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22-535: The Loan Council consists of the Prime Minister of Australia, the premier of each state and chief minister of each territory. However, in practice each member is represented by a nominee, usually the treasurer of that jurisdiction. The Treasurer of Australia acts as the chair and the Commonwealth Treasury provides secretarial services. Each jurisdiction nominates a Loan Council Allocation for

44-684: A ' gentlemen's agreement ', to prevent state governments circumventing the council's borrowing limits. This agreement remained in effect until 1984–85 when 'global borrowing limits' were introduced. Treasurer of Australia The Treasurer of Australia , also known as the Federal Treasurer or more simply the Treasurer , is the minister of state of the Commonwealth of Australia charged with overseeing government revenue collection, federal expenditure and economic policy as

66-783: A new provision, Section 105A, into the Finance and Trade Chapter of the Australian Constitution . A test of the Financial Agreement soon came when the Great Depression hit Australia and the Commonwealth and state governments sought to devise a strategy to deal with it. In August 1930, Prime Minister Scullin invited Sir Otto Niemeyer of the Bank of England to advise the premiers. He recommended

88-518: A traditional deflationary response of balanced budgets to combat Australia's high levels of debt and insisted that interest on loans be met. All state governments other than NSW and the federal government agreed to the strategy, which was called the "Melbourne Agreement". Early in 1931, Jack Lang , Premier of New South Wales , released "the Lang Plan" to combat the Depression as an alternative to

110-518: Is the minister in charge of government revenue and expenditure. The Treasurer oversees economic policy : fiscal policy is within the Treasurer's direct responsibility, while monetary policy is implemented by the politically independent Reserve Bank of Australia , the head of which is appointed by the Treasurer. The Treasurer also oversees financial regulation . Each year in May, the Treasurer presents

132-663: The Federal Budget to the Parliament. The Prime Minister and Treasurer are traditionally members of the House, but the Constitution does not have such a requirement. The tradition is due to the fact that under the constitution , appropriate bills have to originate from the House, and if the Treasurer is a senator, they would not be able to introduce the bills. This would also mean another minister would need to give

154-561: The Financial Agreement Enforcement Act 1932 to withhold moneys payable to the state and to seize state assets, which the High Court held to be valid. The 1928 Financial Agreement only authorised borrowings by governments and did not encompass borrowing by Commonwealth and state semi-governmental and local authorities. In 1936, these arrangements were voluntarily brought under Loan Council control, under

176-929: The Parliament of Australia with a seat in the House of Representatives . The office is generally seen as equivalent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the United Kingdom or the Secretary of the Treasury in the United States or, in some other countries, the finance minister . It is one of only four ministerial positions (along with prime minister, Minister for Defence and Attorney-General ) that have existed since Federation . The Treasurer

198-619: The Department of Finance are: Eleven organizations nominally fall under the auspices of the Australian Treasurer. The agencies undertake a range of activities aimed at achieving strong sustainable economic growth and the improved well-being of Australians. This entails the provision of policy advice to portfolio ministers who seek to promote a sound macroeconomic environment; effective government spending and taxation arrangements; and well-functioning markets. It also entails

220-627: The Melbourne Agreement. Key points of the Lang Plan included the reduction of interest owed by Australian governments on debts within Australia to 3%, and the cancellation of interest payments to overseas bondholders and financiers on government borrowings, besides other strategies. As the Commonwealth Government became responsible under the Financial Agreement for state debts, the new UAP government of Joseph Lyons

242-528: The Treasury. The Treasurer together with these other ministers are known as the "Treasury Ministers". At present, the Treasury Minister positions are: The work of the Department of Finance is closely related to the work of the Department of the Treasury, with the former responsible for budget formation and operational management of government finances. The ministers who have responsibility for

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264-471: The effective implementation and administration of policies that fall within the portfolio ministers' responsibilities. The following individuals have been appointed as Treasurer of Australia: As of 26 November 2024, there are ten living former treasurers of Australia, the oldest being Ralph Willis (served 1991, 1993−1996, born 1938). The most recent treasurer to die was Bill Hayden (served 1975) on 21 October 2023. The most recently serving treasurer to die

286-542: The forthcoming year and the Loan Council normally meets once a year in person (usually in March) to consider the nominations having regard to each jurisdiction's fiscal position and the macroeconomic implications of the aggregate figure; otherwise business of the council is conducted by correspondence. The Commonwealth has a dominant position over the council, having two votes and also a casting vote. Under this arrangement,

308-410: The head of the Department of the Treasury . The current treasurer is Jim Chalmers , who was selected by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in May 2022 following the 2022 Australian federal election . The Treasurer implements ministerial powers through the Department of the Treasury and a range of other government agencies. According to constitutional convention, the Treasurer is always a member of

330-614: The nationally televised budget speech and introduce the bills. While no Federal Treasurer has been a member of the Senate, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia had state Treasurers who had served as members of the Legislative Councils, the states' upper houses. Unlike the scenario in which a treasurer who is a senator cannot present the budget in the House of Representatives, state treasurers who have been members of upper houses have delivered their budgets in

352-633: The only two to have been named " Euromoney Finance Minister of the Year " by Euromoney magazine. Since 1958, Treasurers in Coalition governments have often but not always been the deputy leader of the Liberal Party. In contrast, only four Labor Treasurers have also been the deputy leader of the Labor Party. Along with the Treasurer, other ministers have responsibility for the Department of

374-574: The others for capital funds, three-quarters of which came from overseas (mainly Britain). The arrangements were formalised in 1927 when the Commonwealth and states signed a Financial Agreement. The 1927 Financial Agreement discontinued the per-capita payments system that had existed since 1910, and restricted the borrowing rights of the states by subjecting such borrowing to control by a Loan Council. It also provided for Commonwealth assistance in state debt reduction. Henceforth all governmental borrowing, except for purposes of defence or for 'temporary' purposes,

396-583: The respective lower houses. The treasurer is a very senior government post, usually ranking second or third in Cabinet. Historically, many treasurers have previously, concurrently or subsequently served as prime minister or deputy prime minister ; two subsequently served as Governor-General . Service as treasurer is seen as an important (though certainly not essential) qualification for serving as prime minister: to date, six treasurers have gone on to be prime minister. Paul Keating and Wayne Swan are currently

418-605: The votes of six states/territories are required to outvote a Commonwealth proposition. In the interest of transparency, each jurisdiction is required to publish its Loan Council Allocation estimates, under the 'Uniform Presentation Framework'. The method of public release is the responsibility of each jurisdiction. The Loan Council was established by the Premiers' Conference of May 1923 as a voluntary organisation of Commonwealth and state governments, to co-ordinate Commonwealth and state debt raisings and to avoid each competing against

440-500: Was John Kerin (served 1991) on 29 March 2023. [REDACTED] Australia [REDACTED] New South Wales [REDACTED] Queensland [REDACTED] South Australia [REDACTED] Tasmania [REDACTED] Victoria [REDACTED] Western Australia [REDACTED] Australian Capital Territory [REDACTED] Northern Territory Federal Executive Council (Australia) Too Many Requests If you report this error to

462-474: Was obligated to pay the interest to the overseas bondholders, and then extract the money from the states. The Commonwealth Government rejected the Lang Plan and Lang refused to pay to the Commonwealth interest and principal that was payable to overseas bondholders, setting the stage for the Lang Dismissal Crisis . To enforce New South Wales’ obligations under the agreement, the Commonwealth passed

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484-486: Was to be under Loan Council control. The agreement was ratified by all jurisdictions and was incorporated into the Financial Agreement Act 1928 . Due to doubts concerning the constitutionality of this new body, it was agreed that its legality would be put beyond doubt by a constitutional amendment. The 1928 referendum for the purpose was carried by a large majority of voters in all six states to insert

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