Federal Member for Hume Angus Taylor says innovation is not about working longer, but smarter.

Welcoming the release of the Federal Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda, Mr Taylor said the most important policy government was putting in place was to reward and support people for having a go.

Audio transcript: “The standard of living we all enjoy, the incomes we’re able to achieve, the tax we’re able to pay and the services we can get from that all come from us being able to deliver more from less - not working harder, working smarter. And whether we’re in farming, whether we’re in retail, in a café, health or education, there’s lots of things we can all do with the help of technology and new practices to be able to do our jobs better, more productively and more competitively. That’s what this innovation statement is all about; it’s central for everything we do and we can all be better off by getting this right.”

Mr Taylor welcomed initiatives announced to foster new start-ups, to help businesses grow and prepare young Australians for future opportunities.

“We’re making it easier for local businesses and entrepreneurs to tap into business incubators to link to expertise, we’re allowing businesses to hire top staff by making existing employee share scheme rules user friendly, incentives like tax offsets and capital gains tax exemptions will drive greater venture capital investment to help new producers reach the global market.

“The other thing government has to do is that we have to get better at innovating ourselves and right at the centre of this statement (on innovation) is the importance of government leading the way and showing that it can innovate, it’s not just asking the private sector to do the innovation for us.”

For more information on the National Innovation and Science Agenda please visit http://www.innovation.gov.au/