Academy of Science proposes big business levy for R&D, Aussie dollar dips

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Australian Academy of Science is calling for a levy on big businesses to address Australia's declining research and development investments. The Aussie dollar and shares dipped, while US markets were mixed.

Transcript

00:00There are many wonderful things about Australia, but our woeful investment in the future isn't

00:07one of them. We spend very little on research and development. We've tried carrots like

00:13incentives to get companies to innovate, but after seeing a consistent decline, the Australian

00:19Academy of Science wants to get out a stick. It's proposing a rebatable levy on big business.

00:26If they spend a certain amount on R&D, they get it back. If not, it's taken to spend

00:30on innovation. Countries like South Korea spend more than 4% of the value of everything

00:37they earn on R&D and get the productivity benefits. Our figure isn't even half that.

00:44The key US index, the Dow Jones, was a little off today, but it's still near record highs.

00:50The broader S&P 500 and NASDAQ charted new record closes. Maybe it's investors' hopes

00:56for the future. Maybe it's the Trump tariffs. Maybe it's just the time of year.

01:01Over the past four decades, July has been a good one for the US market and ours. August,

01:07mixed. September, bad. Our market ending the day and the week, lower, as our currency came

01:15off the boil a little bit too. Iron ore slipped below US $100 again and gold was lower today.

01:23But gold has increased in value by more than 40% this year, so it might just be tired at

01:28the end of the week. And that's finance.

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