?Right to know?: critics blast Coalition attempt to shield Future Fund from FOI laws

Legislation scheduled to be debated in federal parliament this week would shield Australia's Future Fund from freedom of information requests such as the one that revealed the sovereign wealth fund is investing in weapons manufacturers that sell arms to the Myanmar military.

The Australian government's Future Fund has more than $157m invested with 14 publicly traded companies that have done business with the sanctioned Myanmar military, which has been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Australia has investments with Aviation Industry Corporation of China, a Chinese state-owned weapons manufacturer that has sold combat aircraft to the Myanmar military, and Bharat Electronics, an Indian government-controlled company which has sold radar and sonar equipment to the regime.

The Coalition's Investment Funds Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 is slated to be debated in the Senate on Wednesday, the penultimate parliamentary sitting day of this year and possibly of this parliament.

The proposed law would exempt the Future Fund from releasing any details about its investments under FOI laws, including, as the department of finance confirmed to a Senate inquiry, information about which companies the fund has invested in and how much.

Greens senator Nick McKim has tabled amendments that would remove the Future Fund's FOI exemption and require the fund to publicly report its investments every six months.

The Future Fund, which controls nearly $250bn in funds and has 182 employees, has previously said the 10 to 20 freedom of information requests it receives each year are "administratively burdensome".