Explanatory Statement – Variation of the Nation Building Program Roads to Recovery Program List
Instrument 2011/1
Under s.87 of the Nation Building Program (National Land Transport) Act 2009 (the Act), the Minister must determine a list of bodies which are to receive Roads to Recovery funds and the amount that each is to receive ie its allocation and also show any unallocated funds. The initial list was determined on 26 February 2009.
WA Bridges Program
The special projects are all either Aboriginal access roads or bridges. It was not known when the initial list was determined which councils would receive funds for these projects and so the corresponding funds were initially shown as unallocated.
The special projects have been provided in two stages. The first group, which was provided in July 2009, included all the Aboriginal access projects for the full five years and the bridge projects for the first two years of the program. The list was amended at that time to increase the allocations of the councils undertaking them and to reduce the amount of funding shown as unallocated.
The remaining bridge projects are now known and this instrument amends the list to increase the allocations of the councils undertaking them and to reduce the amount of funding shown as unallocated to nil.
City of Greater Geraldton
Under s.88(1), where a body on the list ceases to exist before it has received its full allocation, the Minister can redirect any part of the allocation of the precursor body not paid to it at the date of abolition to the body that has taken over its responsibilities. In practice, this is done by varying the list.
Two of the councils on that list, the City of Geraldton-Greenough and the Shire of Mullewa, were abolished from 1 July 2011 and a new council, the City of Greater Geraldton, created to take over their responsibilities. The City of Greater Geraldton and its allocation have been added to the list and allocations for the precursors reduced to the amounts already paid to them.