rudd sheer madness, page-6

"NB This isn't a biased post, I just would like to know how an announcement like this can be made without a Bill passing Parliament to authorise the payment."

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This is my vague recollection of how things work.

They have annual appropriation bill passed (e.g. for the Budget), with details of the annual funding requirements for each department e.g. Dept of Foreign Affairs have $4.something billion.

Within that amount, they could have a discretionary fund to allocate it for unforseen, ad hoc foreign aid purposes. So long as the Dept's overall budget doesnt exceed its original $4.something billion, I dont see why they need to get a new bill done.

Although, the Dept may have had to go to Cabinet/Expenditure Review Committee to get their blessing....