Just another stuff up by this government, handing out money all over the place and didn't even know they were giving the money to overseas companies just because the had an office here.
Palaszczuk Government to scrap small business funds after taxpayer grants sent overseas
The Government has sensationally scrapped a multi-million dollar Queensland small business fund after 7 News discovered most taxpayer grants were sent to firms interstate and as far away as Europe.
One company the Government listed as a small business recipient from Queensland is really a Swedish giant with 50,000 employees - which questioned how it qualified.
Another supposedly Queensland firm is actually a Victorian business merged with a French firm - and admits none of the grant work was done here.The revelations are an embarrassment for Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, whose key job creation strategy, Advance Queensland, oversaw the program.
The Small Business Innovation Research fund was launched in 2016 with a "call to Queensland businesses".“The Palaszczuk Government wants to remove the hurdles for Queensland innovators and small businesses to collaborate with government departments to develop important service delivery solutions where a viable product, system or process has not previously been available,” Innovation Minister Leeanne Enoch said.“We know we have world-class innovators, and this is a call to Queensland businesses – show us what can be achieved, and work with the Queensland Government to develop the technologies and services that keep us at the forefront of innovation.”
At an applicant session in Brisbane in April last year, one questioner was assured that there was a weighting towards Queensland businesses.Assa Abloy is listed as an Eight Mile Plains business which received $37,000 to develop a high security lock for public housing.Assa Abloy is listed as an Eight Mile Plains business which received $37,000 to develop a high security lock for public housing.
7NEWSA public servant told the forum: "The aim of it is to support Queensland start-ups, Queensland small businesses but the other key thing with SBIR is having a solution that addresses the challenge."
Danish firm Anchor Lab scored $218,500 for commercial fish monitoring in Queensland.About $539,000 went to firms in NSW while another $185,000 went to Victorian businesses.
Assa Abloy is listed as an Eight Mile Plains business which received $37,000 to develop a high security lock for public housing.
But it's really a Swedish-based giant with 47,000 staff and sales worth 70 billion SEK ($11 billion AUD) across 70 countries.Assa Abloy Opening Solutions Pacific Region president Simon Ellis told 7 News "We were transparent about who we were.
https://7news.com.au/politics/qld/palaszczuk-government-to-scrap-small-business-funds-after-taxpayer-grants-sent-overseas-c-169052
