The Australian government yesterday introduced legislation into the parliament to provide additional authority for the guarantee on bank deposits and wholesale liabilities of banks.The bill is very short and simply authorises appropriations to make payments under the Deed of Guarantee (published by Treasury last Friday) and to also borrow for the purpose of making payments.The lack of explicit legislation was a political point of contention over the last week, while the absence of a specific law means ratings agencies are unwilling to attach the government's AAA credit rating to bank deposits.