Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I can. This government has said that there would be an equity cap of $29.5 billion, and that remains the case. This project was always going to be a mix of equity and debt, and we recently outlined what the debt funding arrangements will be.

I should point out that Senator Dastyari in Senate estimates the other day took a particular interest in the issues of debt and equity, and we explored those to some extent. I was wondering why Senator Dastyari had such an interest in Commonwealth debt issues. Then I thought, well, of course Senator Dastyari does: he had one of the most famous Commonwealth debts in Australian history. It was a relatively small debt, we know. And if the Commonwealth Department of Finance considered that they had equity in Senator Dastyari—I do not think so. But Senator Dastyari found a unique way to resolve that debt. What I wonder is whether the person who paid that debt thought they had equity. (Time expired)