3AW Tom Elliot

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
Interview - 3AW with Tom Elliot
Monday 7 December 2015

SUBJECT: National Innovation and Science Agenda.

Tom Elliott: Phil sorry to cut you off, joining us on the line now, the Minister for Innovation, the man with the big cheque book to splash about, Christopher Pyne, good evening.

Christopher Pyne: Tom how are you?

Tom Elliott: Good. Where did you find this $1.1 billion extra dollars to splash out over the next four years? I thought money was very tight up in Canberra.

Christopher Pyne: Well money’s always tight in Canberra, but next week in the mid-year economic forecast, it will be clear how the money’s been found across government, but today is a $1.1 billion spending announcement which is good news for the economy, very good news for innovation and science being at the centre of the economic agenda and there are no savings measures announced today in the industry, innovation and science portfolio. But you’ll see next week how it’s paid for.

Tom Elliott: Right well that’s good to hear. Now I’ve already spoken to the CSIRO earlier on this hour. They’re very pleased that you’re giving them a couple of hundred million extra dollars…

Christopher Pyne: Sure.

Tom Elliott: … Does it come with any strings attached? Or could they do with it what they want?

Christopher Pyne: No we trust the CSIRO to get the job done well. They are a very respected brand. Larry Marshall, the head of the CSIRO and David Doherty the chairman know what they’re doing and we believe that they will do a good job at commercialising public research, whether it’s their own or it’s another national institution. Of course they will build around that the support form fund managers and others to make the right decisions. And I can’t guarantee they’ll always get every decision right but as the Prime Minister said today, we are trying to enable risk. We want to be a risk averse economy so that we can emulate California and Israel and South Korea and Japan and Singapore et cetera, and Germany- the people who are leading the way in this area.

Tom Elliott: So just to correct you, you don’t want us to be risk averse; you actually want us to embrace risk don’t you?

Christopher Pyne: Yes we want to enable and embrace risk which is why we are changing the Tax Act and the Corporate Act around small businesses and start-ups to give them a chance to get underway and keep their businesses going even if they run into choppy weather.

Tom Elliott: Now just on that, I see one of the more arguably more controversial changes you’re making is to reduce the bankruptcy period from three years to one. So is that- is the idea that people if they go bankrupt they can pick themselves up, dust themselves off and get going again?

Christopher Pyne: That’s exactly right but we will still allow a trustee or a court to alter that to the longer period, but the default position will be one year rather than three. We want to enable risk; we want to see failure in business as not the end of the world but as a learning experience. Not with taxpayers’ dollars of course but with people’s own private investment and we want them to get back in the race. That’s why we’re trying to change some of the laws around safe harbours for directors. And contract clauses which allow businesses to close down on other business the instant they run into trouble. We want to trade out of difficulties rather than shut down businesses that could actually be quite successful over the medium term.

Tom Elliott: Now what about these changes to the immigration laws, like at the moment if people are bringing in a certain amount of money, they can get a business visa. I understand you’ve got an idea where if someone’s got a good or innovative idea, you might also give them a visa to Australia?

Christopher Pyne: As long as they have third party support. So if we identify an entrepreneur or an entrepreneur approaches us, and says that they have third party investment in their idea, we’ll give them a go in Australia because we believe that will create jobs, and create growth. If it doesn’t work out, well their visa will come to an end. If it does work out we’ll help them to get permanent residency because we want that kind of have a go attitude in Australia.

Tom Elliott: Finally the tax system makes it very difficult for start-up companies to give out shares in a company to employees in lieu of pay. Will you have a look at changing that?

Christopher Pyne: We are and one of the changes is that the employees share ownership scheme, we made a lot more flexible for small businesses, so that rather than having to lodge with ASIC their employee share ownership scheme, and all its financial details and then their competitors being able to see those, we’ll require them to still lodge them with ASIC so we know they’re doing the right thing but they’ll remain private so their competitors don’t know what their financial position is and then try and capitalize on it. So we’re trying to encourage employee share ownership schemes because we know that if an employee has a stake in the business, and the business does well, of course it’s good for them financially as well as for the owner of the business.

Tom Elliott: Very good to hear, we’ll leave it there. I know you’re a busy man. Christopher Pyne, Minister for Innovation, thank you for your time.

Christopher Pyne: Pleasure Tom.

[Ends]