{"id":"C1924A00059","name":"Supplementary Appropriation (Works and Buildings) Act 1922-23","slug":"supplementary-appropriation-works-and-buildings-act-1922-23","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"59 of 1924","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":3117,"registerId":"commonwealth-C1924A00059-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Supplementary Appropriation (Works and Buildings) Act 1922-23","content":"THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA.\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nSUPPLEMENTARY APPROPRIATION (WORKS AND BUILDINGS) 1922-23.\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nNo. 59 of 1924.\n\nAn Act to appropriate a further sum out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the service of the year ended the thirtieth day of June One thousand nine hundred and twenty-three for the purposes of Additions, New Works, Buildings, &c.\n\n\\[Assented to 20th October, 1924.\\]\n\nPreamble\n\nBE it enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, for the purpose of appropriating the grant originated in the House of Representatives, as follows:—\n\nShort title.\n\n1.  This Act may be cited as the Supplementary Appropriation (Works and Buildings) Act 1922-23.\n\nAppropriation of £28,128.\n\n2. The sum of Twenty-eight thousand one hundred and twenty- eight pounds which has been issued from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the service of the year ended the thirtieth day of June One thousand nine hundred and twenty-three shall be deemed to have been appropriated as from the passing of the Act No. 8 of 1922 for the purposes and services expressed in the Schedule to this Act.\n\nSCHEDULE.\n\nF. 16509.—Price 3D.\n\n  \n\nSCHEDULE.\n\n|                                                     | £      |\n| --------------------------------------------------- | ------ |\n| HOME AND TERRITORIES DEPARTMENT.................... | 2,318  |\n| DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE.............................  | 10,544 |\n| POSTMASTER-GENERAL’S DEPARTMENT...................  | 15,266 |\n| TOTAL ADDITIONS, NEW WORKS, BUILDINGS, ETC.         | 28,128 |\n\n  \n\n| HOME AND TERRITORIES DEPARTMENT.                                     | £      |\n| -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ |\n| Under Control of Home and Territories Department.                    |        |\n| Division No. 1A.                                                     |        |\n| No. 1. Establishment of wireless station on Willis Island........... | 2,224  |\n| Under Control of Department of Works and Railways.                   |        |\n| Division No. Ib.                                                     |        |\n| Subdivision No. 2.—Miscellaneous.                                    |        |\n| No. 2. Meteorological Bureau—Sydney—erection of..............        | 94     |\n| Total Home and Territories Department......                          | 2,318  |\n| ______________                                                       |        |\n| DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE.                                               |        |\n| NAVAL.                                                               |        |\n| Under Control of Department of Defence.                              |        |\n| Division No. 3.                                                      |        |\n| Subdivision No. 1.—Naval Works.                                      |        |\n| No. 3. Construction of Fleet...............................          | 7,955  |\n| MILITARY.                                                            |        |\n| Under Control of Department of Works and Railways.                   |        |\n| Division No. 5.                                                      |        |\n| VARIOUS STATES AND FEDERAL TERRITORY.                                |        |\n| Subdivision No. 1.                                                   |        |\n| No. 7. Research Laboratory, Maribyrnong Works and Buildings.....     | 2,589  |\n| Total Department of Defence............                              | 10,544 |\n\n  \n\n| POSTMASTER-GENERAL’S DEPARTMENT.                                  | £      |\n| ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ |\n| Under Control of the Home and Territories Department.             |        |\n| Division No. 11a.                                                 |        |\n| PURCHASE OF PROPERTIES AND SITES.                                 |        |\n| Subdivision No. 1.                                                |        |\n| No. 1. Land for Post and Telegraph purposes...................    | 15,000 |\n| Under Control of Department of Works and Railways.                |        |\n| Division No. 13.                                                  |        |\n| POST OFFICE BUILDINGS.                                            |        |\n| Subdivision No. 1a.—Victoria.                                     |        |\n| No. 1. Brunswick Post Office..............................        | 215    |\n| Subdivision No. 1.—South Australia.                               |        |\n| No. 11. Melrose Post Office—Alterations and additions............ | 51     |\n| Total Postmaster-General’s Department.........                    | 15,266 |\n| Total Additions, New Works, Buildings, &c........                 | 28,128 |\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":{"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation does exactly what its title says — it appropriates a supplementary sum for works and buildings for the 1922-23 financial year. There is no expansion beyond its original and singular purpose: to retrospectively authorise a specific quantum of infrastructure spending across three named departments. The scope is narrow, time-limited to a single past financial year, and wholly consistent with the standard supplementary appropriation model used throughout the Commonwealth's early legislative history."},"complexity_factors":["Single operative provision (section 2) with straightforward retrospective appropriation mechanism","Minimal defined terms — no interpretation section at all","No conditional logic, exceptions, or cross-referencing beyond a single reference to Act No. 8 of 1922","Schedule is a simple itemised table with no ambiguity or sub-conditions","Short length — two sections and one schedule comprising six line items across three departments"],"plain_english_summary":"## What This Law Does\n\nThis is a **retrospective appropriation act** — meaning it legally authorises (after the fact) money that had already been spent by the Australian Government.\n\nSpecifically, it formally approves the spending of **£28,128** (about $2.8 million in today's terms) from the **Consolidated Revenue Fund** (the main government bank account that holds public money collected through taxes and other revenue). This money was spent during the **financial year ending 30 June 1923** on physical infrastructure — buildings, construction, and works projects.\n\n---\n\n## Why Was This Needed?\n\nThe money had already been paid out before this Act was passed. This legislation gives that spending **retrospective legal authorisation**, treating it as if it had been properly approved from the time of the original Appropriation Act (No. 8 of 1922). Without this, the spending would have lacked a proper legal foundation under Commonwealth law.\n\n---\n\n## Who Was Affected?\n\nThree government departments received funds for specific projects:\n\n- **Home and Territories Department – £2,318**\n  - Establishing a **wireless (radio) station on Willis Island** (a remote coral island in the Coral Sea): £2,224\n  - Erecting a building for the **Meteorological Bureau in Sydney**: £94\n\n- **Department of Defence – £10,544**\n  - **Naval fleet construction**: £7,955\n  - **Research Laboratory at Maribyrnong** (a defence facility in Victoria) — works and buildings: £2,589\n\n- **Postmaster-General's Department – £15,266**\n  - Purchasing **land for postal and telegraph purposes**: £15,000\n  - Works at **Brunswick Post Office** (Victoria): £215\n  - Alterations and additions to **Melrose Post Office** (South Australia): £51\n\n---\n\n## Why It Matters\n\nThis Act is a routine but constitutionally important piece of housekeeping. Under the Australian Constitution, the government **cannot spend public money without parliamentary authorisation**. When actual spending in a financial year exceeds what was originally approved, a supplementary appropriation act like this one is passed to bring the books into legal order. It ensures **parliamentary oversight and accountability** over public finances — even after the money has gone out the door."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"retroactive_impossibility","section":"Section 2","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Section 2 states the sum 'has been issued' (past tense) and then deems it to 'have been appropriated as from the passing of Act No. 8 of 1922'. This is a legal fiction designed to regularise unauthorised or over-spent expenditure, which is a known parliamentary practice. However, it creates a logical impossibility: the appropriation is deemed to have existed from 1922, yet the authorising Act did not exist until 1924. You cannot, in any factual sense, appropriate money retrospectively for expenditure already completed — the provision can only operate as a legal fiction, not as a genuine appropriation. Any audit or legal challenge during the intervening period (1922–1924) would have found the expenditure to be without lawful authority.","confidence":0.82,"description":"The Act, assented to on 20 October 1924, purports to retrospectively appropriate funds 'as from the passing of Act No. 8 of 1922' for expenditure relating to the financial year ended 30 June 1923. The money had already been issued and spent — in some cases over two years before this Act was passed — meaning the appropriation is being granted after the fact for funds that no longer exist in the Fund and cannot be clawed back."},{"type":"other","section":"Schedule — Department of Defence (Naval), No. 3","severity":"low","reasoning":"The Act is expressly titled and scoped for 'Additions, New Works, Buildings, &c.' Naval vessels are not buildings or fixed works. While 'works' can have a broader meaning in some contexts, classifying fleet construction — which involves mobile naval vessels — under a buildings and works appropriation is a category error that would create genuine ambiguity about the lawful authority for this spending under any strict audit interpretation.","confidence":0.65,"description":"A line item of £7,955 is allocated for 'Construction of Fleet' under a Supplementary Appropriation for Works and Buildings. The construction of an entire fleet is categorised under 'Additions, New Works, Buildings, &c.' — a classification typically reserved for fixed infrastructure — creating an absurd mismatch between the nature of the expenditure and the head of appropriation under which it is authorised."},{"type":"other","section":"Schedule — Postmaster-General's Department, Division No. 11a","severity":"low","reasoning":"The Schedule allocates funds to the Postmaster-General's Department but attributes control of a significant portion (£15,000 of £15,266 total) to the Home and Territories Department. While this may reflect administrative arrangements of the era, it creates a logical oddity where the department receiving the appropriation is not the department controlling the expenditure, undermining the basic principle that an appropriation authorises a named department to spend funds.","confidence":0.55,"description":"Expenditure for the Postmaster-General's Department on 'Land for Post and Telegraph purposes' (£15,000) is listed as being 'Under Control of the Home and Territories Department'. It is logically incongruous for expenditure belonging to one department to be under the control of a separate, unrelated department, creating ambiguity about accountability and authorisation."},{"type":"other","section":"Schedule — Department of Defence (Military), Division No. 5","severity":"low","reasoning":"The Schedule's item numbering is not sequential — it goes from No. 3 (Naval) to No. 7 (Military), skipping four line items. While this likely reflects items that appeared in the parent appropriation Act (No. 8 of 1922) but received no supplementary funding here, it is not explained within this Act and creates uncertainty about whether items 4–6 were deliberately omitted, accidentally overlooked, or consolidated elsewhere. This is a drafting ambiguity rather than a pure logical impossibility.","confidence":0.6,"description":"The Department of Defence Military subdivision lists items No. 7 ('Research Laboratory, Maribyrnong') but the numbering jumps directly from Naval item No. 3 to Military item No. 7, with items No. 4, 5, and 6 entirely absent from the Schedule with no explanation."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Long Title / Preamble","section_b":"Section 2","confidence":0.85,"description":"The Long Title and Preamble describe this as an Act 'to appropriate a further sum out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund', implying the money is yet to be drawn. Section 2 contradicts this by confirming the money 'has been issued' already — the appropriation is not prospective but is a retrospective ratification of expenditure already made. The Act cannot simultaneously be appropriating money (future act) and ratifying money already spent (past act)."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Schedule — Postmaster-General's Department (control attributed to Home and Territories Department, Division 11a)","section_b":"Schedule — Postmaster-General's Department (total allocation heading)","confidence":0.7,"description":"The Schedule attributes £15,000 of Postmaster-General's Department funds to be 'Under Control of the Home and Territories Department', yet the total is counted under the Postmaster-General's Department allocation. The same funds are simultaneously ascribed to two different departments for purposes of control versus appropriation, creating a direct tension between departmental accountability and budget ownership."}]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/supplementary-appropriation-works-and-buildings-act-1922-23","history":"/api/acts/supplementary-appropriation-works-and-buildings-act-1922-23/history","analysis":"/api/acts/supplementary-appropriation-works-and-buildings-act-1922-23/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/supplementary-appropriation-works-and-buildings-act-1922-23/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/supplementary-appropriation-works-and-buildings-act-1922-23/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/supplementary-appropriation-works-and-buildings-act-1922-23/documents"}}