A Catch Up with Jason Falinski

WITH THE YEAR THAT HAS BEEN AND THE VACCINE ROLL OUT IN FULL SWING, THE BEACHES COVERED. TEAM CAUGHT UP WITH JASON FALINSKI, MP - MEMBER FOR MACKELLAR FOR A CANDID CHAT ON ALL THINGS POLICY AND COVID ACROSS THE BEACHES.

G’day Jason, can you give us a wrap on the state-of-play post COVID across the Beaches? We are incredibly well placed. Australia has done better than other nations in both health and economic, and succeeded where others have failed. The big question moving forward is how we seize the opportunities that COVID have presented us with, to set the country up right now and into the future.

What are the three priorities for the Mackellar Electorate and team Jason Falinski? I focus on the things that I can control and being in Canberra, arguing for the things that matter to my constituents. They are the primary concerns for people who are working for a living, who are wanting to give their children better opportunities. They also want to get home from work faster so they can enjoy the best part of the best country in the world. What’s your personal opinion on the change of the micro economy within the Beaches? Australians spend $68 billion overseas every year, whereas the inbound tourism spend is $43 billion. That’s a $25 billion difference and the Beaches area can defi nitely seize this opportunity for people coming to the area, within Australia, who might otherwise be spending overseas.

COVID has shown us that there are things that we have been doing for a long period of time that we actually don’t need to. For example, the number of people that fl y to Melbourne or Brisbane for a 2-hour meeting to catch up with someone that just had to be done in person - we actually now realise can be done on a Zoom video call or another online platform.

One of the major problems that Australians have always had is not the lack of ideas – it’s been our inability to commercialise those ideas.

Major changes around the budget, in terms of the employment share scheme, the way these schemes are taxed and the patent box are a massive step in the right direction – and what that does for the start-up ecosystems will have a huge effect for the Beaches. Jason, can you please explain the patent box? One of the problems we have with innovation in Australia is we use the tax system. For example, say I’m going to spend $100,000 on Research and Development (R&D), I can get $150,000 back in a R&D grant, $50,000 of that is direct cash payment. The problem with that is it incentivises behaviours without necessarily an end. Why patent box is such a game changer is it basically says when you’re doing R&D, I’m now incentivised to make sure that that R&D is original, different, patentable and can make money from it. You will only pay 17% tax on profi ts produced instead of the current 30% company tax.

What has always happened in Australia is we pay for the R&D to be done in this country, then people commercialise this overseas. Australia pays for all the hard work upfront and the countries overseas get all the credit and profi t. What this does is it realigns incentives, ensures the hard work that is done here stays here and more importantly, it encourages people to look at new ideas they can patent.

The other issue is the employee share scheme. These are the changes we’ve made to drive productivity and innovation. When you leave the employer, you only have to pay the cost

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of the employee shares if you dispose of them, which you might do to fund a new business start-up. If you keep the shares, then that’s ok - you don’t have to pay tax until you sell them or within 13 years.

The other big thing is that it incentivises people and companies to issue shares to employees. As we know from study after study, if a large section of your workforce has skin in the game, they know that their work matters, driving value in the organisation and creating wealth for everyone.

Borders and vaccinations... What’s your opinion on when the borders should be opened as a percentage of people getting vaccinated? People are going from beginning to the end straight away; there are a lot of steps in between. Our aim is to try and get this done very quickly. But we don’t want to get ahead of public opinion.

We should have a position where we’re saying to people if you’ve been fully vaccinated, you can leave the country without having to apply, you can come back and isolate yourself in your own homes. And that will encourage people to get vaccinated and to do what they need to do.

On the Beaches, medical practises are saying to me they don’t have a problem with getting the supply, they have a problem with getting the demand. People say, “Oh I don’t really need to,” “Zero community transmission,” “Borders are not going to open until middle of next year,”or “I’m busy.”

Last question, any family holidays in the Falinski household in the COVID Environment?

We’re not big travellers as it is. My parents-in-law are from Port Macquarie so we go there quite often.

That’s a nice part of the world. Thanks Jason. •

JASON FALINSKI MP  MEMBER FOR MACKELLAR FB & INSTA @JASONFALINSKIMP

www.jasonfalinski.com.au

Politics with Mark Smith

THE PUBLIC USED TO WATCH THE TREASURER DELIVER THE BUDGET TO BASICALLY SEE HOW THE COUNTRY WAS GOING, AND HOW MUCH MORE A BEER WOULD COST FROM THE PUB. NOW IT’S ALL ABOUT, “WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?”

I’m not surprised. This has now been going on for a while. Does anyone ever consider the greater good anymore? When did it change? I’ve tried to fi nd the exact date that it shifted from a welfare safety net to ‘entitlement’.

Most people I saw interviewed after the budget were only interested in what they were getting out of it. With personal borrowing in this country at a ridiculous level, I’m not shocked the government is following suit.

I am taken aback, however, that it’s a coalition government. Where is the concern for ‘debt and defi cit?’ We are simply living a lifestyle in this country that we cannot afford. It probably won’t affect me in my lifetime, but what about future generations? Is there any consideration at all? Their standard of living will fall dramatically when all this largesse must be repaid.

Again, who cares? When interest rates inevitably rise and governments can no longer afford to repay or just service the massive debt, estimated to be $1 trillion, public infrastructure such as schools, hospitals etc will suffer.

Will future generations look back and say that pandemic spending was understandable, but even more spending, after the worst was behind us was justifi able?

I’m glad that we live in a country with a good healthcare system, and an ability to fund an important scheme like the NDIS. I’m also proud of this country that, so far has handled the pandemic well. However, the lack of effort creeping in with vaccine hesitancy and a fl at-out refusal by some to adhere to QR code check in and other restrictions begins to reinforce my argument that the greater good is no longer at the top of people’s priority list.

Politically of course, this is a budget to try to win votes. It now looks more likely that the Prime Minister will call an early election, which isn’t due until the middle of next year.

All incumbent governments around the country have been rewarded by constituents for ‘keeping them safe’, and I expect Scott Morrison will also try to cash in on this sentiment.

The real question is though, is this government just too reactionary, with no real ideas of their own? •