But I would hope that when many are taking TAXPAYER money that they would think about something more than short term money. After all it is in their best interest to have successful Australian startups.
Wait -- what VCs are funded with tax dollars? Either you guys do things very differently in Australia, or I'm missing your point altogether.
Regardless, it isn't necessarily as black and white as you've stated. They aren't just looking for the 'short term' money, but to give the teams the best opportunities for success.
Per beilabs' argument, it seems that their best chances for success aren't in Australia.
You also seem to be missing the fact that it's a boon to the Australian economy for companies to succeed, even if they succeed elsewhere, unless they completely emigrate. Every Australian success story sparks another entrepreneur in Australia to get motivated.
Yeah, it sucks that the deck is stacked against them at the moment, but that's not a problem the VCs can fix until the government gets cracking to foster startups. That's a long slow process... and as the existing government watches startups leave for those reasons, it should serve to motivate them to fix their laws and better retain local talent.
But I would hope that when many are taking TAXPAYER money that they would think about something more than short term money. After all it is in their best interest to have successful Australian startups.