TRANSCRIPT - Sky News Sharri with Sharri Markson

PAUL FLETCHER MP

Shadow Minister for Science and the Arts

Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy

Manager of Opposition Business in the House

TRANSCRIPT

SKY NEWS Sharri with Sharri Markson

20 November 2024

Sharri Markson: Now this is a big story we've been pursuing on the show over and over again. These are the questions, the serious concerns over Labor spending $1 billion of taxpayer money to allegedly help its mates under the guise of the Future Made in Australia policy. There are new revelations in the media that the Albanese government engaged external probity advisers only after they received PsiQuantum's unsolicited proposal for taxpayer funded investment. The Opposition is claiming that PsiQuantum was given a head start, and that the deal was done under a cloak of secrecy. This is based on new freedom of information documents, and I'm joined now for more on this by the Shadow Science Minister, Paul Fletcher. Paul, thanks again for your time. Now, what is new that we now know, thanks to these new freedom of information documents?

Paul Fletcher: Well, Sharri, as you pointed out in your introduction, what we now know is that Ed Husic has been telling us in his defence of what happened, that there was independent probity advice, but we now have the timeline. The independent probity adviser was appointed in January of 2023. Now the significance of that is that it was in November 2023 when the Albanese Labor government agreed to consider an unsolicited proposal from the American company PsiQuantum for an investment in the company. We know that Ed Husic personally met the company at least twice before, including in January in California. And so it very much looks like the probity adviser was appointed after the preferred access had been provided to PsiQuantum and it raises an obvious question why did PsiQuantum get preferred access? One of the other things we know is that Blackbird, an Australian venture capital company, was an earlier investor in PsiQuantum and therefore of course stood to benefit should the Australian government make a subsequent investment in PsiQuantum. We know that there is a close personal friendship between Ellen Broad, who is a Senior Adviser to Ed Husic, and Kate Glazebrook, who is a senior executive at Blackbird. In fact, we know that Kate Glazebrook was one of two Blackbird executives appointed by Ed Husic to senior government government boards and advisory committees in late 2022. And so when Mr Husic is saying, oh well, there was probity advice we've now discovered and it is, I think, a significant discovery through this freedom of information process that actually the independent probity adviser didn't start providing advice until well after there had been this preferred access given to PsiQuantum to speak directly to Minister Husic. 

Sharri Markson: We've covered previously on the show the extent of the Labor connections involved at the various arms of this deal, this process, this investment, $1 billion of taxpayer funds into, you know, a company that should just rely on VC investment. It doesn't need taxpayer funding. Now, we know that the Auditor General is considering a formal inquiry, but you've now moved a motion in the House of Representatives to also have a parliamentary inquiry. What do you want to examine under the parliamentary inquiry? And you're not going to get it up, are you? Or do you think the Teals I mean, they've promised transparency. Are they going to support you on this?

Paul Fletcher: Well, Sharri, you're right. This week we moved a motion to establish a Select Committee of the House of Representatives to have a look at all aspects of the PsiQuantum deal and how it was that the Albanese Labor government, together with the now gone Miles Labor government in Queensland, agreed to commit almost $1 billion of taxpayers’ money to this American company. Now we'll be continuing to press for that to be brought to a vote and voted on. Now, Ed Husic has said that he welcomes scrutiny of the PsiQuantum deal because he says there's nothing to hide. Well, if he's serious about scrutiny, he will cause the Labor Party to agree to this Committee. And certainly we would welcome having crossbenchers on it. And indeed, the motion that we've moved proposes that there would be crossbenchers on this Committee as well as government and opposition MPs. 

Sharri Markson: But you haven't heard at this point whether the Teals will support your motion for an inquiry, if it goes to a vote or when it goes to a vote?

Paul Fletcher: Not as yet, but we will be seeking at some time to see if we can bring it on for a vote. And we'll certainly then in that instance be seeking the support of the Teals. And of course, we'll be seeking the support of the government consistent with Minister Husic's words that he welcomes transparency. Now, of course, what we've also been doing is using the Estimates process. We learnt some interesting things in that in recent weeks, including that the Australian government investment is in three components. One of those has already been paid. It's $125 million. And that presently is a convertible loan. But if certain conditions are met, that will turn into an equity investment. Now one of those conditions is that PsiQuantum has to raise additional money from private investors. Departmental officials told Estimates that as yet, that had not happened.

Sharri Markson: All right a long way to go in that story. It really is. Look it it's a big story you've got to say. And there are a lot of conflicts of interest involved. Paul Fletcher, appreciate your time.