46Payments of dividends by AA to the Commonwealth

#### 46 Payments of dividends by AA to the Commonwealth (1) Within 4 months after the end of each financial year, the Board must recommend to the Minister in writing that AA: (a) pay a dividend of a specified amount to the Commonwealth, in relation to AA’s operations in the financial year; or (b) not pay any dividend to the Commonwealth for the financial year. (2) In making a recommendation, the Board must have regard to the following matters: (a) the matters specified in section 13; (b) AA’s financial results for the financial year and previous financial years, and the dividends paid under this section for previous financial years. (3) The Minister must respond in writing to the Board’s recommendation, within 30 days, as follows: (a) if the Board recommended that a dividend be paid, the Minister must either: (i) approve the recommendation; or (ii) direct AA to pay a dividend of a different specified amount; or (b) if the Board recommended that no dividend be paid, the Minister must either: (i) approve the recommendation; or (ii) direct AA to pay a dividend of a specified amount. (4) The Minister must have regard to the following matters when acting under subsection (3): (a) the matters specified in section 13 (other than paragraph (b)); (b) the objectives and policies of the Commonwealth Government; (c) AA’s financial results for the financial year and previous financial years, and the dividends paid under this section for previous financial years; (d) any other commercial considerations the Minister thinks appropriate. (5) If a dividend for a financial year is approved or directed under subsection (3), AA must pay it to the Commonwealth within 8 months after the end of that year. (6) A payment under this section may be made out of either of the following kinds of profits, or out of a mixture of both: (a) AA’s profits for the financial year to which the payment relates; (b) AA’s profits for any earlier financial year or years.