INNOVATION – GOVERNMENT POLICY – AUSTRALIA

Labor flags R&D reprieve on clawbacks

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Original article by Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 & 20 : 16-Apr-19

Shadow innovation minister Kim Carr says Labor will look at how to lift expenditure on research and development to three per cent of GDP by 2030 if it wins the federal election. He notes that R&D expenditure is currently at 1.8 per cent of GDP, compared with 2.1 per cent in 2013. Carr says Labor will seek to have start-ups exempted from the R&D tax incentive clawbacks that impacted the technology sector in late 2018, while he claims that over 1,000 scientists have lost their jobs under the current government.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, DULUXGROUP LIMITED – ASX DLX, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Stunning lost opportunity on innovation

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 4-Apr-19

Former Innovation Science Australia chairman Bill Ferris has criticised the April 2019 Budget’s lack of policy announcements regarding innovation. He describes it as a missed opportunity to address declining investment in innovation by both government and business. Ferris argues that innovation is a key driver of productivity. The federal government will also reduce funding for the R&D tax incentive program by a further $1.35bn over four years. Krish Patel of Element 8 Group warns that government policy is forcing business start-ups to outsource R&D work offshore.

CORPORATES
INNOVATION SCIENCE AUSTRALIA, ELEMENT 8 GROUP, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, CSIRO, GEOSCIENCE AUSTRALIA

PM’s ‘agile’ agenda fails auditor test

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Original article by Primrose Riordan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Sep-17

The Australian National Audit Office has released a report which questions the economic benefits of the Federal Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda. Amongst other things, the ANAO has raised concerns about the limited time-frame in which the innovation agenda was developed and the criteria used to measure the performance of the scheme. The NISA was launched in late 2015, and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull stated in December 2016 that it had resulted in increased jobs and investment.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, CSIRO, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Extra tax perks to boost R&D

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Original article by Michael Bailey, Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 29-Sep-16

The Federal Government wants to encourage large companies to be more technologically innovative. The existing research and development scheme was reviewed by Innovation Australia chairman Bill Ferris, chief scientist Alan Finkel and Treasury Secretary John Fraser, who recommended doubling the value of tax breaks for large companies to a maximum of $A17 million a year. They also proposed an annual cap of $A2 million on cash claims by smaller companies.

CORPORATES
INNOVATION AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SCIENTIST, DULUXGROUP LIMITED – ASX DLX, CSIRO

Innovation agenda must embrace mining: Costello

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 13-Sep-16

Former treasurer Peter Costello has used a Minerals Council of Australia function to stress that the mining industry has a role in the Federal Government’s "innovation agenda". He argued that the so-called "new economy" needs traditional industries such as mining and agriculture. Costello also criticised a push by Western Australian National Party leader Brendon Grylls to increase the iron ore levy paid by BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto from $A0.25 per tonne to $A5.

CORPORATES
MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY

Australia fails to export its ideas and innovations

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Original article by Yolanda Redrup
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 16-Aug-16

Australia has fallen two places on the Global Innovation Index since 2015. Nigel Andrade, global lead partner at AT Kearney, says Australia’s 19th place in 2016 could be improved via greater emphasis on exporting innovation. Australia is among global leaders in tertiary education participation, infrastructure and IT, but it lags behind in spending on secondary education and the number of graduates in science and engineering.

CORPORATES
AT KEARNEY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Innovation for all: Hunt

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Original article by Paul Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 15-Aug-16

Australia’s Industry, Innovation and Science Minister, Greg Hunt, will emphasis that innovation is relevant to businesses of all sizes and sectors, rather than just technology start-ups. Hunt adds that his aim is to increase the proportion of businesses that are involved in innovation from the current level of around 45 per cent. Meanwhile, He has stressed that the $A49m worth of financial assistance that the Federal Government will provide to steel-maker Arrium is a loan rather than a grant.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ARRIUM LIMITED – ASX ARI, DULUXGROUP LIMITED – ASX DLX, YATES GARDEN CARE (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, B&D AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, McKINSEY AND COMPANY

Innovation tax breaks could be rorted

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 21-Dec-15

The Treasury has downplayed concerns that the Australian Government’s proposed tax incentives for investing in business start-ups could be subject to abuse. Grattan Institute CEO John Daley recently warned that promoters of tax schemes will seek to capitalise on the measures in the Government’s innovation statement, but a Treasury spokesman says Australia boasts strong anti-avoidance laws.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, MELBOURNE ECONOMIC FORUM, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY

Tireless hero for innovation

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Original article by Jennifer Hewett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 35 & 36 : 18-Dec-15

Business Council of Australia president Catherine Livingstone has been named the Business Person of the Year for 2015 by "The Australian Financial Review". Livingstone has been a keen advocate for a greater focus on innovation, and she has welcomed the Federal Government’s innovation statement under new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. She also believes that tax reform should be a priority for the Government.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, COCHLEAR LIMITED – ASX COH, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL COMMISSION OF AUDIT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, CSIRO

PM pushes risk taking, start-ups

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 8-Dec-15

Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull has unveiled the National Innovation and Science Agenda. He said at the CSIRO Discovery Centre on 7 December 2015 that Australia needs new ways of stimulating the economy, considering that the country could no longer count on the mining boom as the driver of the economy. The Government has proposed 24 measures, including income tax rebates and incentives for business start-ups.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, CSIRO, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD