Labor plans manufacturing industry assistance

The New Daily reports that the Labor Party is considering providing financial assistance to the manufacturing industry, according to its draft national platform released on Tuesday. The party is considering a number of measures including the creation of a Manufacturing Finance Corporation, which would be a publicly funded body providing funds to manufacturers unable to secure finance from banks.

In addition, the Labor Party may introduce a scheme similar to the UK’s Patent Box Scheme, which allows companies to pay less tax on income that comes from commercialising eligible patents. The idea of the scheme is to encourage innovators to stay in the country and not leave Australia to develop their ideas.

The draft report states that “without a strong manufacturing sector, Australia will not have the diverse economic base it needs to overcome our dependence on unpredictable and increasingly volatile commodity prices and to capitalise on future economic growth opportunities”.

Meanwhile, Shadow Minister for Innovation and Industry Kim Carr said in a statement that Australia needs to reinvest in the drivers of innovation and the jobs of the future.

“The Budget was a disaster for Australian workers and the economy, creating a science brain drain and sending high-tech jobs offshore,” he said.

“It abandoned programs like Commercialisation Australia, Enterprise Connect and the Innovation Investment Fund that were helping turn Australian ideas into quality jobs.

“CSIRO, the Australian Research Council, the Cooperative Research Centres program and the R&D Tax Incentive were all targeted with massive cuts, whilst NICTA has been left without funding from 1 July 2016.”