When Treasurer Jim Chalmers stopped by Capital Brief’s suite in the Parliament House press gallery during the budget lockup on Tuesday afternoon, he was keen to frame the document as strongly supportive of startups and venture capital.
A few hours later, in his press conference with the rest of the gallery, he made a similar point. “This budget is about encouraging innovation and startups, venture capital, these dynamic parts of our economy,” he said.
Later that night, in his formal budget speech, startups and VC received another mention.
Chalmers’ fifth budget, and his most consequential to date, was really designed around reforms to the taxation of investment properties, at a time of heightened community angst over sky-high house prices. But startups, VC and innovation — a key pillar of Capital Brief’s coverage since its inception — played a strikingly prominent role on the night itself, and even more so in the aftermath.
