| > I'd be interested in hearing your views on what a future Labor govt could do to support startups in Australia. Fix immigration by bundling a startup visa with a permanent residence permit like Canada [1]. Canada is strongly promoting this program, even directly advertising to employees in Silicon Valley who are fed up with US visa problems [2]. I think Canada's program isn't too attractive for immigrants because of the harsh weather (-45°C winters, anyone?), and the insistence on being funded from a specific list of Canadian VCs. Australia doesn't have the former of these problems, and could mitigate the latter by relaxing the restrictions on investors a little. Bundling a permanent residence card with a startup visa will make this an extremely attractive proposition for several non-American software developers who are currently in a painful, bureaucracy-ridden situation as regards visas and permanent residency. Also, Australia is a more attractive location for people from Commonwealth countries since there is far less of a culture shock. If you have any more questions about these programs, or just about my experiences in this regard, email me at [my username]@gmail.com. [1] http://www.cic.gc.ca/ENGLISH/immigrate/business/start-up/eli... [2] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-10/canada-tells-geeks-... |