Liberal National Party Member for Longman Wyatt Roy at Parliament House. Credit:Andrew Meares It is undeniable that Australians face many challenges in the future. However, we should also be infinitely optimistic about our potential for prosperity, not because of the resources we have in the ground but in light of the abundant innovative capacity of our people. With Asian economic growth and the boom in communication technology producing change as momentous as the industrial revolution, the next wave of Australians will witness a significant new economic driver. If we are to make the most of it, we need to seize the moment. Start-up companies – exemplified by the likes of Facebook, Google and Uber – are sown from fresh ideas with a business model that aims for rapid growth in expanding markets.

We can already look to Australian business start-up successes such as SEEK as pioneers of a new Australian thrust towards economic growth. When SEEK was founded in 1997 by Andrew Bassat, his brother Paul and Matt Rockman they had very little experience in technology. Indeed, Andrew recalls that when the concept of an online recruitment marketplace was first raised he'd never accessed the internet. Today, SEEK is market-capitalised at more than $6 billion. Last year's growth of 22 per cent was worth $756.4 million. SEEK has evolved from a domestic classified jobs business to the largest global operator in the space, established in 14 countries and helping millions find work.

The tech revolution is clearly shrinking our planet. But if the overwhelming upside is connection the challenge is disruption to our traditional industries. The services sector represents 80 per cent of our domestic economy but only 17 per cent of exports. Free Trade Agreements recently sealed by the Coalition government will allow these service industries the unprecedented access to overseas markets that they need to grow. With the tapering of demand for our resources and the swelling middle class of our near neighbours, services and experiences can become the powerhouse industries exporting to our region and employing our citizens. Meanwhile, our population is rapidly ageing. According to the Productivity Commission there are five people of working age for every Australian aged 65 or older. By 2050, the ratio will have plummeted to 2.7:1. Our continued prosperity amid this shifting order will hinge on our ability to change with it. As policy makers, it will not suffice to turn around the intergenerational debt that Labor has left. We must create anew, drawing a vision for the future that looks out and up, encouraging new businesses to take risks, grow and employ.

Critical to the process will be fostering a start-up ecosystem of innovation which supports the next generation of entrepreneurs. Developing it will take co-ordination across government, the higher education sector, capital investment and involve a paradigm cultural shift. ABS data underscores how a new approach is needed by government to reverse a trend against risk and entrepreneurship which is particularly worrying for any young Australian. In 1997, 9.7 per cent of employed Australians aged 15-34 owned their own business. By 2013, the number had diminished to 8.3 per cent. But in the right environment young Australians will find the confidence to start their own businesses, grow the economy and conjure thousands of new jobs. The nation has the fundamental components, with deep reserves of young, bright, talented Australians and other young international entrepreneurs set to be lured by our unique lifestyle. Finally, we are perfectly placed at the heart of the new global economic powerhouse of a growing Asia to become an epicentre of southern hemisphere entrepreneurship.

A Startup Economy – the PricewaterhouseCoopers study commissioned by Google Australia –showed high-growth technology companies could contribute 4 per cent of GDP ($109 billion) and add 540,000 jobs to the Australian economy by 2033, from a base of only 0.2 per cent today. In a recent speech to the Australian Institute of Company Directors, CSIRO chairman and former Australian of the Year Simon McKeon spoke passionately about a new innovation culture that should permeate business and government. He encapsulated it as an essential change in mindset, attitude and culture. While entrepreneurial spirit has always been accepted in Australia, now it needs to be championed by government which must step up as part of a nascent collaboration with business, science and education. Our Chief Scientist Ian Chubb agrees, pointing out that while Australia has the same proportion of research scientists (per workforce population) as the United States, only a third of them are in the private sector. In the US the opposite applies, with a resultant premium in innovation, commercialisation and entrepreneurship. In Israel we see what's achievable. A small country under constant threat and with no natural resources, it produces more start-up businesses than Japan, India, Korea, Canada and the UK – and claims more companies on the NASDAQ than Korea, Japan, Singapore, China, India and all of Europe combined.

Successful governments stir an infectious entrepreneurial milieu, forging direct partnerships with the private sector that attract capital for the commercialisation of great ideas. Put simply, they have made it as easy as possible to start and run a new business. Perhaps it's not surprising that Australians plough more into betting on the Melbourne Cup ($200 million) than is expended by Australian venture capital firms on start-up businesses ($100 million last year). It's time to have a punt on our young entrepreneurial Australians to set ourselves up for the future. * Wyatt Roy is the Queensland federal Liberal Party member for Longman.