Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I just want to check that I'm absolutely clear. You say 'the mechanism', Senator Ruston. The mechanism is that the legislation provides for a minimum $500 million disbursement. The nature of these kinds of funds, of which there are many in Australia and around the world, is that they have investment objectives and are designed to exist for a very long period of time. The investment objectives are set with regard to what is an expected and reasonable rate of return. The government will monitor the operations of this fund closely, as I'm sure the government of the Howard and Costello period monitored the operations of the Future Fund. That fund also had requirements it had to meet in relation to the superannuation obligations that the fund was designed to provide for. Subsequent governments—the Rudd and Gillard governments and the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments—have all had a responsibility to monitor the performance of those funds over time.