If we want productivity, we need stronger public markets
Australia is producing world-class growth companies, but weak public markets mean too much of their long-term value is ending up offshore.
The sale of Eucalyptus is being celebrated as an Australian success story. It should also be read as a warning about the weakness of our public markets.
It is a success story because it is a homegrown company that scaled quickly, created value and proved that ambitious businesses can be built here. But when one of our best growth companies ultimately ends up in the hands of an NYSE-listed company rather than on the ASX, we are not just losing a listing, but also the long-term upside of Australian innovation.
This is hardly an isolated case. Over the past decade, billions of dollars in market value have migrated offshore. The number of ASX IPOs has fallen from 96 in 2016 to just 35 in 2025.
The deeper problem is that Australia’s equity market spreads liquidity across too many thinly traded companies, making capital expensive and public markets unattractive for growing firms.
