{"id":"C1925A00015","name":"Loan Act (No. 2) 1925","slug":"loan-act-no-2-1925","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"15 of 1925","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":3125,"registerId":"commonwealth-C1925A00015-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Loan Act (No. 2) 1925","content":"THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA.\n\n---\n\nLOAN (No. 2).\n\n---\n\nNo, 15 of 1925.\n\nAn Act to authorize the Raising and Expending of certain Sums of Money.\n\n\\[Assented to 14th September, 1925.\\]\n\nBE it enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:—\n\nShort title.\n\n1. This Act may be cited as the Loan Act (No. 2) 1925.\n\nAuthority to borrow £8,300,000.\n\n2. The Treasurer may from time to time under the provisions of the Commonwealth Inscribed Stock Act 1911-1918, or under the provisions of any Act authorizing the issue of Treasury Bills, borrow moneys not exceeding in the whole the amount of Eight million three hundred thousand pounds.\n\nPurpose for which money may be borrowed.\n\n3. The amount borrowed shall be issued and applied only for the expenses of borrowing and for the purposes of appropriations made or to be made by law.\n\nIssue and application of £8,031,482\n\n4. There may be issued and applied out of the proceeds of any Loan raised under the authority of any Loan Act, including the present Act, the sum of Eight million and thirty-one thousand four hundred and eighty-two pounds for the purposes set forth in the First Schedule to this Act.\n\nUnexpended appropriation lapse.\n\n5. Where on the thirtieth day of June One thousand nine hundred and twenty-five there remain unexpended any moneys appropriated by any of the Acts specified in the Second Schedule to this Act, the appropriation of the moneys so remaining unexpended shall lapse on that date.\n\nF.13952.—Price 3d.\n\n  \nFIRST SCHEDULE.\n\n---\n\nAbstract.\n\n|                                                            | £         |\n| ---------------------------------------------------------- | --------- |\n| WAR AND REPATRIATION SERVICES............................  | 826,270   |\n| PRIME MINISTER’S DEPARTMENT............................... | 500       |\n| HOME AND TERRITORIES DEPARTMENT.........................   | 83,250    |\n| DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE...................................   | 433,675   |\n| DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND CUSTOMS.........................   | 593,537   |\n| DEPARTMENT OF WORKS AND RAILWAYS........................   | 1,306,112 |\n| POSTMASTER-GENERAL’S DEPARTMENT.........................   | 4,358,076 |\n| DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH....................................   | 23,460    |\n| DEPARTMENT OF MARKETS AND MIGRATION.....................   | 330,000   |\n| REDEMPTIONS—                                               |           |\n| NORTHERN TERRITORY LOANS..............................     | 74,800    |\n| PORT AUGUSTA-OODNADATTA RAILWAY LOANS................      | 1,802     |\n| TOTAL..........................................            | 8,031,482 |\n\n  \nFirst Schedule—continued.\n\n| WAR AND REPATRIATION SERVICES.                                                                                                                                                                                | £       |\n| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- |\n| Under Control of Department of the Treasury.                                                                                                                                                                  |         |\n| Soldiers’ Mental Hospital, West Subiaco, Western Australia Buildings and Equipment                                                                                                                            | 40,000  |\n| Under Control of Department of Defence.                                                                                                                                                                       |         |\n| Transport services in connexion with Expeditionary Forces, including passage money, hire, fitting and reconditioning of ships, wages, coal, victualling and all other expenditure incidental to such services | 10,000  |\n| Refund to Imperial Government of hire money in respect of ex-enemy vessels....                                                                                                                                | 100,000 |\n| Expeditionary Forces—                                                                                                                                                                                         |         |\n| Pay and allowances, including amounts due to deceased soldiers’ estates........                                                                                                                               | 5,096   |\n| Expenditure in connexion with the distribution of medals and plaques, and other Base Records work incidental to the service and records of members of the Australian Imperial Force                           | 8,900   |\n| Employment of temporary staff, advertising, and other expenditure connected with sales of surplus war equipment and stores                                                                                    | 2,000   |\n| Miscellaneous expenditure in connexion with the Australian Imperial Force, including special expenditure by the High Commissioner’s Office                                                                    | 274     |\n| Under Control of Department of Works and Railways.                                                                                                                                                            |         |\n| Expenditure under War Service Homes Act 1918-23 (to be paid to credit of Trust Fund, War Service Homes Account)                                                                                               | 620,000 |\n| Total War and Repatriation Services...........................                                                                                                                                                | 826,270 |\n| THE PRIME MINISTER’S DEPARTMENT.                                                                                                                                                                              |         |\n| Under Control of Prime Minister’s Department.                                                                                                                                                                 |         |\n| London Offices..............................................                                                                                                                                                  | 500     |\n| Total Prime Minister’s Department............................                                                                                                                                                 | 500     |\n| THE HOME AND TERRITORIES DEPARTMENT.                                                                                                                                                                          |         |\n| Under Control of the Home and Territories Department.                                                                                                                                                         |         |\n| Purchase of Properties for Home and Territories Department................                                                                                                                                    | 1,175   |\n| Acquisition of land at Fairy Meadow, New South Wales...................                                                                                                                                       | 12,000  |\n| Under Control of Department of Treasury.                                                                                                                                                                      |         |\n| Loan to the Territory of New Guinea for Works........................                                                                                                                                         | 41,075  |\n| Under Control of Department of Works and Railways.                                                                                                                                                            |         |\n| Solar Observatory, Canberra—erection of............................                                                                                                                                           | 29,000  |\n| Total Home and Territories Department.........................                                                                                                                                                | 83,250  |\n\n  \nFirst Schedule—continued.\n\n| THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE.                                                                                                                                                                                 | £       |\n| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- |\n| Under Control of Department of Defence.                                                                                                                                                                    |         |\n| Oil Storage facilities..........................................                                                                                                                                           | 24,000  |\n| Under Control of Home and Territories Department.                                                                                                                                                          |         |\n| Purchase of properties and sites:—                                                                                                                                                                         |         |\n| Properties and sites for military purposes..........................                                                                                                                                       | 13,000  |\n| Properties and sites for Air Services—                                                                                                                                                                     |         |\n| Royal Australian Air Force.................................                                                                                                                                                | 1,000   |\n| Civil Aviation..........................................                                                                                                                                                   | 5,000   |\n| Land for Munition Supply purposes.............................                                                                                                                                             | 300     |\n| Under Control of Department of Works and Railways.                                                                                                                                                         |         |\n| Naval Bases, Works and Establishments.............................                                                                                                                                         | 137,410 |\n| Construction of Drill Halls, Mobilization Stores, Ordnance Stores, Rifle Ranges, Fortifications, Barracks, and other accommodation and engineering works                                                   | 20,350  |\n| Towards cost of construction of Buildings, Hangars, Workshops, Barracks and Earthworks, and preparation of aerial routes and landing grounds:—Royal Australian Air Force.................................. | 126,000 |\n| Civil Aviation..........................................                                                                                                                                                   | 15,450  |\n| Maribyrnong—High explosives factory— towards cost...................                                                                                                                                       | 40,000  |\n| Maribyrnong—Buildings for Engineering Factories—towards cost............                                                                                                                                   | 44,000  |\n| Footscray—Buildings for Fuse and Cartridge Case manufacture—towards cost....                                                                                                                               | 25,000  |\n| Lithgow Machine Gun Factory— towards cost.........................                                                                                                                                         | 10,000  |\n| Wakefield, South Australia, Proof and Recovery Range...................                                                                                                                                    | 20,000  |\n|                                                                                                                                                                                                            | 482,110 |\n| Less amount estimated to remain unexpended at close of year..........                                                                                                                                      | 48,435  |\n| Total Department of Defence..............................                                                                                                                                                  | 433,675 |\n| THE DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND CUSTOMS.                                                                                                                                                                       |         |\n| Under Control of Home and Territories Department.                                                                                                                                                          |         |\n| Acquisition of land for Trade and. Customs purposes.....................                                                                                                                                   | 80      |\n| Under Control of Department of Trade and Customs.                                                                                                                                                          |         |\n| Advances to the States and to Settlers in the Northern Territory for purchase of wire netting                                                                                                              | 500,000 |\n| New Lighthouses (including upkeep of vessels for construction work) and optical and other apparatus for Lightships                                                                                         | 29,110  |\n| Alterations of Lighthouse services.................................                                                                                                                                        | 800     |\n| Installation of Wireless at Lighthouses..............................                                                                                                                                      | 2,000   |\n| Under Control of Department of Works and Railways.                                                                                                                                                         |         |\n| Construction of two vessels for Lighthouse purposes—towards cost...........                                                                                                                                | 61,547  |\n| Total Department of Trade and Customs......................                                                                                                                                                | 593,537 |\n\n  \nFirst Schedule—continued.\n\n| THE DEPARTMENT OF WORKS AND RAILWAYS.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      | £         |\n| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------- |\n| Under Control of the Department of Works and Railways.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |           |\n| Expenditure under River Murray Waters Act 1915-23....................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      | 243,750   |\n| Commonwealth Offices, Brisbane—towards cost.......................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | 808       |\n| Commonwealth Offices, Adelaide—towards cost.......................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | 16,554    |\n| Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta Railway................................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | 117,000   |\n| Northern Territory Railway......................................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           | 345,000   |\n| Port Augusta—Oodnadatta Railway................................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            | 83,000    |\n| Railway Connexion to Alice Springs................................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | 250,000   |\n| Port Augusta-Adelaide Railway...................................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           | 250,000   |\n| Total Department of Works and Railways........................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | 1,306,112 |\n| THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL’S DEPARTMENT.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |           |\n| Under Control of the Postmaster-General’s Department, the Home and Territories Department, and the Department of Works and Railway’s.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |           |\n| Construction and extension of telegraphs and telephones; construction of conduits and laying wires underground; Land for Post and Telegraph Purposes; also Buildings for the Postmaster-General’s Department as set out hereunder:—                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        | 6,000,000 |\n| Less Balance of Appropriation available at 30th June, 1925, for construction and extension of telegraphs and telephones; also construction of conduits and laying wires underground                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        | 1,850,404 |\n|                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            | 4,149,596 |\n| Buildings for Postmaster-General’s Department.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |           |\n| New South Wales.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |           |\n| Additions and Alterations.—Adamstown, Albion Park, Alstonville, Ashfield, Barmedman, Barraba, Bathurst, Bellata, Bundarra, Bungendorc, Canterbury, Casino, Cessnock, Chatswood, Cobargo, Coonamble, Cootamundra, Cudal, Cumnock, Dubbo, Eden, Edgecliffe, Eugowra, Finlay, Glebe, Glen Innes, Goulburn, Grafton, Greta, Gunning, Harden, Henty, Hunter’s Hill, Kempsey, Kogarah, Lismore, Manilla, Manly, Mendooran, Mosman, Moulamein, Muswellbrook, North Sydney, Orange, Parkes, Parramatta, Petersham, Portland, Randwick, Scone, Springwood, Strawberry Hills, Sydney General Post Office, Sydney-City North, Tamworth, Taree, Urana, Wagga Wagga, Wahroonga, Waratah, Waverley, West Wyalong, Woodstock, Wyong, Yass |           |\n| New Buildings.—Balmain, Bankstown, Barellan, Belmore, Brankston, Broken Hill Railway Town, Bulli, Burwood, Coff’s Harbour Jetty, Coogee, Cremorne, Coolamon, Drummoyne, Enfield, Erskineville, Gladstone, Gordon, Griffith, Hamilton, Haymarket, Kandos, Kogarah, Lakemba, Lawson, Liverpool, Maroubra, Mayfield, Merewether, Millthorpe, Mudgee, Narrabri, Neutral Bay, Newcastle, Newtown, North Sydney, Oaklands, Port Kembla, Smithtown, South Kensington, Sydenham, Sydney-City East, Sydney-City South, Sydney—William Street, Turramurra, Wardell, Wentworthville, Wickham, Yanko                                                                                                                                   |           |\n| Sundry Offices.—For works costing not more than £300 in each case..........                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |           |\n| Carried forward...............................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | 4,149,596 |\n\n  \nFirst Schedule—continued.\n\n| THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL’S DEPARTMENT—continued.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          | £         |\n| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------- |\n| Brought forward.............................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            | 4,149,596 |\n| Buildings for Postmaster-General’s Department—continued.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |           |\n| Victoria.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |           |\n| Additions and Alterations.— Ararat, Bullarat, Beaufort, Bendigo, Beulah, Cobram, Coburg, Coleraiue, Dimboola, Elmore, Fitzroy, Frankston, Geelong, Hamilton, Horsham, Korumburra. Melbourne General Post Office, Merino, Murtoa, Nagambic, Nhill, Penshurst, Rainbow, Rupanyup, Sorrento, Sunbury, Tatura, Terang, Wangaratta, Warragul, Werribee                                                                                                                       |           |\n| New Buildings.—Ascot Vale, Boort, Box Hill, Bunyip, Canterbury, Cohuna, Oressy, Derrinallum, Drysdale, Elsternwiek, Elwood. Fairfield, Goroke, Heyfield, Ivanhoe, Lismore, Melbourne City Telephone Exchange, Melbourne Telegraph and Telephone Workshops, Melbourne Electric Telegraph Office and Common wealth Offices, Mildura, Murrayville, Northcote, North Melbourne, Nyah West, Pakenham East, Redcliffs, South Melbourne, Tongala, Trentham, Yallourn, Yarragon |           |\n| Sundry Offices.—For works costing not more than £300 in each case..........                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |           |\n| Queensland.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |           |\n| Additions and Alterations.— Barcaldine, Cairns, Clifton, Esk, Gayndah, Inglewood, Ipswich, Kingaroy, Longreach, Lutwyehe, Nambour, Redcliffs, Rockhampton                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |           |\n| New Buildings.—Albion, Beenleigh, Blackall, Brisbane General Post Office, Brisbane Workshops and Garage, Bulimba, Eumundi, Goondiwindi, Greenmount, Helidon, Indooroopilly, Julia Creek, Kirra, Kynuna, Laidley, Marburg, Maxwelton, Mt. Surprise, Muttaburra, Newmarket, Paddington, Pialba, Pittsworth, Prairie, Richmond, St. George, Sherwood, South Brisbane, South Johnstone, Springsure, Toowong, Woolloongabba, Wowan, Yarraman, Yeronga                        |           |\n| Sundry Offices.—For works costing not more than £300 in each case..........                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |           |\n| South Australia.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |           |\n| Additions and Alterations.—Adelaide General Post Office, Adelaide Workshops and Store, Angaston, Ardrossan, Auburn, Bordertown, Clare, Curramulka, Gawler, Georgetown, Gladstone, Jamestown, Kadina, Kilkenny, Mallala, Milang, Minlaton, Morgan, Naracoorte, Norwood, Nuriootpa, Port Broughton, Port Pirie, Riverton, Saddleworth, Stirling West, Terowie, Unlcy                                                                                                      |           |\n| New Buildings.—Adelaide Central Telephone Exchange, Adelaide—West Terrace, Balaklava, Barmera, Brighton, Brinkworth, Bute, Clare, Cleve, Cummins, Eudunda, Glenelg, Hamley Bridge, Henley Beach, Ironknob, Kimba, Kooringa, McLaren Vale, Meningie, Owen, Paskeville, Peterborough, Port Adelaide, Port Augusta, Port Victoria, Prospect, Semaphore, Spalding, Woodville, Yorketown                                                                                     |           |\n| Sundry Offices.—For works costing not more than £300 in each case..........                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |           |\n| Carried forward.....................................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    | 4,149,596 |\n\n  \nFirst Schedule—continued.\n\n| THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL’S DEPARTMENT—continued.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              | £         |\n| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------- |\n| Brought forward.............................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                | 4,149,596 |\n| Buildings for Postmaster-General’s Department—continued.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |           |\n| Western Australia.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |           |\n| Additions and Alterations.—Bridgetown, Busselton, Collie, Dumbleyung, Merredin, Northam, Perth—Acquired Area. Perth Workshops and Stores                                                                                                                                                                                    |           |\n| New Buildings.—Balingup, Boyup Brook, Cook, Corrigin, Cottesloe, Dalwallinu, Denmark, Goomalling, Kondinin, Kulin, Kununoppin, Lake Grace, Manjimup, Mt. Lawley, Mullewa, Mundaring, Narembeen, Nungarin, Onslow (Beadon), Perth General Post Office, Quairading, Subiaco, Tambellup, Trayning, Wagin, Wyalkatchem, Wyndham |           |\n| Sundry Offices.—For works costing not more than £300 in each case..........                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |           |\n| Tasmania.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |           |\n| Additions and Alterations.—Bellerive, Latrobe, Launceston, New Norfolk, Penguin.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |           |\n| New Buildings.—Cygnet, Hobart, Smithton, Triabunna....................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |           |\n| Sundry Offices.—For works costing not more than £300 in each case..........                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |           |\n| Northern Territory.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |           |\n| Additions and Alterations.—Darwin................................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |           |\n| Subscription to capital of Amalgamated Wireless Limited..................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | 200,000   |\n| Erection of wireless stations and testing and experimental equipment..........                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              | 8,480     |\n| Total Postmaster-General’s Department.........................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              | 4,358,076 |\n| THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |           |\n| Under Control of Home and Territories Department.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |           |\n| Acquisition of properties and sites.................................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        | 3,000     |\n| Under Control of Department of Works and Railways.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |           |\n| Serum and Health Laboratories...................................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            | 20,400    |\n| Total Department of Health................................                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  | 23,460    |\n\n  \nFirst Schedule—continued.\n\n| THE DEPARTMENT OF MARKETS AND MIGRATION.                                                                          | £         |\n| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------- |\n| Under Control of Department of Markets and Migration.                                                             |           |\n| Immigration—Advances of Passage money, Landing money and Medical fees of Assisted Immigrants                      | 330,000   |\n| REDEMPTIONS.                                                                                                      |           |\n| Redemption of loans raised by the Government of South Australia on account of the Northern Territory              | 74,800    |\n| Redemption of loans raised by the Government of South Australia on account of the Port Augusta-Oodnadatta Railway | 1,802     |\n|                                                                                                                   | 76,602    |\n| Total......................................                                                                       | 8,031,482 |\n\n---\n\nSECOND SCHEDULE.\n\n---\n\n| Loan Act 1911. | Loan Act 1919.         |\n| -------------- | ---------------------- |\n| Loan Act 1912. | Loan Act 1920.         |\n| Loan Act 1913. | Loan Act 1922.         |\n| Loan Act 1914. | Loan Act 1923.         |\n| Loan Act 1915. | Loan Act (No. 1) 1924. |\n| Loan Act 1917. | Loan Act (No. 2) 1924. |\n| Loan Art 1918. | Loan Act (No. 3) 1924. |\n\n---\n\nPrinted and Published for the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia by H. J. Green, Government Printer for the State of Victoria.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"_metrics":{"model":"kimi-k2.5","source":"moonshot-realtime","completionTokens":2774},"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act remains tightly focused on its original purpose of authorizing specific borrowing and itemized expenditure. The detailed schedules align exactly with the long title's authority to raise and expend certain sums of money."},"complexity_factors":["Extensive First Schedule itemizing over 100 specific construction projects with precise pound amounts allocated to individual towns and facilities","Cross-references to 13 previous Loan Acts (1911-1924) in the Second Schedule for the appropriation lapse provision","Reference to external financial legislation (Commonwealth Inscribed Stock Act 1911-1918 and Treasury Bills Acts)","Specific date-triggered fiscal mechanism (30 June 1925 appropriation lapse)"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act gives the Australian Government legal permission to borrow **£8.3 million** to fund public infrastructure and services.\n\n**What the money is for:**\nThe Act includes a detailed shopping list (called the First Schedule) allocating **£8,031,482** to specific projects across Australia:\n\n*   **Post offices and communications** (£4.3 million — the largest share): Building new post offices in dozens of towns (from Alstonville to Wyalkatchem), extending telephone and telegraph networks, and subscribing to wireless technology companies.\n*   **War repatriation** (£826,270): Building a mental hospital for returned soldiers in Western Australia, clearing final war debts to the British Government, and winding up remaining Australian Imperial Force accounts.\n*   **Railways** (£685,000+): Construction work on the Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta line, extensions to Alice Springs, and the Port Augusta-Oodnadatta railway.\n*   **Defence** (£433,675): Naval bases, Royal Australian Air Force hangars and landing grounds, and munitions factories at Maribyrnong and Lithgow.\n*   **Immigration** (£330,000): Assisting with passage money and medical fees for assisted migrants coming to Australia.\n*   **Other projects**: A solar observatory in Canberra (£29,000), serum laboratories (£20,400), and paying off old South Australian debts for Northern Territory projects (£76,602).\n\n**The \"use it or lose it\" rule:**\nAny unspent money still sitting in accounts from previous borrowing Acts (dating back to 1911) automatically expires on **30 June 1925**.\n\n**Who is affected:**\nAustralian taxpayers (who ultimately repay these loans through taxation), Commonwealth government departments receiving the funds, and the states/contractors building these projects."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"retroactive_impossibility","section":"Section 5 / Second Schedule","severity":"high","reasoning":"An Act cannot cause something to happen on a date that has already elapsed before the Act received Royal Assent. The lapsing date of 30 June 1925 predates the Act's assent date of 14 September 1925. Parliament cannot retroactively extinguish appropriations that had already either lapsed or been spent by the time the Act came into force. This renders Section 5 either a legal nullity or an unconstitutional retrospective extinguishment of existing appropriations — neither outcome is sensible.","confidence":0.97,"description":"Section 5 purports to lapse unexpended appropriations 'on the thirtieth day of June One thousand nine hundred and twenty-five' — but the Act was not assented to until 14 September 1925, nearly three months AFTER that date had already passed. The lapsing mechanism therefore operated (if at all) before the Act even existed."},{"type":"other","section":"Section 3 / Section 4","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Section 4 is worded to allow the £8,031,482 to be sourced from any prior Loan Act's proceeds, not just this Act's £8,300,000 borrowing. This creates a situation where the spending authority in Section 4 is not cleanly tied to the borrowing authority in Section 2, and where pooling loan proceeds from different Acts with potentially different statutory purposes could be seen as defeating the original purpose restrictions of those earlier Acts.","confidence":0.72,"description":"Section 3 restricts the application of borrowed money to 'expenses of borrowing and for the purposes of appropriations made or to be made by law', while Section 4 authorises expenditure out of 'the proceeds of any Loan raised under the authority of any Loan Act, including the present Act.' Section 4's authority extends to ALL prior Loan Acts, meaning it draws on a pooled loan fund. This means money borrowed under earlier Acts (for different purposes) can be redirected to First Schedule purposes, potentially circumventing the purpose restrictions imposed by those earlier Acts."},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"First Schedule — Department of Defence","severity":"medium","reasoning":"The schedule creates an appropriation of £433,675 across named projects that add up to £482,110. The deduction is an estimate of underspend, not a reduction of any particular item. An administrator seeking to comply with the schedule has no legal guidance on which projects to reduce to absorb the £48,435 shortfall. This is an administrative absurdity — every listed item appears fully authorised, yet the total funds available are insufficient to cover them all.","confidence":0.85,"description":"The Defence schedule lists itemised expenditures totalling £482,110, then deducts £48,435 as 'amount estimated to remain unexpended at close of year' to reach £433,675. The Act appropriates the net figure (£433,675) but authorises specific line items that in aggregate exceed that amount. It is mathematically impossible to fund all listed items in full with only £433,675, yet there is no mechanism in the Act for determining which items will be reduced or foregone."},{"type":"other","section":"First Schedule — Postmaster-General's Department","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Parliamentary appropriation is meant to authorise specific expenditure. Listing over 200 named building projects across six states with no individual amounts, all sharing a single undivided pool, provides no real constraint on how money is distributed among them. Any single project could theoretically receive the entire £4,149,596 or nothing at all, and the Act would be equally complied with. This defeats the purpose of itemised appropriation.","confidence":0.88,"description":"The Postmaster-General's schedule lists hundreds of named buildings across all States and Territories under a gross appropriation of £6,000,000 less £1,850,404 balance of existing appropriation = £4,149,596, plus additional specific items totalling £208,480, equalling £4,358,076 total. However, no individual monetary amounts are assigned to any of the named buildings — they are collectively funded by the net pool. This means it is literally impossible to determine from the face of the Act how much money any individual project is authorised to receive, making meaningful parliamentary scrutiny or administrative accountability for individual projects impossible."},{"type":"other","section":"Second Schedule","severity":"low","reasoning":"Strict legal construction could distinguish 'Loan Art 1918' from 'Loan Act 1918'. In practice courts would apply the obvious interpretation, but the typographical error in a legally operative schedule is a genuine drafting defect. Combined with the retroactivity problem in Section 5, it compounds the legal uncertainty around the Second Schedule.","confidence":0.78,"description":"The Second Schedule lists 'Loan Art 1918' — an obvious typographical error for 'Loan Act 1918.' While minor on its face, this is not a trivial matter: if the named Act cannot be identified with legal certainty (i.e., if 'Loan Art 1918' is strictly construed as not being the same as 'Loan Act 1918'), then the lapsing provision of Section 5 would not apply to the 1918 Act's unexpended appropriations."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Section 2","section_b":"Section 4","confidence":0.75,"description":"Section 2 authorises the Treasurer to borrow up to £8,300,000. Section 4 authorises the issue and application of £8,031,482 from 'the proceeds of any Loan raised under the authority of any Loan Act, including the present Act.' The Section 4 spending authority is not capped by or exclusively sourced from the Section 2 borrowing — it can draw on proceeds of all prior Loan Acts. This means the spending in Section 4 is not necessarily constrained by the Section 2 ceiling, and the Section 2 ceiling does not directly correspond to the Section 4 appropriation, leaving the relationship between borrowing authority and spending authority ambiguous."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Section 3","section_b":"Section 5","confidence":0.68,"description":"Section 3 provides that borrowed money shall be applied for 'purposes of appropriations made or to be made by law', contemplating that appropriations remain operative for future application. Section 5, however, retroactively lapses unexpended appropriations under the Second Schedule Acts as of 30 June 1925 — before the Act was passed. To the extent Section 4 authorises drawing on proceeds from prior Loan Acts (whose appropriations have been lapsed by Section 5), Sections 3 and 5 together create a situation where money can be borrowed for purposes whose appropriations have been extinguished, and where the surviving appropriations in Section 4 are funded from a pool partially sourced from Acts whose appropriations no longer exist."}]},"summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Act is consistent with its original and stated purpose: authorising government borrowing and directing how those borrowed funds are spent across specific departmental projects. It does not expand beyond that core function. The lapsing of prior appropriations in Section 5 is an administrative housekeeping measure directly related to the same purpose — managing loan-funded expenditure — rather than an expansion of scope. Every provision serves the central aim of borrowing and spending a defined sum of public money."},"complexity_factors":["Only 5 operative sections with straightforward, unconditional language","No defined terms section — minimal legal jargon","Cross-references to two other Acts (Commonwealth Inscribed Stock Act 1911-1918 and War Service Homes Act 1918-23) but only to incorporate borrowing mechanisms, not complex conditional logic","Two schedules that are essentially itemised financial tables rather than legally complex provisions","The Second Schedule lists 14 prior Acts whose appropriations lapse, requiring cross-referencing to understand full effect","Some arithmetic complexity in the First Schedule (gross allocations less estimated unexpended amounts) but this is accounting rather than legal complexity","No nested exceptions, no defined terms, no conditional logic chains"],"plain_english_summary":"## Loan Act (No. 2) 1925 — Plain English Summary\n\nThis Act is a **government borrowing and spending authorisation** — it gives the Commonwealth Treasurer the legal green light to borrow money and then specifies exactly what that money can be spent on.\n\n### What does it do?\n\n- **Authorises borrowing up to £8,300,000** (about £8.3 million — a very large sum in 1925 terms) using existing Commonwealth borrowing mechanisms, either through \"Inscribed Stock\" (government bonds sold to investors) or \"Treasury Bills\" (short-term government IOUs).\n- **Directs £8,031,482 of loan proceeds** to specific government departments and projects, as listed in the First Schedule (see below).\n- **Cancels unspent money** from a long list of previous Loan Acts (going back to 1911) that remained unspent as of 30 June 1925 — essentially tidying up the books.\n\n### Who gets the money?\n\nThe First Schedule itemises spending across nine departments and a debt redemption category:\n\n- **War & Repatriation Services (£826,270):** Care for returned soldiers, including a mental hospital in Western Australia, payment of outstanding soldier wages, and — the biggest single item — **£620,000 for the War Service Homes scheme** (helping veterans buy homes).\n- **Prime Minister's Department (£500):** Upkeep of London offices.\n- **Home & Territories Department (£83,250):** Property purchases, a loan to the Territory of New Guinea for works, and construction of a **Solar Observatory in Canberra**.\n- **Department of Defence (£433,675):** Naval bases, drill halls, air force hangars and infrastructure, munitions factories at Maribyrnong (Vic) and Footscray (Vic), a machine gun factory at Lithgow (NSW), and land for military and civil aviation purposes.\n- **Department of Trade & Customs (£593,537):** **£500,000 in advances to States and Northern Territory settlers to buy wire netting** (a rabbit/pest control measure common in this era), plus new lighthouses and lighthouse vessels.\n- **Department of Works & Railways (£1,306,112):** River Murray water management, Commonwealth offices in Brisbane and Adelaide, and major **railway construction** — including lines to Alice Springs, the Kalgoorlie–Port Augusta transcontinental link, the Northern Territory Railway, and the Port Augusta–Oodnadatta line.\n- **Postmaster-General's Department (£4,358,076):** By far the largest share — expanding **telegraph and telephone networks** nationwide, constructing and renovating hundreds of post offices across every state and territory, and investing £200,000 in Amalgamated Wireless Limited (the forerunner of today's communications infrastructure).\n- **Department of Health (£23,460):** Serum and health laboratories, and property acquisition.\n- **Department of Markets & Migration (£330,000):** Passage money and landing assistance for **assisted immigrants** coming to Australia.\n- **Loan Redemptions (£76,602):** Repaying old South Australian government loans taken out on behalf of the Northern Territory and the Port Augusta–Oodnadatta Railway.\n\n### Why does it matter?\n\nThis Act is a **snapshot of Australia in 1925** — a nation still healing from World War I (significant veteran support spending), actively building its communications backbone (the Post Office dominates the budget), pushing railways into remote and arid Australia, and actively encouraging immigration. It shows how the Commonwealth funded major capital works before modern budget mechanisms — through specific borrowing Acts that named every project and every pound."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/loan-act-no-2-1925","history":"/api/acts/loan-act-no-2-1925/history","analysis":"/api/acts/loan-act-no-2-1925/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/loan-act-no-2-1925/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/loan-act-no-2-1925/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/loan-act-no-2-1925/documents"}}