(7) replaces previous subregulation 3AB(2) of the Amendment Regulations without any substantive changes. It provides that in relation to paragraph 3AB(6)(a), where there is a new electorate after the last working day in March of a calendar year, the entitlement for the following financial year is the product of the standard rate of postage and the number of enrolled voters within the electoral boundaries for the member’s electorate as at the close of the electoral roll for the last general election.

Subregulation 3AB(8) replaces previous subregulation 3AB(3) of the Amendment Regulations without any substantive change and makes a minor insertion to refer to the ‘Board’ of Australia Post.

Regulation 3AC

Regulation 3AC deals with the quantum of the printing and communications entitlement for Senators. This provision remains unchanged in respect of the quantum of the entitlement for the 2010‑11 and future financial years, but is amended in respect of the period 1 October 2009 to 30 June 2010.

The calculation of the quantum of the printing and communications entitlement for the period 1 October 2009 to 30 June 2010 has been amended to enable Senators to include the full amount of their entitlement to carry-over their Communications Allowance under the Determination (from the 2008-09 financial year). This calculation is identical to the calculation in relation to MHRs, specified in subregulation 3AB(2), above.

Item [2] removes item [4] of the Amendment Regulations, which inserted a new Part 4 into the PE Regs to deal with transitional matters.  The transitional matters are dealt with in the Regulations and so item [4] is no longer required.

 

Item [3] omits proposed subitem 7(3) in Schedule 1, item [6] of the Amendment Regulations. Item 7, Part 1, Schedule 1 to the PE Act provides an entitlement to office accommodation (including for personal staff) in the electorate, together with equipment, facilities, office requisites and stationery necessary to operate the office, as approved by the Special Minister of State. The Amendment Regulations inserted subitem 7(3), which imposed a prohibition against the entitlements in item 7 being used for electioneering. Omitting subitem 7(3) corrects the unintended consequence of the electioneering prohibition operating too broadly.