The Australian government should implement a permanent first-customer pathway to ensure that innovative solutions developed by startups and SMEs are purchased and integrated into public services.

Australia spends billions on research but consistently fails to turn breakthroughs into working products here. Government procurement is a major underused lever for innovation, but current pathways are risk-averse, complex, slow, and costly. Fusion's fix: a permanent first-customer pathway where agencies nominate genuine problems, run competitive challenges, and commit to buying solutions that work. First-customer risk is shared centrally. No more promising pilots that end without a buyer. If an Australian solution meets the specs, government should buy it. That's how you build a pro-innovation government. #auspol #innovation https://go.fusionparty.org.au/Vk0PK

The biggest barrier to Australian innovation isn't a lack of ideas. It's a government that won't become a customer. The 2026 Ambitious Australia report confirms procurement is a 'major underused lever' — risk-averse, complex, slow, and expensive for startups and SMEs. The Business Research and Innovation Initiative already proves the model works: agencies nominate real problems, businesses compete to solve them. But there's no obligation for government to actually buy the result. Fusion's fix is a permanent first-customer pathway: challenges with staged development, shared risk through a central fund, and a conditional purchase commitment published upfront. Agencies commit resources before the challenge begins. Central support absorbs the extra cost of being first. No phantom procurement exercises. If the solution meets the bar, government buys it. This turns the public purse into an engine for commercialising Australian R&D. No more great ideas dying between prototype and purchase. If you're tired of watching Australian breakthroughs get commercialised overseas, this is the policy that keeps them home. #auspol #innovation https://go.fusionparty.org.au/o12sM