electric vehicle charge
Politics

The Morrison government’s new EV strategy leaves Australia idling in the garage as the world hits the road

- November 10, 2021 4 MIN READ

The Morrison government will  announced its long-awaited electric vehicle strategy, coinciding with COP26 climate change talks underway in Glasgow. The new policy contains some welcome new funding, but is largely notable for what it omits. In a welcome move, the government has allocated an additional A$250 million for electric vehicles, primarily aimed at charging infrastructure.… Read more »

electric vehicle
Politics

The Morrison government’s new EV policy avoids subsides and an end date for petrol vehicles

- November 9, 2021 3 MIN READ

After demonising Labor’s policy on electric cars before the 2019 election, the federal government has put electric vehicles at the centre of a new “Future Fuels and Vehicles Strategy” to be released by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday. The policy puts another A$178 million into the government’s future fuels fund, bringing it to $250… Read more »

Tom Cruise Minority Report
Politics

The Australian government wants to expand its digital ID system. Here are several things in the plan you should be concerned about

- October 27, 2021 4 MIN READ

The federal government has been asking the public for feedback on proposed legislation to create a “trusted digital identity” system. The aim is for Australians to use it to prove their identity when accessing public services. I first found out about the draft Trusted Digital Identity Bill not through my research at the intersection of… Read more »

Politics

Atlassian’s new 40-storey HQ has been approved a part of Sydney’s Tech Central

- October 20, 2021 2 MIN READ

The NSW government has approved tech giant Atlassian’s plan for a 40-storey timber skyscraper next to Sydney’s Central Railway The 180-metre tower will be the tallest commercial hybrid timber building in the world with construction to get underway next year. The tower concept is by New York-based architects SHoP, with Australian practice BVN as the… Read more »

cyber hacking
Politics

The Australian government is making reporting ransomware attacks mandatory

- October 15, 2021 3 MIN READ

The federal government will introduce a new mandatory ransomware reporting scheme as it looks to crackdown on cybercriminals targeting Australians. Sparse details about the scheme were announced alongside the Department of Home Affairs’ Ransomware Action Plan, released on Wednesday, but the government said it will likely affect businesses with an annual turnover greater than $10… Read more »

Politics

Australia lacks a national plan for the digital economy and risks falling behind the global pack

- August 31, 2021 2 MIN READ

Australia leads the world on several technology fronts, but the Morrison government needs to accelerate industry digitisation or the country will lose its competitive advantage, the IT sector’s peak body, the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) has warned. The organisation, which is backed by computer giants Dell and IBM, as well as Telstra, has produced… Read more »

koala, bushfire
Politics

Here’s what you need to know about the worrying new IPCC report on climate change

- August 10, 2021 5 MIN READ

Earth has warmed 1.09℃ since pre-industrial times and many changes such as sea-level rise and glacier melt are now virtually irreversible, according to the most sobering report yet by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report also found escape from human-caused climate change is no longer possible. Climate change is now affecting every… Read more »

great wall of China
Politics

What’s behind China’s crackdown on big tech?

- July 16, 2021 4 MIN READ

Over the past few weeks, the Chinese government’s crackdown on big tech companies has intensified. The giants have all felt the brunt of heightened regulatory scrutiny. At the end of last year, Ant Group (which owns the payment platform AliPay) failed to go public on the stock market. Chinese regulators cited a lack of compliance… Read more »

Donald Trump
Politics

Trump’s legal fight against Facebook, Twitter and YouTube is futile, but that’s not what this is about

- July 12, 2021 4 MIN READ

From condo salesman to reality TV host to leader of the free world, Donald Trump has occupied several lifetimes’ worth of identities over a remarkable career of reinventions. Even so, the billionaire mogul’s latest metamorphosis – into a consumer-rights plaintiff seeking to regulate big business – is a peculiar one. With a volley of lawsuits… Read more »

Politics

The Budget’s ‘patent box’ plan is so poorly designed, it’s more likely to help multinationals reduce their tax bill than boost startup innovation

- May 19, 2021 3 MIN READ

On budget night federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced Australia is getting its own “patent box”. What is a patent box? Despite its odd name, it is a relatively straightforward concept. It means lowering the tax rate on all income derived from patents registered in a nation. About half the members of the European Union, Britain… Read more »

Politics

Startup leaders react to the 2021 budget

- May 16, 2021 11 MIN READ

Nearly all the good news in this week’s budget was announced ahead of Treasurer Josh Frydenberg detailing the government’s plans for the year ahead. Nonetheless, we asked many in the startup and tech sector what they thought of the 2021 budget. Here are their reactions:   Rebecca Schot-Guppy CEO, FinTech Australia There weren’t too many… Read more »

Politics

Labor wants to give 2000 uni students loans to learn how to launch their own startups

- May 14, 2021 2 MIN READ

A Labor government would offer 2000 university students and recent graduates loans of up to $11,300 through the HELP system to cover the cost of taking part in an accelerator program to launch their own startups.    Opposition leader Anthony Albanese announced the ‘Startup Year’ plan in his Budget reply speech on Thursday night. Labor said… Read more »

Politics

Some of the biggest names in tech and VC have penned an open letter to the government about climate change

- May 13, 2021 4 MIN READ

A coalition of business, technology, venture capital and social impact leaders, led by Canva co-founder Cameron Adams, have written an open letter to the Morrison government calling on Canberra to stop investing in fossil fuels and abandon its “gas-led recovery”. The letter seeks a renewable energy target of 100% by 2030, with Australia reaching net… Read more »