SYDNEY – Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
said on Tuesday his government will this week introduce legislation to
stimulate greater investment in startups – as Australia looks to transition its
economy away from a slowing mining sector.

Australia has proposed amended tax laws that would allow
retail investors a 20 percent income tax rebate, capped at $200,000 per year on
any startup investments, while a 10 percent tax rebate for venture capital
investors in established start-ups wishing to expand will also be permitted.

Turnbull said the legislation will be introduced as
early as Wednesday.

The new tax laws are a key element of Australia’s plan
to encourage greater risk-taking to ease the pain of a economic transition amid
an end to the investment phase of a lucrative mining boom that sustained its economy
for more than a decade.

“We have been from an economy that was fired up by
the mining construction boom… but inevitably it was going to tail off so what
comes next? What comes next is innovation,” Turnbull told reporters in
Canberra.

Australia consistently ranks last or second-last among
OECD countries for business-research collaboration, data from the Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shows. Its appetite for risk is
also lower than comparable countries, which means Australian startups and
early-stage businesses often fail to attract capital to grow.

– Reuters