Roundup: "Ideas Boom" and innovation - cornerstone of Australia's economic future: PM

The Australian government revealed details of a multi-million dollar boost for innovation on Monday, with a focus on inspiring small businesses to take risks and embrace technological change.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull unveiled the 730 million U.S. dollar package - nicknamed the "Ideas Boom" - to the press on Monday, and said business-based research, development and innovation would drive economic growth in the future.

"The mining boom has been great for Australia, but as we've seen, it has receded. What is going to drive Australian prosperity in the years ahead?" Turnbull said.

"Recent free trade agreements with China, Japan and South Korea are opening up more doors in Asia for our business.

"(So) increasing collaboration between education, business and research is absolutely critical."

Turnbull said Australia was behind other leading nations in terms of innovation, but there was "no better time" to create the ideas boom.

"Australia is falling behind when it comes to commercializing good ideas and collaborating," he said.

Unlike the mining boom, the ideas boom is one that can continue forever, he said, adding it is "limited only by our imagination, and I know that Australians believe in themselves, I know that we are a creative and imaginative nation."

Turnbull said the government wants to "inspire a cultural change" both within business and society, including education, so that "jobs of the future" are unlocked.

The funding will be handed out over the course of four years, and will aim to "inspire every business, large or small."

Among the measures, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organization, the federal government agency for scientific research, will receive a 75 million U.S. dollar package.

Funding boosts for education - specifically the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) were also touted in the hope of kick-starting an "innovation culture" in the younger generations.

The government has also set aside nearly 35 million U.S. dollars to encourage girls and women into small business.

Nearly 80 million U.S. dollars in tax breaks for new business ventures were also announced by Turnbull and Innovation Minister Christopher Pyne, in an attempt to reward Australians for "taking risks," while a new relaxation on bankruptcy laws for small businesses which fail would act as a "fail-safe."

Stronger collaboration for education and business through government funding has also been approved, paving the way for a streamlined path from study to work, while overseas students completing further studies (such as a doctorate or a masters) in Australia are set to be offered an "entrepreneur visa" in an effort to entice further research and innovation to be conducted on Australian shores.

Earlier on Monday, Assistant Innovation Minister Wyatt Roy said that embracing change would "drive the future prosperity" of the country.

Turnbull added that if the measures were unsuccessful, the policies would be changed, something he said was reflective of an "agile government."

When Turnbull took over the prime ministership in September, he proclaimed a boost for innovation as one of future pillars of his leadership going into a federal election in 2016.

Turnbull's post-mining boom economic growth structure leans heavily on the innovation, business and research sectors, with the 730 million dollar boost over four years complementing the current 7 billion dollars spent annually. Enditem