‘Zero votes’: premier’s bold $50 million strategy
A major national economic gap in the state budget has been fixed, and its prime minister is the first to admit that the $50 million investment “didn’t get any votes”.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said: Research and Development Efficiency Fund The state budget announced Thursday will help solve a serious problem facing the entire nation.
“This country has a huge productivity problem… We are a high-wage country with a very, very low level of economic complexity,” he said.
“We’re great at growing things, we’re great at digging things up and bringing wealth to the country… but we have a problem beyond that.
“The way to improve economic complexity is to have a truly dominant capability for research and development.”
The fund was the government’s response to a report by the SA Productivity Commission, which was tasked with finding ways to increase productivity in the state’s private sector.
The government will consult widely with the business community on the design of the fund, with the aim of presenting the law to parliament before the end of 2026.
It will support targeted, high-impact research programs aligned with the strength of the State’s strategic priorities.
“The reason we’re legislating this is we’re going to protect it … so it stays there for the long term,” Mr. Malinauskas said.
“This thing will only be a benefit for the future of our state and its economy if it is allowed to work over the long term.”
The fund will be allocated over four years, eventually increasing to a $50 million indexed annual fund.
The Productivity Commission estimated that every $1 spent on enterprise over the next decade would create $3.70 in economic output.
The Prime Minister said Australia was in the top five for wages and ranked 105th in the world in terms of economic complexity, between Botswana and Ivory Coast.
Australia spent only 1.86 percent of its GDP on research and development; this is one of the lowest percentages in the OECD.
The Prime Minister said he wanted to show that the SA government was serious about building the economy in a sustainable, long-term way.
“Because if we don’t do this right, we’re all going to regret it,” Mr. Malinauskas said.
He acknowledged that there were “zero votes” in the announcement.
“And when I say tragically zero votes, I mean literally,” he said.
“Success is not guaranteed, but it is worth a try.”
Australia’s Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national news channel and has been providing accurate, reliable and fast-paced news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We inform Australia.
