Members of Victoria's Labor government either refuse to speak to 7.30 about their multi-billion-dollar venture capital fund or don't know enough about its investments to answer questions as state debt skyrockets.
Victoria is $126 billion in debt but is making investments using a venture capital fund.A lack of transparency and concerns about the quality of investments in Victoria’s $2 billion investment fund have led to calls for it to be scrapped, with the state already in debt to the tune of $126 billion.
The sole shareholder of Breakthrough Victoria is treasurer Tim Pallas. He declined 7.30's request for an interview but said in a statement he was "proud" of the fund and the work being done. "There's not a lot of transparency about why that investment was made, that's one of the biggest bets that appears to have gone bad," Mr Mayne told 7.30."The fact that they've battened down the hatches and they're refusing to talk sends a message that ... it's not a pretty story and where there's smoke, there's fire."High-profile Melbourne investor and co-founder of seek.com.
Mr Pallas told parliament at the time it was "an Australian first" that would "drive investment in research, innovation and commercial outcomes". "So it is surprising that they would return to that same concept, when there are so many other investing entities in Melbourne, and the state's also got a massive debt," he said.In the last three years Breakthrough Victoria says it has committed $300 million in 22 companies, one fund, one grant and six University Innovation Platforms.But despite the fund spending public money, it is exempt from Freedom of Information requests.
"What return on investment they are getting, what value for money is this for taxpayers? What benefit is it bringing to the Victorian economy?" Matt Rockman is the founder of careers website Seek and believes the Victorian government need to end their venture capital plan.Breakthrough Victoria appears to be dealing with an internal upheaval after three of its directors have called it quits and Mr Rockman questions whether the fund has the expertise needed to pick winners.
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