B.— 1 [Pt. ll]

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS TOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1945

REPORT OF THE CONTROLLER AND AUDITOR-GENERAL

I have the honour to submit my report for the year ended 31st March, 1945, in terms of the Public .Revenues Act, 1926, section 89, which is set out hereunder. Subsections (2) and (3) of this section state the several headings under which the report is required to be presented : — 89. (1) The Treasury shall as soon as practicable after the end of every financial year prepare and send to the Audit Office a statement of the revenue and expenditure of the Public Account during that year. (2) The Controller and Auditor-General shall forthwith examine that statement, and prepare and sign a report showing— (ia) The particulars of any discrepancies between such statement and the books of the Treasury : (6) Full particulars of every case in which the provisions of this or any other Act, or the regulations or any forms, have not been carried out or adopted, or have in any manner been varied or departed from: (c) Every case of failure to deliver or send in accounts or to collect or account for any moneys or stores : (cl) All sums allowed or disallowed without vouchers or with imperfect vouchers or upon incorrect certificates : (e) Any proceeding that may have been taken by or against any person in pursuance of the provisions of this Act or the regulations : (f) All unsatisfied surcharges which have been made by the Controller and Auditor-General and all surcharges disallowed by the Minister on appeal: (g) In what accounts the Controller and Auditor-General has, with the consent of the Minister, dispensed with a detailed audit: (h) Such other information as may bo prescribed, or as the Controller and Auditor-General thinks desirable. (3) The Controller and Auditor-General shall annex or append to the said report copies of all cases laid by him before the Attorney-General for his opinion, together with a copy of the opinion given in every such case. (4) The Controller and Auditor-General shall lay the said statement, together with his report thereon, before Parliament within fourteen days after the signing of the report if Parliament is then in session, and if not, then within fourteen days after the commencement of the next ensuing session. In reference to subsection (3), no cases were laid before the Attorney-General, and as to subsection (4), the full Statement of the Revenue and Expenditure of the Public Account is contained in two parliamentary papers—namely, 8.-l [Pt. I], which shows, under main headings, the receipts and payments of the funds and accounts comprised in the Public Account, and also shows details of the expenditure under the annual appropriations, Civil List, and the Unauthorized Expenditure Account; and 8.-l [Pt. ll], which shows certain of the receipts and payments in greater detail than they are shown in 8.-l [Pt. I]. As the latter paper for 1944 -45 has already been laid before Parliament, it is necessary for me to present only Part II with this report. The requirements of subsection (2) (a-h) are satisfied as follows :— (a) DISCREPANCIES IN THE STATEMENT OP ACCOUNTS There are no discrepancies between the statement of accounts and the books of the Treasury.