The Government is delivering a substantial infrastructure package in the 2014-15 Budget to support economic growth and improve the long term productive capacity of the economy.

The Infrastructure Growth Package includes an Asset Recycling Initiative that will provide financial incentives to State and Territory governments to sell existing assets and reinvest the sale proceeds into additional productive economic infrastructure and provide additional new investment to expedite nationally significant infrastructure.
The Asset Recycling Fund (ARF) will be set up to facilitate the Government’s investment under the Infrastructure Growth Package.

The Bill establishes the Asset Recycling Fund on 1 July 2014, which consists of:
• the Asset Recycling Fund Special Account; and
• the investments of the Asset Recycling Fund.

The ARF is a dedicated investment vehicle with a focus on providing funding, financial assistance and incentives to the States and Territories to create new infrastructure to boost economic growth.

 

Credits
The initial size of the Asset Recycling Fund at commencement is $5.9 billion, comprising amounts of:
• $2.4 billion from the Building Australia Fund (BAF); and
• $3.5 billion from the Education Investment Fund (EIF).
Further credits may be made to the Asset Recycling Fund in the future.

Debits
The Finance Minister can direct in writing that specified amounts be debited from the
Asset Recycling Fund and credited to:
• the COAG Reform Fund for making grants of financial assistance to the States and Territories for expenditure on infrastructure under the National Partnership Agreement on Asset Recycling and the National Partnership Agreement on Land Transport Infrastructure Projects;
• the COAG Reform Fund for making other infrastructure national partnership grants; and
• the Asset Recycling Fund Infrastructure Special Account for making infrastructure payments.

From THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA - ASSET RECYCLING FUND BILL 2014 - June 2014