Nicolette Boele (Bradfield, Independent) | Hansard source

Last week, it was reported that, since 2020, Canadian pension funds have invested more in Australian renewable energy projects than Australia's largest 30 super funds—over $400 million more. Isn't that strange? Shouldn't we want our own super funds to be investing in the clean energy assets that are delivering strong risk-adjusted returns for super savers, energy productivity and resilience for all Australians?

That's a simple question in a very strange situation. Australian super funds are required to judge their performance against a narrow benchmark. That prevents them from investing in assets like renewables and affordable housing. Instead of asking whether an investment is good for the future, the test looks at how it performs against assets and companies from the past decade. That means returns from investing in solar farms, large-scale batteries and other emerging assets like affordable housing don't get assessed properly. Even though they are great for super fund members and for the economy, the rules stop super funds from unlocking the private capital that could do the heavy lifting on affordable housing and on clean energy. Thankfully, the government is consulting on changes to this narrow performance test, and I was pleased to make a submission to the inquiry last week. I endorsed a proposal from Climateworks, which puts forward a simple and smart reform design. I urge the government to implement these changes.

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