Thursday, 21 March 2024

Breakthrough Victoria

Bridget VALLENCE (Evelyn) (14:32): My question is to the Treasurer. In November 2020 the government promised the $2 billion Breakthrough Victoria would create 15,700 new jobs. Breakthrough Victoria invested $30 million in Seer Medical, which has cut nearly 100 jobs. Why has the government invested $30 million in a company that is cutting Victorian jobs?

Tim PALLAS (Werribee – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Economic Growth) (14:33): I thank the member for their question, and I want to also acknowledge the outstanding work that Breakthrough Victoria does in leading innovation in this state. No other jurisdiction in this nation has an equity investment firm, a firm that looks at those opportunities for the state of Victoria to harness and to secure high-paying jobs in this state in areas where we have a clear and demonstrable advantage. Breakthrough Victoria of course is now being copied by the federal government with the National Reconstruction Fund, but it has not yet got started. Breakthrough Victoria has made some 20 investments. It is an equity investor, so we said at the time when this was being established that people needed to appreciate that there was a higher appetite for risk and it would require patience in terms of the investment strategies that were being pursued, and ultimately –

Bridget Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, it was about cuts after the promise. You also promised 15,700 jobs, which are not forthcoming.

The SPEAKER: Order! That is not an appropriate way to raise a point of order, and you will direct your comments through the Chair.

Tim PALLAS: Of course Breakthrough Victoria is a $2 billion fund that has a brief over 10 years to receive to the state an investment mandate of around 8 per cent return on the investment the state is making, and I am confident that it is on track. But let me also assure this place that with a company like Seer, which has gone through a cash-burn problem, which ultimately happens a lot in cases of companies that are scaling up, the state of Victoria, as an equity shareholder in this company, is doing massive work to ensure that that company continues.

Members interjecting.

Tim PALLAS: It is clearly apparent that those opposite have never taken a risk in their life, other than to plot numbers against each other. The state of Victoria is a leader in innovation. That is why LaunchVic has now got Victoria to the point where startups are 600 per cent faster growing than they were under the previous Liberal government. That is why we have more startups in this state than the state of New South Wales at the moment.

Bridget Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, it was a very narrow question: why has the government invested in a company that is cutting jobs?

The SPEAKER: A point of order is not an opportunity to repeat the question. The Treasurer was being relevant to the question that was asked.

Tim PALLAS: I am trying to expand the narrowness of the opposition to a broader bandwidth of economic opportunity. That is why this state and Breakthrough Victoria have more than 20 ‍investments to help unlock the massive innovation potential that this state has. Let me give you an illustration: $12 million invested in Aravax, a groundbreaking peanut allergy therapy that will bring life-changing health technology to the world; $5 million to support FLAIM Systems, a virtual reality technology to make firefighting safer; $2 million to support Cyban’s cutting-edge medical technology to prevent traumatic brain injuries. That is what a dynamic government does.

Bridget Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, may I ask that the Treasurer tables that information.

The SPEAKER: Documents are tabled during formal business, not in question time.

Bridget VALLENCE (Evelyn) (14:37): Breakthrough Victoria has invested in at least one company that has sent jobs offshore. Will the Treasurer direct Breakthrough Victoria to disclose how much it has invested in each company?

Tim PALLAS (Werribee – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Economic Growth) (14:38): I thank the member for their question again and the opportunity to demonstrate that anytime she wants to pick up a media release, because I do not shy away from singing the triumphs and the great investment that Breakthrough Victoria do, I do incorporate that information in media releases about what the technology has the potential to provide and what investment the state is making. There are occasions when commercial-in-confidence arrangements require the equity share that the state is acquiring not to be produced. These rules apply and have applied to authorities that operate in a commercial arrangement, such as TCV and Victorian funds management, and such were the rules under those opposite when they were in government. Simply, we are not going to get in the way of innovation and investment that will grow the technological base of this state and high-paid jobs in areas of growth and opportunity.