MARCH QUARTER 2015 KEY FIGURES: ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT


In the March quarter 2015:

• Taxation revenue decreased 0.1% to $112,151m from $112,319m in the December quarter 2014.
• General government sector expenses exceeded revenue resulting in a GFS net operating balance of –$1,798m.
• The GFS net lending(+)/borrowing(–) position for the general government sector was –$4,717m.

			Dec Qtr 2014	Mar Qtr 2015	Dec Qtr 2014 to Mar Qtr 2015
			$m	$m	% change
Current Prices
Taxation revenue
	General government		112 319	112 151	–0.1
Total revenue
	General government		138 678	139 345	0.5
	Public non-financial corporations		20 260	20 415	0.8
Total expenses
	General government		145 137	141 143	–2.8
	Public non-financial corporations		20 610	20 244	–1.8
GFS Net operating balance
	General government		–6 458	–1 798	. .
	Public non-financial corporations		–351	172	. .
GFS Net lending(+)/borrowing(–)
	General government		–11 222	–4 717	. .
	Public non-financial corporations		–1 824	–1 068	. .

. . not applicable


QUARTERLY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS PUBLIC SECTOR MEASURES – KEY FIGURES

The table below includes the key public sector aggregates for the March quarter 2015 which will be included in the Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product (cat. no. 5206.0). The key figures shown include Government Final Consumption Expenditure for general government and Gross Fixed Capital Formation for general government and public corporations, seasonally adjusted in current prices and chain volume terms.

In the March quarter 2015:

• In seasonally adjusted chain volume terms, total general government final consumption expenditure increased by $298m, a rise of 0.4% compared with the December quarter 2014.
• In seasonally adjusted chain volume terms, total general government gross fixed capital formation decreased by 5.4% compared with the December quarter 2014.

			Jun Qtr 2014	Sep Qtr 2014	Dec Qtr 2014	Mar Qtr 2015	Dec Qtr 2014 to Mar Qtr 2015
			$m	$m	$m	$m	% change
Current Prices
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National – defence		5 888	5 813	5 805	5 714	–1.6
	National – non-defence		22 153	22 635	22 205	22 527	1.4
	Total national		28 041	28 448	28 011	28 241	0.8
	State and local		42 935	43 336	43 902	43 932	0.1
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		70 975	71 784	71 913	72 173	0.4
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National – defence	1 647	1 220	1 769	1 500	–15.2
		National – non-defence	2 448	2 726	2 559	2 610	2.0
		Total national	4 095	3 946	4 328	4 110	–5.0
		State and local	9 982	9 034	8 610	8 144	–5.4
		Total general government	14 078	12 980	12 938	12 254	–5.3
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	1 596	1 213	1 159	1 602	38.2
		State and local	2 959	3 696	3 799	3 643	–4.1
		Total public corporations	4 555	4 909	4 959	5 246	5.8
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		18 633	17 889	17 897	17 499	–2.2
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second-hand assets by public sector		–365	583	512	254	np
Chain Volume (b)
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National – defence		5 639	5 550	5 523	5 402	–2.2
	National – non-defence		21 341	21 797	21 561	21 848	1.3
	Total national		26 980	27 348	27 084	27 249	0.6
	State and local		42 397	42 744	42 948	43 080	0.3
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		69 377	70 092	70 032	70 330	0.4
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National – defence	1 555	1 155	1 642	1 394	–15.1
		National – non-defence	2 464	2 740	2 579	2 624	1.7
		Total national	4 019	3 895	4 221	4 018	–4.8
		State and local	9 935	8 972	8 579	8 091	–5.7
		Total general government	13 955	12 867	12 800	12 109	–5.4
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	1 569	1 200	1 141	1 549	35.7
		State and local	2 914	3 677	3 757	3 609	–3.9
		Total public corporations	4 483	4 877	4 898	5 157	5.3
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		18 437	17 744	17 699	17 266	–2.4
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second-hand assets by public sector		–316	571	481	257	np

np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) See paragraph 37 of the Explanatory Notes for the relationship between general government final consumption expenditure and GFS aggregates.
(b) Reference year for chain volume measures is 2012–13.


MARCH QUARTER 2015 GFS RELEASE

This release presents quarterly government finance statistics 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.

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 the annual publication Government Finance Statistics, Australia (cat. no. 5512.0). The latest issue (2013–14) was released on 13 May 2015. Final annual GFS results for 2014–15 are scheduled for release by the ABS in May 2016.

Table	Sep 14	Dec 14	Mar 15
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	*	*

ABOLITION OF THE CARBON TAX

The carbon tax repeal legislation received Royal Assent on Thursday, 17 July 2014 and the bills as part of this package are now law, with effect from 1 July 2014. The carbon tax repeal decreased taxation revenue on the GFS Commonwealth General Government operating statement by approximately $1.6b in the September 2014 quarter. Further information on the treatment of emissions schemes in ABS GFS data can be found in the ABS GFS Manual.


CHANGES TO DATA CUBE FORMAT

Some minor table formatting changes to the data cube have been introduced with this release of this publication as indicated in the December Quarter 2014 release. The changes include the insertion of blank lines, formatting emphasis changes and clearer 'total' and 'sub-total' item descriptions to improve readability. Users who extract data from the data cube tables using Excel formulas or by other computerised means should review and adjust their processes as necessary. Some row numbers have changed.


FORTHCOMING ISSUES

The release of GFS quarterly data is usually coordinated to be the day before the respective issue of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product (cat. no. 5206.0). The scheduled release dates for the next two issues are:

Issue	5519.0.55.001	5206.0
June 2015	1 September 2015	2 September 2015
September 2015	1 December 2015	2 December 2015

INQUIRIES

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