Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This bill, Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2026-2027, along with Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2026-2027 and Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2026-2027, are the budget appropriation bills for 2026-27.

Appropriation Bill (No. 2) seeks approval for appropriations from the consolidated revenue fund of $33.7 billion. This bill provides appropriations for services that are not the ordinary annual services of government for the 2026-27 financial year.

This budget is all about taking pressure off ordinary Australians by reforming the tax system to make it fairer for everyone.

We are helping people keep more of what they earn, with more than 13 million Australian workers benefiting from a new $250 working Australian tax offset.

We are reforming trusts to level the playing field between workers and families who earn a living through wages and salary and people who live off income from assets held in trusts.

We are helping more Australians own their own home with changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing.

These reforms will mean more Australians have the opportunity to buy a home, help millions of Australian workers earn more and keep more of what they earn, and ensure our tax system is simpler and more sustainable for the long term.

I now outline the most significant items provided for in this bill.

The Department of Defence will receive $15.3 billion to support the implementation of the 2026 National Defence Strategy and the 2026 Integrated Investment Program, including through investments in military capacity.

The Department of Finance will receive approximately $6.4 billion, including funding for Australian Naval Infrastructure Pty Ltd and Snowy Hydro Ltd.

The Department of the Treasury will receive over $4.2 billion to provide funding for loans to support social and affordable housing, including concessional loans for housing projects under the Housing Australia Future Fund and loans for the Australian Housing Bond Aggregator.

The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts will receive $3.6 billion to continue to deliver projects and programs. This includes funding for the Australian Rail Track Corporation for the Inland Rail project; WSA Co for the Western Sydney International Airport; the National Intermodal Corporation for the development of intermodal projects; NBN Co for the National Broadband Network updates; and funding for the Roads to Recovery Program.

The bill also contains an Advance to the Finance Minister (AFM) provision of $3.6 billion to provide the government with the capacity to allocate additional appropriations for urgent and unforeseen expenditure. The AFM comprises:

Strong transparency and accountability safeguards will apply to the AFM allocations. This includes publication of a ministerial media release for each allocation and consultation with the shadow minister for finance for any proposed AFM allocation over $1 billion.

This bill also sets debit limits for payments under the Federal Financial Relations Act that will apply in 2026-27, and they are:

Full details of the proposed expenditure are set out in the schedules to the bill, the explanatory memorandum, and the portfolio budget statements. I commend this bill to the chamber.

Debate adjourned.

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