BUDGET MEASURES
1997-98

CIRCULATED BYTHE HONOURABLE PETER COSTELLO, M.P., TREASURER OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA, AND THE HONOURABLE JOHN FAHEY, M.P., MINISTER FOR FINANCE FOR THE INFORMATION OF HONOURABLE MEMBERS ON THE OCCASION OF THE BUDGET 1997-98, 13 MAY 1997

FOREWORD

Budget Paper No.2- Budget Measures 1997-98 appears for the first time this year. It ensures that the Budget Papers provide comprehensive information on all outlays and revenue measures announced in the Budget. It represents a significant increase in the level of information concerning individual budget measures.
Budget Paper No.2 comprises two parts:

A summary table of all measures introduced since the 1996-97 Budget is included in each part, with those measures introduced since the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook 1996-97 (MYEFO) (including in this Budget) described in detail. Detailed descriptions of measures up to the time of the MYEFO are included in that document.
Measures taken in the 1997-98 Budget build on the already substantial fiscal consolidation implemented in the 1996-97 Budget.

Outlays savings measures taken in this Budget enable the Government to provide funding for high priority areas.
In keeping with the Government's commitments, there have been no new taxes or increases in tax rates. The primary purpose of many of the revenue measures introduced in the Budget is to protect the tax base and address anomalies in the tax system.

Budget Paper No.1 - Budget Strategy and Outlook 1997-98, also provides information on overall trends in budget outlays and revenue estimates in: Statement 1 - Fiscal Strategy; Statement 2 - Economic and Fiscal Outlook; Statement 4 - Outlays; and Statement 5 - Revenue. In particular, Statements 1 and 2 provide a detailed discussion of how measures contribute to the Government's fiscal strategy and are reflected in the Government's budget priorities.

NOTES

(a) The following definitions are used in this Budget Paper:

underlying outlays = total outlays - net advances;
net advances = net equity transactions + net policy lending;
'real' means adjusted for the effect of inflation;
real growth in outlays is measured by the non-farm Gross Domestic Product deflator;
Budget year refers to 1997-98, while the forward years refer to 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-01; and
one billion is equal to one thousand million.

(b) Figures in tables and generally in the text have been rounded. Discrepancies in tables between totals and sums of components are due to rounding:

estimates under $100,000 are rounded to the nearest thousand;
estimates $100,000 and over are rounded to the nearest tenth of a million;
estimates midway between rounding points are rounded up; and
the percentage changes in statistical tables are calculated using unrounded data.

(c) In tables, the sign in front of the number reflects the impact of the change on the aggregate concerned, eg a negative in a revenue table reflects a reduction in revenue.

(d) For the budget balance, a negative sign indicates a deficit while no sign indicates a surplus.

(e) The following notations are used:

	NEC/nec	not elsewhere classified
	AEST	Australian Eastern Standard Time
	-	nil
	..	not zero, but rounded to zero
	na	not applicable (unless otherwise specified)
	nfp	not for publication
	$m	$ million

(f) References to the 'States' or 'each State' include the Territories, because from 1993-94 onwards, general purpose funding has been on the same basis for all jurisdictions. The Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory are referred to as 'the Territories'. The following abbreviations are used for the names of the States, where appropriate:

NSW	New South Wales
VIC/Vic	Victoria
QLD/Qld	Queensland
WA	Western Australia
SA	South Australia
TAS/Tas	Tasmania
ACT	Australian Capital Territory
NT	Northern Territory

Budget Measures 1997-98 is one of a series of Budget Papers, the purpose of which is to provide information supplementary to that in the Budget Speech.