{"id":36598,"date":"2023-10-20T14:45:04","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/halfway-through-the-election-campaign-are-startups-still-on-the-agenda-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:45:04","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:45:04","slug":"halfway-through-the-election-campaign-are-startups-still-on-the-agenda-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/halfway-through-the-election-campaign-are-startups-still-on-the-agenda-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Halfway through the election campaign, are startups still on the agenda? – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Both sides of politics recognise that innovation and technology entrepreneurship is a priority area for Australia’s future prosperity, and we’ve been told for some time that the policies announced by both sides last year were just the beginning.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re now mid-way through the federal election campaign and it\u2019s hard not to notice the absence of much policy in the startup space.<\/p>\n

Voters who agree with Bill Shorten and Malcolm Turnbull that innovation and technology need to become key drivers of Australia\u2019s economic future would so far be hard-pressed to decide which party has a better chance of realising that goal.<\/p>\n

Both major parties announced a series of measures last year which were greeted warmly by the sector.<\/p>\n

Through the second half of 2015 Labor announced three \u2018waves\u2019 of innovation policy, culminating a month before the Coalition launched its own platform – the National Innovation and Science Agenda – in December last year.<\/p>\n

Labor has focused on skills and education, and has promised a $500 million startup co-investment fund if it wins in July. It has also said it would improve the current NBN, though exact details aren\u2019t yet clear.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the intention here has been welcomed warmly by startups and, if fibre-level speeds are on the radar, the results will substantially boost Australia\u2019s emerging digital economy.<\/p>\n

Since Malcolm Turnbull became prime minister the Coalition has pivoted strongly towards innovation and startups. Turnbull\u2019s first major policy announcement, in December last year, delivered $1.1 billion for innovation and was widely applauded by the sector. The focus was on tax incentives for startup investors, commercialising research, and boosting Australia\u2019s talent pool. Last week a further $15 million was announced to support incubators and accelerators – a welcome move which will genuinely help startups.<\/p>\n

So, startups are on the agenda at this election.<\/p>\n

Much of the NISA has not yet come into effect, and should be stacked up against Labor\u2019s plans. But neither party has offered much by way of new, forward-looking announcements.<\/p>\n

Elections provide a rare opportunity for political leaders to outline their vision for the nation\u2019s future prosperity and yet, so far, innovation and entrepreneurship hasn\u2019t featured prominently.<\/p>\n

The practical reality is that political analysts have probably decided that nuanced policy announcements around startups and innovation don\u2019t necessarily win huge swathes of votes.<\/p>\n

But if we\u2019re serious about building a thriving tech startup sector in Australia, we’ll need both more practical policy commitments, and some ambitious, big-picture thinking. Together, that looks less like nuanced policy for a relatively small sector and more like a credible vision for economic transition – something that will grab the attention of voters everywhere.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s still plenty to be done, so policy options abound.<\/p>\n

At a micro level, more must be done to help our best startups keep growing in Australia.<\/p>\n

Red tape still prevents startups offering share options to more than 20 employees each year – not nearly enough for some of our fastest-growing companies. Some of our most promising companies are therefore considering moving offshore to sustain their growth. This could be easily fixed – StartupAUS has put together a detailed proposal, which has been vetted by legal experts.<\/p>\n

At a macro level, Australia needs to substantially boost its R&D spending if it wants to measure up to its international competitors. We punch below our weight on overall R&D spending – we are well outside the top 10 countries globally both in terms of absolute R&D expenditure, and as a percentage of GDP.<\/p>\n

Boosting the R&D Tax Incentive for early-stage startups would be a highly cost-effective way to increase R&D output, and would make this much-loved program even stronger.<\/p>\n

Both parties have done a great job in the last six to 12 months bringing startup and innovation policy to the top of the national agenda.<\/p>\n

With four weeks left in the election campaign, keep your eyes peeled for the kind of bold, forward-looking policy that will be needed to make good on the vision to turn innovation and entrepreneurship into a new growth engine for Australia\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,<\/em>LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0<\/em>SoundCloud<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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