Delayed R&D = Delayed Jobs

The proposed changes to the R&D Tax Incentive risk slowing innovation at exactly the time Australia needs more of it.

For many businesses, innovation is not just about the core experiment. It's the testing, validation, integration and commercialisation work that turns an idea into a product customers can actually use.

If support for these essential activities is removed, businesses will face higher costs and greater risk. The likely outcome isn't that innovation stops. It's that projects are delayed, scaled back or abandoned.

And when innovation is delayed, so is growth.

Delayed R&D means delayed product development. Delayed product development means delayed commercialisation, delayed revenue growth and delayed hiring.

The question is not whether businesses will continue to innovate. The question is whether they will innovate sooner and employ more Australians, or whether they will delay investment, delay hiring and delay growth. The proposed changes make the latter outcome far more likely.

The R&D Tax Incentive has been one of Australia's most effective policies for encouraging private sector investment, productivity growth and job creation.

If you're concerned about these proposed changes, I encourage you to contact your local Federal MP and explain what innovation means for your business, your employees and your local community.

Australia should be encouraging businesses to invest in innovation, not making it harder to do so.