03-December-2008
Portfolio Media Releases, Infrastructure
After yesterday criticising the voluntary use of superannuation funds in infrastructure, the Minister for Finance, Mr Tanner, today said it was already happening.
“Just yesterday when Lindsay Tanner was asked on ‘AM’ about encouraging superannuation investment in infrastructure, Mr Tanner said ‘The Opposition has really gone off the beam over the past few weeks and this is another example of it’ , said the Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, the Hon. Andrew Robb AO MP.
“But today, Mr Tanner said ‘..the fact is that infrastructure is being invested in by superannuation funds’.
“Interestingly Mr Tanner failed to identify any recent projects or the great potential for such investment.
“As well, Mr Tanner pointedly avoided explaining why superannuation funds themselves are saying that they are being forced into infrastructure investments overseas because of the extra costs to such investments in Australia.
“This is just the latest in a series of public contradictions and disagreements between Mr Tanner and Mr Albanese.
“In October it was revealed that Mr Tanner’s original legislation to establish the various infrastructure funds was pulled by Mr Albanese, minutes before it was to be introduced into Parliament, because ‘it gave him insufficient ministerial discretion over how the money would be allocated.’
“Yesterday Mr Tanner criticised the use of superannuation funds in infrastructure which contradicted what Mr Albanese had said on Monday that ‘Using super as infrastructure investment capital makes sense…’
“And now we have the Finance Minister criticising taking steps to get further infrastructure investment by super funds because it is already happening.
“I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that Mr Albanese said on October 17 ‘we also want to mobilise superannuation investment’ after closed-door talks with super fund chiefs ‘about the prospects of freeing up money for investment in “nation building” projects’.
“On the upside, now that Mr Tanner has said he will be opposing the Opposition’s amendments to the Nation-building Bills, I guess I can expect Mr Albanese to support it?”
Media Contact: Stuart Eaton, 0433 298 620