Grant Chapman (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I seek leave to incorporate the balance of my remarks in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

Strategic policy partnering could broker solutions which offer superior provision for business and R&D, such as:

• New performance measures and outcome criteria linked to longer term economic and social policy objectives.
• Greater attention paid to how venture capital and private equity infrastructure can be incorporated into more holistically designed policy solutions which better support collaborative needs across the spectrum of networks, clusters and more formal partnership type arrangements.
• Anchoring multinational enterprises in strategic sectors in order to more effectively capture spill-over benefits through the vital skills, resources and networks they harvest and deliver.

Consideration should also be given to the establishment of a National Innovation Council reporting directly to the Prime Minister which has a more focused concentration on issues relating specifically to innovation than is possible for the wide-ranging Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council.

On this basis, the Howard Government can continue its strong reform commitment based on the solid foundations of Backing Australia’s Ability I and II, adding long-term strength to an already world-leading innovation system.

In contrast, Labor continues its rudderless short-term grab for political attention.