Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) The Parliamentary Budget Officer must prepare a report (the post - election report ) setting out, for each designated Parliamentary party:
(a) costings of all the election commitments of that party that the Parliamentary Budget Officer, in his or her best professional judgement, reasonably believes would have a material impact on the Commonwealth budget sector and Commonwealth general government sector fiscal estimates for the current financial year and the following 3 financial years; and
(b) the total combined impact those election commitments would have on the Commonwealth budget sector and Commonwealth general government sector fiscal estimates for the current financial year and the following 3 financial years.
Note 1: The post - election report must be prepared in accordance with section 64MAA.
Note 2: The Parliamentary Budget Officer may obtain information from Commonwealth bodies for the purpose of preparing the post - election report (see section 64MB).
Note 3: The post - election report must be publicly released (see section 64MC).
(1A) The Parliamentary Budget Officer must prepare the post - election report before the later of:
(a) 30 days after the end of the caretaker period for the general election to which the report relates; and
(b) 7 days before the first sitting day of either or both Houses of the Parliament after the general election to which the report relates.
(2) For the purpose of preparing the post - election report, the Parliamentary Budget Officer may treat 2 or more Parliamentary parties as a single designated Parliamentary party if:
(a) those parties would, if they had been a single political party during the caretaker period for the election, have been a designated Parliamentary party, as defined in section 7, during that period; and
(b) those parties, in writing, jointly request the Parliamentary Budget Officer to do so.
(3) Each designated Parliamentary party must, before 5 pm on the day before polling day in the election, give the Parliamentary Budget Officer a list, in writing, of the policies that the party has publicly announced it intends to seek to have implemented after the election.
(4) On the day after polling day in the election, the Parliamentary Budget Officer must publicly release:
(a) each list of policies given to the Parliamentary Budget Officer under subsection ( 3); and
(b) if a designated Parliamentary party has not given the Parliamentary Budget Officer a list of policies under subsection ( 3)--a statement to this effect.
(5) Within 3 days after the end of the caretaker period for the election, the Parliamentary Budget Officer must prepare, for each designated Parliamentary party, a list in writing of all the election commitments of that party that the Parliamentary Budget Officer, in his or her best professional judgement, reasonably believes would have a material impact on the Commonwealth budget sector and Commonwealth general government sector fiscal estimates for the current financial year and the following 3 financial years.
(6) In preparing the list of election commitments of a designated Parliamentary party under subsection ( 5), the Parliamentary Budget Officer must have regard to:
(a) any list of policies given to the Parliamentary Budget Officer by the party under subsection ( 3); and
(b) any public announcements made by the party before or during the caretaker period for the election.
However, the Parliamentary Budget Officer is not required to include any of those policies or public announcements in the list of election commitments prepared by the Parliamentary Budget Officer under subsection ( 5).
(7) As soon as practicable after preparing the list of election commitments of a designated Parliamentary party under subsection ( 5), but not later than 3 days after the end of the caretaker period for the election, the Parliamentary Budget Officer must:
(a) give the list to the party; and
(b) if the party has given the Parliamentary Budget Officer a list of policies under subsection ( 3) and the Parliamentary Budget Officer's list of election commitments is different from the party's list of policies--give the party a statement explaining the reasons for the difference.
(8) Within 3 days after a designated Parliamentary party receives the list of election commitments under subsection ( 7), the party must give the Parliamentary Budget Officer comments on the list.