Funny enough Richard, I explored alternatives to Inner Sydney while I was working for the NSW state government.
Of all the feasible alternatives (the M2 Corridor, Parramatta, Newcastle, Wollongong, Northern Rivers and Bathurst), only Wollongong really stood out. Newcastle, in my opinion, has the problem of a safe, secure political representation by one party and a population that, while woken up by the closing of BHP and the earthquake 20 years ago, has gone back into a slumber as the coal boom picked up the slack. The disaster that is the Newcastle CBD despite the hard work of Marcus Westbury and the Renew Newcastle crew coupled with the almost universal acceptance by all levels of Newcastle politics of the proposal to close the city's rail line illustrates this. Either way it was irrelevant for my project as the mandate for Digital Sydney said "around the Australian Technology Park" and I was pushing it including Ultimo and Surry Hills in that definition. I'll also take issue with you about the other ideas, all of these are fiddling at the edges when we need fundamental reform of our tax and social security rules. Given it's unlikely we'd ever see negative gearing abolished and it increasingly appears Capital Gains Tax concessions are now a permanent feature of the Australian tax system, we should push for start ups, inventions and R&D to be treated the same way as passive property investment, that would release billions of dollars in investment funds and legitimise the work of ten of thousands of Australians who work hard developing new technologies. We need to level the playing field, not distort it further. Look forward to having a few beers at Silicon Beach to discuss this further, Richard, Cheers, paul On Jan 30, 11:37 am, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote: > > Another instructive aspect of the CNET piece is that the New Yorkers > > have decided they have to diversify out of the banking industry. Here > > in Australia, both the Federal and NSW governments still have a 1980s > > view of the financial industry and desperately believe that Sydney can > > become an "international financial centre". > > > It's worthwhile thinking of how those linkages can be built across > > industries and where we can build strengths in our various tech > > communities. > > I believe Newcastle is the logical 'startup capital of Asia'. > > For only a small amount of dollars BUT A LARGE AMOUNT OF VISION > Newcastle should be the place. > > 1. Good University especially in Bio Engineering / Medical devices > 2. Stock Exchange - Focusing upon smaller companies > 3. Major port - Newcastle is the largest exporter of coal in the world > (most of the time) > 4. Close to major markets - Sydney / Canberra / Melbourne (Direct Jet > flights from Newcastle) > 5. Large exporter of food and energy > 6. Good lifestyle - beaches / food / wine > 7. Cheaper than Sydney / Melbourne etc > > Here is some of the things required. > > 1. "Start-up visa' > Using a variation on either Occupational Trainee Visa (Subclass 442) > or Professional Development Visa (Subclass 470) > > By combining a Startmate / Y-combinator Incubator it as the formal > training requirements. People from around the world could apply to > join and if they were accepted would work on their projects with > access to mentoring and financial support. > > 2. Funding (Minimal) > NSXA lists a co-seed fund with matching funding not dissimilar to NZ > Seed Co-Investment Fund $NZ 40 Million or the Singapore Seed Fund $S > 500 Million. Today, Yuri Milner / Ron Conway is offer $150K to EVERY > Ycombinator company on VERY GENEROUS TERMS. > > He is personally offering USD 6 million without even looking at the > companies. > > The issue for traditional Australian VCs is they do not make enough > investments. If you bother the run a Monte Carlo simulation on the > actual numbers for early stage investments the break-even point is > nearly 200 investments. > > “Nobody knows nothing”, so it is easier to have bet with the house. > > A structured path from 'Seed =>Angel =>Professional round (aka 'A' > round)=>NSXA listing => ASX listing / trade sale > > By getting the best from Asia (or anywhere else) Australia would out > compete most places for people wanting to live here. After, paying > taxes in excess of say AUD 250,000 per founder or 3 full time jobs > equivalent. The taxes would include in GST / Payroll / Income tax / > CGT the founders would receive PR. > > The goal of Australia is to create new jobs and tax paying companies. > > Richard Hayes > 0414 618 425 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Guidelines on discussion: http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia/msg/351e183e1303508d?hl=en%3Fhl%3Den No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en
