In a joint statement issued in November, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher announced that the Future Fund, which is one-third the size of the Australian economy, will be directed to invest in housing, security, and the green energy transition “where possible, appropriate, and consistent with strong returns”.
This is the first time the federal government has mandated certain asset classes for the Future Fund, established in 2006 by then-Liberal Treasurer Peter Costello to support federal employee pensions.
The move aligned with Chalmers’s belief in “values-based capitalism” to direct public and private capital towards social problems. It also accords with its new chair, former Labor Minister Greg Combet, who wants to invest more in energy.
