Motley Fool Money · Saturday, September 5, 2026
The discussion delved into the origins of the Future Fund, with Mark explaining it was established to cover liabilities from defined benefit public service superannuation schemes. He noted that Peter Costello transferred the third tranche of Telstra shares into the fund, a move that was politically expedient but also served the practical purpose of managing future government budget pressures.
“You may have noticed the Future Fund was built to fund originally public service superannuation.”
“Peter Costello famously tipped the third tranche of Telstra into it when he realized that no one would buy the shares at their prevailing value.”
“And what it would effectively done is would have blown out, I'd say, maybe too too hyperbolic, but it would have put really significant pressure on the federal government budget. If more than now, believe it or not, had we now have had to pay those public service pensions out of ongoing tax revenues, tax receipts.”