Australia should not have invested almost $1 billion in a frontier quantum computing project, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said on Wednesday while promising to roll back the Albanese government’s signature industry policy.
While criticising government spending “frolics”, Mr Taylor attacked the $22.7 billion Future Made in Australia (FMiA) program and its flagship innovation investment announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a year ago.
“The first project that they committed to under that program was a quantum computing project based out of America. I mean, this is not where we should be spending our money right now,” Mr Taylor told ABC radio.
The federal and state government backed PsiQuantum project is attempting to build the world’s first fault tolerant quantum computer in Brisbane.
The company is co-founded by Australians but US headquartered and venture capital backed.
The Australian governments’ investments of around $470 million each are at an unprecedented scale and include loans and a potential equity stake if PsiQuantum reaches planned technology milestones.
The deal was years in the making and announced last April in the Budget under the government’s FMiA agenda.
The $22.7 billion agenda has been designed to take advantage of net zero and shifting geopolitics, and also includes industry incentives for industries like green hydrogen, critical minerals, metals, batteries and solar technologies.
Legislation that passed the Parliament requires the government’s FMiA support to only be provided when it is in the national interest and when recipients can demonstrate their projects deliver community benefits.
Sector specific FMiA legislation has also set other limits to encourage investment amid global competition.
The coalition opposition argued against the agenda as corporate welfare amid a cost of living crisis. It voted against the legislation and has vowed to wind back the program if it wins the upcoming election.
Mr Taylor on Wednesday suggested FMiA savings could help pay for more Defence spending and arrest public investment growth in a fight against inflation.
“We’ll roll back the FMiA legislation, which is a very significant commitment from Labor that we think is inappropriate at the time,” he said.
The Coalition has also pledged to axe the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, a $10 billion housing fund and the $20 billion Rewiring the Nation program among $100 billion in announced cuts.
In the lead up to the election the Coalition has also promised a $331 billion nuclear energy program and swiftly matched around $23 billion in government spending announcements on Medicare bulk billing, infrastructure and a bailout for the Whyalla steelworks.
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