Malcolm Turnbull says the renewable energy agency that Tony Abbott wanted to scrap has been “very well run”, as he announces a $1 billion fund to spur investment in the sector.
The funding will be spread over a decade and will draw on part of the borrowings meant to support the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, a $10 billion scheme that Mr Abbott vowed to scrap but which will be retained.
The new statement will make it clear that a bill to dismantle the CEFC, which has been rejected twice and is a trigger for a double-dissolution election, will be abandoned so that the finance corporation will remain.
“I’ve been involved in the venture capital business myself so I’m fully aware of the risks of it and quite often in a venture capital portfolio you would be very lucky if all of your investments proved to be successful, so the aim is to make money across the portfolio,” Mr Turnbull said.
Mr Turnbull said the announcement reflected a big change in the way the government now approached investment.
“Historically – and you see across the board the federal government has been very much like an ATM, it’s been making grants and the object has been to make the grant without, frankly, a lot of follow-up as to whether it’s effective,” he said.
“We believe that in areas like this, and also as you’ve seen me say, in areas like urban infrastructure, the government should seek to be a partner and investor, seek to get a return.
“It doesn’t have to get the same high return that a private venture capital firm or a private bank would seek to get.
“It can get a very long-term return but in doing that, by ensuring that you take a more economic approach, you will ensure that you have a much more rigorous analysis and that you will get a better quality of investment and a better quality of project.
