Commonwealth act

Defence Equipment Act 1934

RepealedCTH

This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.

Jurisdiction

Commonwealth

Act Number

20 of 1934

Collection

act

Plain English Summary

1/10 complexity

What this law does

This Act authorizes the Australian Government to spend £4,160,000 (a major appropriation during the Great Depression) on military hardware and infrastructure in 1934.

How the funding works

The law creates a special holding account called the Defence Equipment Trust Account (a legally separate bank account that "ring-fences" the money so it cannot be spent on other government bills). The funds are drawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (the Commonwealth’s main government account containing all tax revenue).

What the money can buy

The Act strictly limits spending to three specific categories:

Naval construction — building warships and naval vessels;
Military equipment — purchasing arms, armament, aircraft, munitions, machinery, ammunition reserves, and oil fuel; and
Defence infrastructure — constructing military buildings and works, plus buying land for these sites.

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Current sections

Direct links to the current provisions in Defence Equipment Act 1934.

Defence Equipment Act 1934

DEFENCE EQUIPMENT.

No. 20 of 1934.

An Act to grant and apply out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund the sum of Four million one hundred and sixty thousand pounds for Naval Construction and for other Defence purposes.

[Assented to 4th August, 1934.]

Preamble.

BE 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:—

Short title.

This Act may be cited as the Defence Equipment Act 1934.

Defence Equipment Trust Account.

2.—(1.) For the purposes of this Act there shall be a Trust Account which shall be known as the Defence Equipment Trust Account.

(2.) The account established in pursuance of this section shall be a Trust Account for the purposes of section sixty-two a of the Audit Act 1901-1926.

Payment to Trust Account.

There shall be payable out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, which is hereby appropriated accordingly, to the credit of the Defence Equipment Trust Account the amount of Four million one hundred and sixty thousand pounds.

Payments from Trust Account.

The moneys standing to the credit of the Defence Equipment Trust Account may be applied—

(a) for naval construction;

(b) for the purchase of arms, armament, aircraft, munitions, equipment, machinery, plant, and reserves of ammunition and oil fuel; and

Source text

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.

1 Defence Equipment Act 1934