The auditor-general has opened the door to a probe into a nearly $1 billion investment, a significant part of a signature government policy.
, as new documents raise questions about the deal’s probity and the company’s pitch.pledged $470 million in equity, loans and grantsPrime Minister Anthony Albanese, flanked by Queensland Premier Steven Miles and Science Minister Ed Husic announcing the deal in April.The opposition earlier this month wrote to the Australian National Audit Office asking for a review into what it has described as a “sham process” to fund PsiQuantum while pretending other firms were genuinely considered.
Fletcher argued the auditor’s stance was a “victory for taxpayers” even though the letter did not guarantee an inquiry, adding “a cloud now hangs over this investment”.PsiQuantum is aiming to build the world’s first so-called fault-tolerant quantum computer, which could solve previously impenetrable problems and have applications for pharmaceuticals, agriculture and many other industries.
Critics of the Future Made in Australia plan, a key plank of Labor’s re-election agenda, have used the quantum deal to argue that the investment program will be used by the government to pick winners rather than fund merit-based projects. This was eight months before the government tested other firms in the open market through a tightly guarded process the Coalition believes was designed to tick off the PsiQuantum bid.This masthead has learnt that the government’s thinking on the Californian tech firm goes back months earlier to August 2022.
“Why else would his department have asked the chief scientist for a technical assessment?” Fletcher said.
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