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Commonwealth act
This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
This Act is a wartime borrowing authorisation — a short piece of legislation that gave the Australian Government the legal power to borrow and spend a specific sum of money at the outbreak of World War II.
The Schedule breaks down the spending across four areas:
Department of Defence (£9,637,000) — the largest recipient, split across:
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Direct links to the current provisions in Loan Act 1939.
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View on official registerSourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
Department of Supply and Development (£768,000) — funding for munitions manufacturing machinery, raw material stockpiles, armament facilities, and aircraft construction buildings
War Services (£10,000,000) — a broad, catch-all allocation covering pay and allowances for mobilised troops, fuel, naval construction, aircraft purchase and charter, and other miscellaneous wartime expenses across the Navy, Army and Air Force
Postmaster-General's Department (£2,000,000) — telecommunications infrastructure including telephone exchanges, trunk lines, telegraph services, national broadcasting, and associated buildings
Note: The total itemised in the Schedule is £22,405,000 — leaving a small buffer of £225,000 below the maximum borrowing ceiling, which covers the expenses of borrowing itself (fees, issuance costs, etc.).
This Act is a snapshot of Australia mobilising for World War II, assented to on 26 September 1939 — just weeks after war was declared. It reflects the urgent redirection of public finances toward defence and wartime infrastructure. The inclusion of telecommunications spending alongside military spending shows that the government understood communications as essential war infrastructure.