Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Chifley; we have had a good, constructive, collaborative engagement on getting something done that we need done for our economy—that is, getting in place a crowd-sourced equity funding framework. Why are we doing that? Because that is part of getting the conditions right to drive economic growth. It is also about supporting innovation and the challenge that many small and growth businesses face in getting funding to support their growth.

Debt finance might be attractive, but you have got to pay it back. At a time when you are putting your resources into the growth and development of your business, that is not always the best formula. Equity can be that answer. You might find a venture partner; you might find an angel investor. But that might not be for you. You might want to go out to the masses and say, 'Here is an idea; you might want to get behind it'—a few thousand dollars crowd-funded, using the technology platforms of today, pitching that business idea, right-sizing the regulatory environment, but also letting investors know that here is a chance to be a part of either a start-up or a growth phase of that business.

We made the commitment in our Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda to get this framework in place. In the budget, as the member for Chifley rightly identifies, there is $7.8 million to support ASIC's work in that regard.

What does that work look like?

These platforms require an intermediary, and that intermediary or the host of the technology platform—for example, in the equity dating service matching the proponents and those that may invest—needs to license and make sure they are fit for purpose. There is also a need to make sure that we understand what sort of disclosure is reasonable for investors, who might not be experienced investors or wholesale investors. This might be their first investment because they have been taken by the idea of a new online publication called 'The New Parliamentarian'. They are really interested in that and they want to put some money into it because they love public policy and public life. It is their first time and we need to make sure they get the right information. So what we have done is put out a discussion paper, which has been well responded to. That was released in December, if my memory serves me correctly. We then had a number of roundtables with industry stakeholders in Melbourne and Sydney.

We have heard about the experience in New Zealand—its benefits and its shortcomings. One shortcoming I would mention is there is no relief for public companies in terms of their reporting and governance arrangements, and that is thought to be a barrier. Also, the New Zealand model does not reach into closely held proprietary limited companies, yet from our consultations we have heard we have to make sure it has that utility. So that work continues.

I respect and value the insights and the shared commitment I have with the member for Chifley and I look forward to working with him to get this done and open this option for fundraising and access to finance for the start-up community and those in a growth phase. We are aiming to get legislation in during the spring session. I will be honest with you: that is going to require a lot of work, particularly on the closely held proprietary companies because that is not where others have gone, yet the feedback says we need to turn our minds to that as well.

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

Infrastructure and Regional Development Portfolio

Proposed expenditure, $1,529,107,000

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