MARCH QUARTER 2007 KEY FIGURES: ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT

December quarter 2006 to March quarter 2007 movements (in original terms) -

• Taxation revenue decreased by 3.4% to $78,476m.
• The GFS net operating balance for the general government sector decreased by $1,965m, to $6,911m.
• The GFS net lending(+)/borrowing(-) position for the general government sector decreased by $721m to a net lending position of $4,622m.

			Dec qtr 2006	Mar qtr 2007	% change Dec qtr 2006 to Mar qtr 2007
			$m	$m	%
Current Prices
Taxation revenue
	General government		81,252	78,476	-3.4%
Total revenue
	General government		96,620	95,164	-1.5%
	Public Non-Financial corporations(a)		18,555	14,006	-24.5%
Total expenses
	General government		87,745	88,253	0.6%
	Public Non-Financial corporations(a)		16,589	12,229	-26.3
GFS Net operating balance
	General government		8,876	6,911	..
	Public Non-Financial corporations(a)		1,965	1,777	..
GFS Net lending(+)/borrowing(-)
	General government		5,343	4,622	..
	Public Non-Financial corporations(a)		-784	-344	..

(a) March quarter data is impacted by the privatisation of Telstra. See below for further information.

QUARTERLY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS PUBLIC SECTOR MEASURES - KEY FIGURES

The table below includes the key public sector aggregates for the March quarter 2007 from the forthcoming national accounts publication. The key figures shown include Government Final Consumption Expenditure and Gross Fixed Capital Formation for general government and public corporations, seasonally adjusted for current prices and in chain volume terms.

• In seasonally adjusted chain volume terms, total general government final consumption expenditure increased by 0.8% in March quarter 2007.
• General government gross fixed capital formation, in seasonally adjusted chain volume terms, decreased by 15.5% in March quarter 2007.

			Dec qtr 2006	Mar qtr 2007	% change Dec qtr 2006 to Mar qtr 2007
			$m	$m	%
Current Prices
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National - defence		3,956	4,057	2.6
	National - non-defence		14,604	14,908	2.1
	Total national		18,560	18,965	2.2
	State and local		28,611	29,080	1.6
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		47,171	48,045	1.9
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National - defence	676	337	-50.2
		National - non-defence	1,012	935	-7.6
		Total national	1,688	1,272	-24.7
		State and local	5,162	4,548	-11.9
		Total general government	6,850	5,819	-15.0
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	1,438	198	-86.2
		State and local	3,493	3,980	13.9
		Total public corporations	4,931	4,178	-15.3
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		11,782	9,998	-15.1
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second-hand assets by public sector		124	-534	. .
Chain Volume (b)
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National - defence		3,607	3,674	1.9
	National - non-defence		13,995	14,175	1.3
	Total national		17,602	17,849	1.4
	State and local		25,598	25,698	0.4
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		43,200	43,547	0.8
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National - defence	724	364	-49.7
		National - non-defence	1,049	966	-7.9
		Total national	1,774	1,330	-25
		State and local	4,913	4,320	-12.1
		Total general government	6,686	5,651	-15.5
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	1,395	192	-86.2
		State and local	3,009	3,374	12.1
		Total public corporations	4,404	3,566	-19
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		11,090	9,217	-16.9
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second-hand assets by public sector		135	-517	. .

(a) See paragraph 32 of the Explanatory Notes for the relationship between general government final consumption expenditure and GFS aggregates.
(b) Reference year for chain volume measures is 2004-05.


MARCH QUARTER 2007 GFS RELEASE

This release presents quarterly government finance statistics (GFS) on an accrual accounting basis. All tables are presented in GFS operating statement format and are for the general government sector, with the exception of Table 2 which presents data for the public non-financial corporations sector.

Telstra Corporation was effectively privatised on 20 November 2006. For the purposes of ABS statistics this change from the public to the private sector is effective from the March quarter 2007. This change has impacted on the data series presented in this publication, particularly the March quarter data presented in Table 2 All levels of Government - Public Non-financial Corporations. For more information please see ABS cat. no. 8102.0, Future Treatment of Telstra in ABS Statistics 2007

Quarterly GFS are released for the current financial year only, other than in the September quarter, when the quarters of the previous financial year are presented. Users requiring data for earlier periods should consult Government Finance Statistics, Australia (cat.no. 5512.0). The latest issue (2005-06) was released on 3 April 2007.

Table	Sept 06	Dec 06	Mar 07
Table 1 All Levels of Government - General Government	*	*	*
Table 2 All Levels of Government - Public Non-Financial Corporations	*	*	*
Table 3 Commonwealth Government	*	*	*
Table 4 Total State & Local	*	*	*
Table 5 New South Wales	*	*
Table 6 Victoria	*	*
Table 7 Queensland	*	*
Table 8 South Australia	*	*
Table 9 Western Australia	*	*
Table 10 Tasmania	*	*
Table 11 Northern Territory	*	*
Table 12 Australian Capital Territory	*	*

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

The release of GFS quarterly data is coordinated to be the day before the respective issue of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product (cat. no. 5206.0). The current release dates for the June quarter 2007 and September quarter 2007 issues are :

Issue	5519.0.55.001	5206.0
June 2007	04/09/2007	05/09/2007
September 2007	04/12/2007	05/12/2007

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070, email <client.services@abs.gov.au> or Mark Patton on Canberra (02) 6252 7589, email <public.finance@abs.gov.au>.