Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Industry and Innovation and Science. Minister, Omne Media is an innovative small business in my electorate of Ryan, which has beaten international competitors to develop a remarkable new piece of technology. Will you please advise the House what the government is doing to support this kind of small business to help them to develop and package their inventions into marketable products they can take to the rest of the world.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Ryan for her question. I am very pleased to be able to tell her that the government is putting a great deal of effort in public policy into supporting businesses like Omni Media. As the member for Ryan would know, Omni Media is a digital advertising company, based in Taringa in her electorate. They have developed a unique smart advertising mirror that allows advertisers to remotely update their advertisements—and I think they are doing very well. I am pleased the member for Ryan is highlighting their good work and their potential into the future.

They are exactly the kind of start-up business that the Australian government is supporting through our National Innovation and Science Agenda in a number of different ways. One of those ways I talked about earlier this week—I think it was Tuesday—was in terms of our changes to the tax system. Omni Media will be able to attract angel investors to their business, and those angel investors will get at least two kinds of tax incentive for doing so: a 20 per cent tax offset up to $200,000 a year, which will encourage them to invest because their income tax will be reduced as a consequence; but also a 10-year capital gains tax exemption for assets that are held for at least three years. That will encourage the movement of capital, because it is a 10-year exemption after three years, and it will encourage Australians or anybody to invest in these kinds of start-ups. It gives us a competitive advantage over many of the other countries like the United Kingdom, the United States and Israel, which we are trying to emulate with our National Innovation and Science Agenda.

We are also doing a number of other things. When I was in Tel Aviv at the end of last year, we launched the first of the landing pads—a $36 million investment from the government in five landing pads around the world. The first I launched in Tel Aviv. The second will be launched as part of the US-Australia Business Week by Minister Robb very soon at Silicon Valley. And then there will be three others chosen in the near future to encourage groups like Omni Media and others to take their inventions overseas and when they get there to have the contacts that they need to connect to the right people in those particular countries.

The member would be familiar with things like the Entrepreneurs' Program—a $100 million program, which many members would be familiar with—that is responsible for the accelerated commercialisation grants. We have already allocated $54 million for 102 grants in order to support smaller businesses to accelerate the commercialisation of their inventions. This is the government in action, creating jobs and growth in the economy in the innovation sector, which is the sector of the future. And I am very pleased that the member for Ryan is entirely across that issue.