Tech sector urges greater focus from new innovation minister Angus Taylor after Christian Porter quits

“While Angus Taylor is highly capable, he can’t possibly manage this long term with his energy responsibilities.

“Choosing another MP who gets the technology ecosystem would go a long way to repair the damage of the revolving doors. Someone like Dave Sharma who gets the space and has actually lived in a thriving technology ecosystem like Tel Aviv would be an obvious choice.”

Zarmeen Pavri, Partner at SDGx Ventures, wants stability and clearer focus on initiatives targeting climate change. Rhett Wyman

Sam Pratt, CEO of geospatial construction management software firm Render, said the circumstances behind Mr Porter’s resignation did not change the fact that innovation was the future of the Australian economy, and that urgent focus and consistent leadership was needed.

He said Mr Taylor’s background before politics as a McKinsey partner suggested he could be taken seriously in terms of entrepreneurial thinking, but worried that like Mr Porter, who was an unpopular pick with the sector, he did not seem ideally suited to role.

“One could be excused for wondering if Taylor, the federal minister closest to some of the Morrison government’s most controversial positions on energy and climate change, is the right person to represent and engage with arguably our most progressive and forward-looking sector,” Mr Pratt said.

Zarmeen Pavri, a partner at SDGx Ventures, a venture capital firm with a global climate tech fund, said she wanted stability and clearer focus on initiatives targeting climate change from the next minister.

She said the instability in this ministry under the Coalition government had been extremely disruptive to providing any certainty or vision for Australian capital markets and private sector investment.

“We require clear and ambitious emissions reduction policies, climate targets, and significantly more investment in the technology road map,” Ms Pavri said.

“This would give the capital markets more confidence to allocate capital to technology that can solve the climate crisis.”

Labor’s spokesman on industry and innovation, Ed Husic, said Mr Porter was a “failed industry minister” who should never have been in the portfolio in the first place.

He said Mr Porter had failed to show up for parliamentary debates about legislation in his portfolio and had been “nearly invisible” in the role as he focused on matters related to legal wrangling over an unresolved rape allegation, which he denies.

Labor industry and innovation spokesman Ed Husic says Mr Porter should never have been in the portfolio in the first place. Ryan Stuart

“Mr Porter cannot take all the blame here. Scott Morrison put Christian Porter in one of the most important jobs in government, knowing he wouldn’t be there long,” Mr Husic said.

“The Coalition has been in power for eight years and they’re gearing up for their eighth minister for industry. Their record speaks for itself – this portfolio is where they send problems, not fix them.”

Tech investor and start-up adviser Gavin Appel said the tech industry had recently established a new body, the Tech Council of Australia, in a bid to engage government with the opportunity for accelerating growth in the local tech and innovation field.

He said the local sector was keen to engage with the government to help shape policies to “supercharge” job creation and investment.

“We must put a stop to the revolving door of ministers on this critical portfolio,” Mr Appel said.

“We live in a technology-led world driven by innovation. With a backdrop of global success with Atlassian and Canva, it’s time to appoint a minister who matches the opportunity; to increase engagement and drive policy that will bring further tailwinds to the industry and deliver significant job creation and economic growth for Australia.”

The founder and CEO of fintech loan origination platform Tic:Toc, Anthony Baum, said there was a lot of work to be done at a government level to ensure sufficient support for the fintech industry but also to do more to support rapid growth.

“We’re hoping to see much faster legislation changes and better overall support. Just one example is the three-year crawl it has taken for the [employee share scheme] legislation to be debated,” Mr Baum said.

“Simplifying tax rules will incentivise high-quality talent to work in Australia and ensure we don’t lose fast-growing tech companies from relocating overseas. We also need to push for bolder R&D changes that drive start-ups to success and increase economic growth.”

The managing director of manufacturing technology company 1MILLIKELVIN, Kheang Khauv, said he welcomed Mr Taylor’s appointment and urged him to “make a mark” by investing in Australia’s sovereign manufacturing capability at a systemic level.

“This is important, especially when it comes to innovations in tangible goods and products,” Mr Khauv said.

“Further, many innovators in the ecosystem would like the upcoming mid-year economic and fiscal year update to provide a shot in the arm to research and development effort.”