{"id":"C2004A00023","name":"Loan Act 1973","slug":"loan-act-1973","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"19 of 1973","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":2675,"registerId":"commonwealth-C2004A00023-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-29","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Loan Act 1973","content":"Loan Act 1973\n\nNo. 19 of 1973\n\nAN ACT\n\nTo Authorize the Raising and Expending of Moneys for Defence Purposes.\n\n\\[Assented to 18 April 1973\\]\n\nBE IT ENACTED by the Queen, the Senate and the House of Representatives of Australia, as follows:—\n\nShort title.\n\n1. This Act may be cited as the Loan Act 1973.\n\nCommencement.\n\n2. This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.\n\nAuthority to borrow $300,000,000.\n\n3. The Treasurer may, not later than 30th June, 1973, in accordance with the provisions of the Commonwealth Inscribed Stock Act 1911-1966 or in accordance with the provisions of an Act authorizing an issue of Treasury Bills, borrow moneys not exceeding in the whole Three hundred million dollars.\n\nApplication of moneys borrowed.\n\n4. Moneys borrowed under section 3 shall be applied only for the expenses of borrowing and for services specified under the heading “DEFENCE SERVICES” in the Appropriation Act (No. 1) 1972-73 or in an Act passed after the commencement of this Act and appropriating\n\n  \n\nthe Consolidated Revenue Fund for the service of the year that commenced on 1st July, 1972, being an Act that is expressed to have effect subject to section 5 of this Act.\n\nLimitation of expenditure.\n\n5. (1) Nothing in this Act or in an Act referred to in section 4 shall be taken to authorize the expenditure for a service referred to in section of an amount the expenditure of which would result in the total expenditure for that service under this Act and the Acts referred to in section 4 exceeding the total of the amounts specified in the Acts referred to in section respect of that service.\n\n(2) Sub-section (1) does not affect the expenditure of the moneys appropriated by the Appropriation Act (No. 1) 1972-73 under Division No. 560—Advance to the Treasurer.\n\n(3) Nothing in this Act shall be taken to authorize expenditure (otherwise than for the expenses of borrowing) after 30th June, 1973.\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: authorising a specific $300 million borrowing for defence purposes in the 1972-73 financial year. The scope has not expanded beyond this narrow, time-limited objective."},"complexity_factors":["Very short statute (5 sections, approximately 250 words)","Only 2 defined statutory references (Commonwealth Inscribed Stock Act 1911-1966, Appropriation Act (No. 1) 1972-73)","Simple conditional structure: authority to borrow + restrictions on use + spending caps","Single temporal limitation (30 June 1973 deadline)","One explicit exception in section 5(2) regarding the Advance to the Treasurer","No nested definitions or recursive cross-references","Straightforward purpose-based drafting typical of 1970s Australian appropriation and loan legislation"],"plain_english_summary":"This law allows the Australian Government to borrow up to $300 million for defence spending in the 1972-73 financial year.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Authorises borrowing**: The Treasurer can borrow up to $300 million by 30 June 1973, either by issuing government bonds (under the Commonwealth Inscribed Stock Act) or Treasury Bills (short-term government debt).\n- **Restricts how the money is spent**: The borrowed funds can only be used for:\n  - The costs of arranging the loan itself (like fees and interest)\n  - Defence services listed in the 1972-73 budget (Appropriation Act No. 1)\n  - Defence services in any later budget passed for that same financial year\n\n**Key limits:**\n- **Spending cap**: You can't spend more on any defence service than was originally budgeted for it across all relevant laws\n- **Time limit**: The borrowing authority expires on 30 June 1973, and the money generally can't be spent after that date (except for borrowing costs)\n- **Advance to Treasurer**: There's a special exception allowing spending from a general emergency fund (Division 560) to continue unaffected\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Primarily the Government and Treasury officials managing defence funding\n- Indirectly, Australian taxpayers who will ultimately repay this debt\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis is a **loan-raising statute** — a specific piece of legislation needed whenever the Government wants to borrow money beyond what regular budget laws allow. It ensures parliamentary oversight of government debt and ties borrowing directly to specific purposes (here, defence) rather than general spending."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act does exactly what its title and preamble promise — it authorises borrowing for defence purposes only, within a fixed timeframe and with expenditure capped at amounts already approved by Parliament. There is no evidence of scope creep or deviation from the original stated intent."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-references to multiple other Acts (Commonwealth Inscribed Stock Act 1911-1966, Appropriation Act (No. 1) 1972-73, Treasury Bills legislation) require those Acts to be read alongside this one","Section 5's limitation mechanism involves calculating aggregate expenditure across multiple Acts, which requires some care to interpret correctly","Archaic legislative drafting style (e.g. 'sub-section', 'moneys') may be unfamiliar to modern readers","The carve-out in subsection 5(2) for the Advance to the Treasurer adds a minor layer of complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"The Loan Act 1973 authorised the Australian Government to borrow up to $300 million (via Commonwealth Inscribed Stock or Treasury Bills) to meet Defence spending for the 1972–73 financial year. It empowered the Treasurer but imposed strict limits: borrowing and use had to end by 30 June 1973 and funds could only cover amounts already approved for Defence. Historically time‑limited, it has no ongoing effect."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act confines authority to a one‑off borrowing for defence services in the 1972–73 year and imposes ceilings and temporal limits (s3–s5). It does not broaden the classes of expenditure beyond those in the existing Appropriation Act(s); it merely authorises short‑term borrowing to meet those specified Defence Services amounts and preserves certain existing advance powers (s5(2))."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-references to external borrowing mechanisms: Commonwealth Inscribed Stock Act 1911–1966 or an Act authorising an issue of Treasury Bills (s3) increase legal and administrative complexity.","Temporal constraints: hard deadline for borrowing and for authorising expenditure (s3; s5(3)).","Conditional application tied to Appropriation Acts: borrowed funds may only be applied to Defence Services items specified in Appropriation Act (No.1) 1972–73 or a subsequent Act for that year (s4).","Aggregate-expenditure ceiling and interaction with other Acts: prevents expenditure above amounts specified in the referenced Appropriation Acts (s5(1)).","Executive discretion: Treasurer decides whether and how to borrow within the statutory limit and by which statutory mechanism (s3).","Preservation clause for existing advance authority: Division No. 560—Advance to the Treasurer is unaffected (s5(2)).","Drafting ambiguity in s5(1) (missing cross-reference wording) complicates interpretation and could require administrative or judicial clarification.","Compliance burden: administrators must track borrowed funds against specific Appropriation Act line items and ensure aggregate limits are not exceeded (s4; s5)."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act authorises the Treasurer to borrow up to $300,000,000 by 30 June 1973 to meet defence-related expenditure and the costs of borrowing. Borrowed money may only be used for Defence Services items specified in the relevant Appropriation Act(s) for the 1972–73 year, and spending cannot exceed the amounts those Appropriation Acts permit; borrowing authority and non‑borrowing spending authority end on 30 June 1973."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/loan-act-1973","history":"/api/acts/loan-act-1973/history","analysis":"/api/acts/loan-act-1973/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/loan-act-1973/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/loan-act-1973/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/loan-act-1973/documents"}}