“That money is now in the NRFC account, there to capitalise those first groundbreaking investments,” Husic will say.

Loading

“This will be a watershed moment, lifting the trajectory of our tech and manufacturing capabilities.

“We will have more to say in coming days about these initial investments.”

The NRFC, which will co-invest with banks, private equity and super funds, has faced criticism from the Liberal opposition for being overly bureaucratic and slow to move. Its first investments are coming more than a year after it was established.

The investment mandate requires the NRFC to target a rate of return of between 2 per cent and 3 per cent above the five-year Australian government bond rate over the medium to long term.

“The NRF Corporation has been methodical and rigorous in the way it has gone about assessing the hundreds of proposals it received,” Husic will say.

“[It] worked with private partners on matters of significant complexity, all done within the strict confines of the investment mandate we provided.”

Last month, the inaugural head of the NRFC Ivan Power, stepped down less than a year into the role due to ill health. It is being run in the interim by Rebecca Manen and seeking a permanent replacement.

Manen recently faced questions at Senate estimates about the NRFC holding ‘sham’ meetings to help it comply with legislated requirements to meet six times in a calendar year. Manen denied those claims.

The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. Get it each weekday afternoon.