Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Your characterisation is wrong.

Senator Waters interjecting—

If I may answer the question, no aspect of the agreement between the government and the opposition in relation to the omnibus savings bill has got any impact whatsoever on the overall capital allocation to CEFC and CEIF. You are mixing up off-budget-balance-sheet equity and debt financing instruments with actual cash grants which hit the underlying cash balance. You are mixing these up. If we were to do what the Greens are suggesting, instead of restoring $800 million to ARENA we would actually be making available to ARENA about $1.6 billion worth of resources for the purposes of providing grants as well as debt and equity financing. But that was never the intention of the arrangement reached between the government and the opposition. The intention, and in good faith what we have agreed to do, at the request of the Labor Party, is to restore $800 million worth of funding for the purpose of ARENA grants, which was previously supposed to be saved. But, obviously, when it comes to the capital allocation of the jointly administered capital fund between the CEFC and ARENA, within the CEFC, well, yes: the capital allocation for CEFC increases does take into account adjustment to the jointly administered CEIF.