Could beI have never taken that much interest in this area of...

Could beI have never taken that much interest in this area of history - but re the PNG using Jan to Dec - as it relates to Aust - year end is Dec 31 - JanFeb would be used to finalize the paperwork and transmit to head office PNG - Head office would collate and send to Canberra in March so can be put into the May Budget. Then new allocations are made for next PNG FY and start from following January after sorting out who gets what over the next post Budget months.

History of PNG - Papua and then NG were always under Aust control from Federation on never direct from GB. Seem to recall that Papua under QLD control prior to Federation but not sure. Aust use of July June could well come from history as well - ie GB budget comes out March and Aust then can go firm on their budget. Defense was tied in to this pre WWII also Reserve Bank exchange rate issues. Also I seem to recall that BHP's balance date came into it - but all this is from memory and not documented fact. Could also be related to the sea travel times involved prior to air travel and then the recent electronic data transmission systems.

Happy to be corrected as to what produced current arrangements.

Looking at the current case however delaying the decision may be necessary for some reason - God knows you will never get a straight answer at the moment.