“We need to build more products in Australia to export to the world. If we can increase our export earnings, our quality of life will increase. Otherwise, it’s a zero-sum game with local unions and government fighting to get more money from certain grants.”
Mr Aneer said the meeting felt “somewhat coordinated” but did not devolve into a “fruitless slingshot match”.
Finally, the government will simplify the regulatory landscape, making the country more attractive for business.
“Nowadays, it’s too complicated, and there are too many regulations. Any government body that makes laws should have a team responsible for removing and simplifying rather than adding to the complexity,” he said.
“The best part of the conference was the opportunity to meet other business leaders and hear their thoughts on how they are shaping the world around us.”
Kate Pounder, CEO of the Tech Council, disagreed that the conference did not support any moonshot ideas, suggesting government support for digital internships and a virtual tech work experience program for high school students.
“I think this is a really good change,” Ms Powder said.
“I think digital practices are really a big improvement and really important to get right.”
Immigration reform
Ms Pounder welcomed the $36 million in funding to speed up the visa process, as well as work to expand the immigration system’s pathways to permanent residency and the priority skilled migration list.
“Skilled migration reforms are very important. They seem administrative in nature, but they are the difference between us bringing in the best talent in the world and that talent choosing another market over ours,” she said.
If these policies are well designed and implemented – By 2030, it would help Australia’s technology workforce grow to 1.2 million people to set up Australia for the next decade, Ms Powder said.
WizTech Global CEO Richard White said the increase in the immigration cap is a positive step, but it will not have a short-term impact due to the long visa processing queue.
“For understandable reasons, the visa system is very backward, but this can and should be fixed,” he said. “Visa delays cause us to lose high-value candidates who are unwilling to wait four to six months to find out if they can come to Australia.
“Due to this wait time and risk, I suspect two out of three high-quality overseas candidates will drop out. They will drop out because of the time and uncertainty and accept other jobs in another country – a loss for Australia and WizTech Global.”
Mr. White, who founded one of the most valuable technology companies today with a market capitalization of $18.7 billion, said the long-term focus should be on education.
“We need to be able to produce more of our own tech workers so we don’t have to bring in people from overseas,” he said. “Starting in K-12 schools, we need to get people interested in valuable, sustainable technology jobs and then STEM education.
“Also, universities need to adapt and deliver high-quality jobs from their degrees. Long-term, we cannot continue to import people as a solution to our skills shortage. We need to build the supply locally and create high-value jobs for Australians.”
Meena Radhakrishnan, co-founder of asset management technology startup, also hailed the practical actions that came out of the conference.
“The visa process in Australia is days or even weeks compared to weeks in the UK and Canada and New Zealand. “This has a big impact because the difference between days and months is huge,” she says.
It’s hard to make big changes overnight. All these commitments that people are making are really positive things and I think it’s a good result.
