$280 billion.
$14 trillion deployed.
Repaid by 2040.
Australia operates a Sovereign Wealth Fund of $280 billion, formed by consolidating the existing Future Fund and other Commonwealth liquid assets. The Fund acts as a transparent overdraft alongside the budget, financing major asset purchases and infrastructure builds that would otherwise be impossible within a single fiscal cycle.
Between 2025 and 2040, the Fund deploys approximately $14 trillion in total spending. It is repaid by 2040 from three sources: $28 trillion in cumulative tax revenue over the period, $6 trillion from the sale of completed defence-land housing, and $2 trillion in long-dated bonds issued to superannuation funds.
The Fund's major commitments
| Purpose | Allocation ($B) |
|---|---|
| National defence rearmament (capital component) | 1,100 |
| Housing — 4 million homes on former defence land | 4,000 |
| Aged care — 1.4 million homes (residents + staff) | 1,200 |
| Net zero — Basin Sequestration Strategy | 208 ($250 with contingency) |
| CANDU reactors and minerals smelters | 2,000 |
| Heavy rail backbone | 3,000 |
| Onshore manufacturing plants | 1,000 |
| Healthcoverall surge funding | 150 |
| Settlement of national debt and unfunded liabilities | 1,400 |
| Total outflows over period | 14,521 |
| Total inflows over period | 16,065 |
First action: clearing the legacy
The Fund's first action, in its first year of operation, is to extinguish the legacy obligations of the Commonwealth that have weighed on every budget for a generation: $1 trillion in national debt, $102 billion in outstanding student loans, $58 billion in pensioner-transition compensation, $150 billion in healthcare surge funding, and approximately $17 billion in unresolved tax disputes, civil litigation, defence torts, and AAT matters.
Repayment is over 20 years. Inflows exceed outflows by approximately $1.5 trillion, which sits as a contingency buffer.