The Minister for Industry and Investment, Ed Husic, has pushed back on claims the Greens party have won a victory over the government after negotiations on the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) saw amendments to stop the Fund from investing in future coal and gas projects, and native forests logging.
The NRF is a corporate Commonwealth entity that is designed to help the federal government rebuild Australia’s industrial capabilities via the corporate investment of $15 billion (US$9.91 billion) in manufacturing projects in suburban and regional areas.
The Greens’ amendments to the Bill create “a class of ‘prohibited investments’ within the legislation that explicitly bans the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation from financing the extraction of coal and gas, the construction of gas pipelines, and the logging of native forests.”…