Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Wong. I refer the minister to the government's decision this week to slash interest rates for large companies that borrow from the government's $5 billion Net Zero Fund. The Net Zero Fund is funded by the National Reconstruction Fund, which has an investment mandate to charge borrowers a rate two to three per cent above the five-year government bond rate. However, this week the government has announced that investments from the Net Zero Fund will only have to achieve an interest rate of one per cent below the five-year government bond rate. That is, in effect, a three to four percentage point cut in interest rates for investors in large-scale wind and solar projects. The Australian Financial Review reported on this decision:

… Labor is in effect willing to lose money on renewables projects.

In the very week that Australian families are having to pay more on their home loans thanks to Labor's reckless spending, why is the Labor government giving an interest rate cut to billion-dollar companies that invest in solar and wind projects?