The figure, which measures output per hour worked, has been driven by a lack of investment in new technology, while ongoing uncertainty over government investment has stifled risk-taking, according to businesses such as AirTasker.
Private companies use the tax incentive to minimise their exposure if their innovations fail. The government instituted a $4 million-a-year cap on refunds for companies with turnover of less than $20 million last year, cutting $2.9 billion from the budget, before cutting by another $1.3 billion in 2019.
He said the government would continue to support R&D outside the tax system and noted it had committed $2.4 billion to grow Australia's research, science and technology capabilities and invested $5 billion in the Medical Research Future Fund.
"The Australian economy is far too undiversified; deriving a large part of its foreign income from a few minerals and agricultural products," he said.
1petermartin ErykBagshaw Bloody morons. Couldn’t organise a root in a brothel, let alone manage the economy LiberalAus auspol