Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Industry and Innovation) | Hansard source

I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

APPROPRIATION BILL (NO. 1) 2026-2027

This Bill, Appropriation Bill 1, along with Appropriation Bill 2 and Parliamentary Departments Appropriation Bill 1, are the Budget Appropriation Bills for 2026-27.

Appropriation Bill 1 seeks approval for appropriations from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of $178.7 billion. This Bill provides appropriations for the ordinary annual services of government for the 2026-27 financial year.

Funding provided through this Bill will support the following significant items.

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing will receive close to $59.4 billion to implement various programs to improve the wellbeing and social and economic participation of people with disability, while also addressing the current and future health needs of all Australians.

The National Disability Insurance Agency has been allocated over $40 billion to provide reasonable and necessary supports for National Disability Insurance Scheme participants. Funding also includes over $6.7 billion for aged care services to provide support for older Australians with everyday living and other needs; approximately $2.0 billion for the health workforce; over $1.7 billion for mental health and suicide prevention and almost $1.6 billion for primary health care quality and coordination, including for increasing Bulk Billing and the delivery of Medicare Urgent Care Clinics.

The Department of Defence will receive $44.2 billion to implement the 2026 National Defence Strategy and 2026 Integrated Investment Program to enhance Defence capability, preparedness and resilience. This includes funding for the nuclear-powered submarines, support for military operations and other Australian Defence Force activities.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will receive over $8.5 billion to advance Australia's international strategic and security interests, provide development assistance overseas and consular assistance to Australians abroad.

The Department of Home Affairs will receive close to $6.5 billion to implement various programs to ensure Australia's security, prosperity and unity. The funding will also enable the Department to maintain the integrity of the migration system, sustain visa processing capability, provide settlement services to refugees and migrants, and protect the Australian border.

Services Australia will receive approximately $5.8 billion to ensure the delivery of government payments to Australians, extend its emergency response capability, enhance safety and security for staff and customers, sustain the myGov platform and support other government agencies to deliver Government priorities.

The Bill also contains an Advance to the Finance Minister (AFM) provision of $2.4 billion to provide the Government with the capacity to allocate additional appropriations for urgent and unforeseen expenditure. The AFM provision 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.

Full details of the proposed expenditure are set out in the Schedule to the Bill, the Explanatory Memorandum, and the Portfolio Budget Statements.

I commend this Bill to the chamber.

APPROPRIATION BILL (NO. 2) 2026-2027

This Bill, Appropriation Bill 2, along with Appropriation Bill 1 and Parliamentary Departments Appropriation Bill 1, are the Budget Appropriation Bills for 2026-27.

Appropriation Bill 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.

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 capability.

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; National Intermodal Corporation for the development of intermodal projects; NBN Co for national broadband network upgrades; 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 provision 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.

APPROPRIATION (PARLIAMENTARY DEPARTMENTS) BILL (NO. 1) 2026-2027

Parliamentary Departments Appropriation Bill 1 provides appropriations for decisions taken by Government in the 2026-27 Budget for the operations of Parliamentary Departments. Together with Appropriation Bills 1 and 2, this Bill forms part of the Government's Budget Appropriation Bills.

This Bill seeks approval for appropriations from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of $345.4 million. Funding provided through this Bill will support the following significant items of Parliamentary Departments.

The Department of Parliamentary Services will receive close to $274 million to support the work of the Australian Parliament, through services to parliamentarians and as custodians of Parliament House.

The Bill also includes an Advance to the responsible Presiding Officer of $1.9 million.

Full details of the proposed expenditure are set out in the Schedule to the Bill, the Explanatory Memorandum, and the Portfolio Budget Statements.

I commend this Bill to the chamber.

Debate adjourned.