Wyatt Roy - Assistant Minister for Innovation. March 2016 - a podcast by The Unicorn Farm

He might be the youngest minister in Australia’s history, but Assistant Minister for Innovation Wyatt Roy shows no signs of inexperience. An impressive speaker, and a passionate advocate for innovation and the entrepreneurial community, when Mr Roy sat down with Innovation Bay Co-founder, Ian Gardiner, he suggested it might not just be a cultural shift that’s needed, but a generational one. 

Mr Roy began by defining innovation as ‘the output of a deeply entrepreneurial culture’, and continued by outlining what he sees as the role of government: ‘as a Liberal, I’m someone who feels the government should generally get out of the way. The questions I ask myself are: “How do we act as an enabler? And “How can we be a facilitator between sectors, such as the University sector and the private world?”’

While ‘getting out of the way’ of business may be his ideal, Mr Roy concedes that placing innovation on the agenda (through the Government’s aptly named Innovation Agenda) will involve a fair bit of hands-on work. ‘We’ve announced 24 policies to date. The Prime Minister wants to add to them if we can, but he is also willing to review them if any aren’t working.’

However, to properly embrace this process of testing ideas and seeing what works, Mr Roy acknowledges it will require not just the politicians who are willing to risk being criticised, but for Australians generally to shift their thinking about business success and failure: ‘In many ways we need a cultural change in this country. We need to be willing to accept failure and embrace risk if we are truly going to be a leader in innovation.’

Despite the work that needs to be done, Mr Roy remains confident that the future is going to be a positive one: ‘I’m actually quite optimistic about the change we are going to see in this space. I’m excited that we are going to see a shift.’

It’s a shift he believes will need to be lead by his generation: ‘When you look at Super fund investment in start-ups, it’s the younger generation who have many years of investing ahead, who are more willing to take greater risks. They have an appetite for it.’

Being young is something the minister can’t escape. When asked about what would lead such a young person to choose politics as a career (he was first elected as a 20-year-old), he seemed to have a view beyond his years:‘You have to have a balance, and a bit of perspective. I believe I can be good at what I do and still be able to go out occasionally and have a good time with my mates. The thing with politics is, we are all better served if we have diversity. Age is just one area.’

His youth is perhaps what fuels his idealism, and his critics have been quick to suggest that like the Prime Minister, more action and less articulation is necessary for real change to occur. But, acting in an environment where governments are elected and ousted on public opinion and the general population is yet to really understand or embrace the value of innovation, requires some selling—which Mr Roy seems well equipped to do.

He explains: ‘We are starting from a foundation where there’s not the political will and the public support for this. We need parents around the dinner table to think this is very important for their children’s future.’

Mr Roy also acknowledges that taking action may cost him his job: ‘You have to have the political will to risk a little bad press in order to promote risk culture. You actually have to have politicians who are brave enough to ride against the media.’

And, if his recent actions in writing to Australia’s Vice Chancellors regarding an education technology start-up teaches us anything, it’s that Mr Roy is willing to take action, regardless of the negative coverage it may attract. He is clearly an advocate for the innovation sector and sees the need to push for cultural change.

Speaking to our Innovation Bay members, he was among the like-minded. But, he was not afraid to address criticisms of the NBN and even the government’s immigration policy. Here again, he felt that public opinion fuelled by a reactionary media was playing a role: ‘People say “they are coming to take our jobs” and it’s completely wrong… we want to make it as easy as possible for entrepreneurs to come and work here; for students who want to start businesses to stay after they have finished their studies. We are prioritising digital skillsets.’

Time will tell whether the policies put in place by the current government will bring about the cultural change needed to foster a strong innovation culture, but the message that this government recognises innovation’s value as an industry is clear. As is what Mr Roy regards as the ultimate measure of success:

If Mr Roy is an example of what the future leaders of this country value, then innovation appears well placed to gain the focus as an industry we believe it deserves.