Chalmers ‘not contemplating’ Future Fund liquidation

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has ruled out liquidating the $250 billion in assets held by the Future Fund to pay down government debt and said he is planning for what the sovereign wealth fund looks like over the next two decades.

The right-wing Centre for Independent Studies released a paper in August by Dimitri Burshtein stating it did not make sense to maintain the collection of funds when the federal government has some $900 billion in gross national debt. Former Labor minister Craig Emerson then suggested liquidating part of the Future Fund for renewable energy subsidies and public housing.