Malcolm Turnbull and Bob Hawke both proved their intellectual prowess by studying at Oxford on Rhodes scholarships. As prime minister from 1983 until 1991, Mr Hawke wanted Australia to embrace its destiny as a "clever country". Now Mr Turnbull wants to trigger a national "Ideas Boom" to create even more wealth than the mining boom, writes PETER JEAN
A NATION OF RISK-TAKERS At the heart of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's vision is for Australia to become a nation of calculated risk-takers where investors support the best ideas of scientists and businesspeople to create jobs and new exports. "We've got to be prepared to have a go and be more prepared to embrace risk and experimentation," he said. 
TAX Investors will be encouraged to support early-stage, innovative, start-up businesses through a 20 per cent non-refundable tax offset. They would also enjoy a capital-gains tax exemption. Other tax changes include repealing rules that limit tax depreciation deductions for some intangible assets, such as patents. The Government is yet to reveal the criteria that will be used to determine which start-ups are eligible for the tax concessions.
BANKRUPTCY LAW Mr Turnbull and Industry Minister Christopher Pyne want Australia to copy the example of Israel, where entrepreneurs are encouraged to try again if their initial steps at building a successful business fail. This requires changes to insolvency law and the Government wants to reduce the default bankruptcy from three years to 12 months.
Directors of struggling companies would be given a chance to turn things around before calling in administrators. Directors would be exempt from personal liability from trading while insolvent if they called in a restructuring adviser to come up with a plan to save the company Contract clauses which allow contracts to be terminated if a company becomes insolvent would be unenforceable if a company was being restructured. Details of how all this will work in practice are yet to be revealed. The rules will need to be tight enough to prevent unscrupulous company directors from misusing them.
MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS Many Australian medical scientists are forced to move overseas to try to commercialise their research into products which can improve or save the lives of patients. The Government will plough $250 million that had been intended for the national medical research fund into projects that commercialise health and medical research. Funds to match the Government investment will be sought from private investors.
EDUCATION More than $60 million will be spent on encouraging young Australians to study science, technology and maths.
This will include funds to promote the teaching of computer coding in schools and to encourage more women to study and work in science and technology. University research funding grants will be overhauled to support the training of researchers and innovators.
MIGRANTS Increasing immigration is never politically popular but the Government still believes it is important to encourage entrepreneurs from around the world to make Australia home. People with unique skill sets and the financial backing to start businesses that will create jobs will be able to apply for a new Entrepreneur Visa.
CUTTING-EDGE SCIENCE The CSIRO will establish a $200 million Innovation Fund to invest in new spin-off and start-up companies created by Australian research institutions. Labor says the Government took the axe to the CSIRO in its first Budget and should not be congratulated for returning some money.
FUTURE TECHNOLOGY Australia will contribute $2.3 billion over the next decade toward the world's largest radio telescope: the Square Kilometre Array and the Australian Synchrotron.
GOVERNMENT BY APP Mr Turnbull wants communicating with the Government to be as easy as dealing with eBay for ordinary Australians. A digital "marketplace" will be used to make it easier for small businesses to bid for government work. More data held by government - such as maps and information on the economy - will be made available on a website for use by businesses.
THE RISK TO TURNBULL Mr Turnbull wants Australian entrepreneurs and investors to embrace risk by supporting new ideas and technology.
He admits his government is taking risks too, including through changes to bankruptcy laws.Mr Turnbull says the Government will abandon policies that don't work and learn from its mistakes. "One of the aspects of the political paradigm I'm seeking to change is the old politics where the politicians felt that they had to guarantee that every policy would work, where they had to sort of water everything down so there is no element of risk," he said