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

My very clear advice is that that project cannot proceed without a $100 million grant. A $100 million grant is something that can be accessed through ARENA, not through the Clean Energy Innovation Fund. So the suggestion that somehow this relates to that is wrong. Again, I go back to the first point: whether it is a grant or whether they are seeking debt and equity financing, it is not the government that makes a political decision to allocate that. There is an independent process at arm's length to the government to make merit-based judgements. That is the way it should be. If you are saying we should just spend money based on the government's political interests, I think that would be wrong in relation to this.