{"id":"C1948A00026","name":"Western Australia Grant Act 1948","slug":"western-australia-grant-act-1948","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"26 of 1948","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":4352,"registerId":"commonwealth-C1948A00026-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Western Australia Grant Act 1948","content":"WESTERN AUSTRALIA GRANT.\n\nNo. 26 of 1948.\n\nAn Act to grant and apply out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund a sum for the purpose of Financial Assistance to the State of Western Australia.\n\n\\[Assented to 24th June, 1948.\\]\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 Western Australia Grant Act 1948.\n\nCommencement.\n\n2. This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.\n\nPayment for financial assistance to State of Western Australia.\n\n3. There shall be payable to the State of Western Australia, in respect of the year which commenced on the first day of July, One thousand nine hundred and forty-seven, for the purpose of financial assistance, in addition to the sum granted by the States Grants Act (No. 2) 1947, the sum of One million pounds.\n\nAppropriation.\n\n4. Payment in accordance with this Act shall be made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, which is hereby appropriated accordingly.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act is entirely faithful to its original and sole purpose: making a single supplementary grant payment of £1,000,000 to Western Australia for the 1947–48 financial year. There is no evidence of scope creep or expansion beyond this narrow, time-limited objective. By its nature, the Act is spent (fully executed) once the payment is made."},"complexity_factors":["Only 4 sections in total","Single operative purpose — one payment to one recipient","No defined terms beyond the short title","No conditional logic or exceptions","No cross-referencing beyond a single reference to the States Grants Act (No. 2) 1947","No regulations or delegated powers","Fixed monetary amount with no formula or calculation required"],"plain_english_summary":"## Western Australia Grant Act 1948\n\nThis is a short, straightforward piece of Commonwealth (federal) legislation with one core purpose: **to send money to Western Australia**.\n\n### What does it do?\n\n- It **authorises a one-off payment of £1,000,000 (one million pounds)** from the federal government to the State of Western Australia.\n- The payment is made as **\"financial assistance\"** — meaning it is a grant (a gift of money with no expectation of repayment) from the Commonwealth to the State.\n- The money is for the **financial year that started 1 July 1947** (i.e., the 1947–48 financial year).\n- This grant is **on top of** money Western Australia was already receiving under another law — the *States Grants Act (No. 2) 1947* — so it is an **additional, supplementary payment**.\n- The money comes out of the **Consolidated Revenue Fund** (the federal government's main bank account, funded by taxes and other revenue) — and this Act formally gives legal permission to draw from that fund.\n\n### Who does it affect?\n\n- Primarily the **State of Western Australia**, which receives the funds.\n- Indirectly, **all Australian taxpayers**, whose contributions to federal revenue fund the payment.\n\n### Why does it matter?\n\nThis Act reflects the **post-World War II financial relationship between the Commonwealth and the states**, where the federal government used grants to assist states that needed extra support. Western Australia, being geographically large and relatively underpopulated, frequently sought and received supplementary federal funding. This kind of legislation was a common tool for **fiscal equalisation** (balancing out financial disparities between richer and poorer states) in the mid-20th century."},"kimi_summary":{"_metrics":{"model":"kimi-k2.5","source":"moonshot-batch","completionTokens":1043},"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains precisely limited to its original purpose—a specific one-off grant to Western Australia for the 1947-48 financial year. There is no expansion of scope beyond the single appropriation function described in the title and long title."},"complexity_factors":["Only 4 operative sections with no definitions or interpretation clauses","Single, unconditional appropriation with no procedural requirements","Minimal cross-referencing (only one reference to the States Grants Act (No. 2) 1947)","No delegated legislation or regulatory mechanisms","Straightforward temporal limitation (specific to 1947-48 financial year)"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act authorises a **one-off payment of £1 million** from the Australian Government to the State of Western Australia as financial assistance for the 1947–48 financial year.\n\n**What it does:**\n- Appropriates (sets aside) the money from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (the Commonwealth's main bank account)\n- Specifies this is additional funding on top of another grant already provided under the *States Grants Act (No. 2) 1947*\n- Takes effect immediately upon receiving Royal Assent (formal approval from the Crown)\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis is a straightforward \"top-up\" payment—common in the post-war period when Western Australia faced particular economic challenges. The Act demonstrates how the federal government provides specific financial assistance to individual states without changing the broader system of state-federal funding."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/western-australia-grant-act-1948","history":"/api/acts/western-australia-grant-act-1948/history","analysis":"/api/acts/western-australia-grant-act-1948/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/western-australia-grant-act-1948/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/western-australia-grant-act-1948/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/western-australia-grant-act-1948/documents"}}