Tech titans reach a new peak
Some would argue the local technology industry doesnât need to raise its profile. But in a week when teenage debt outfit Afterpay was the subject of a $39 billion takeover bid, we bring you news that our home-grown tech titans are setting up their own peak body.
Of course, Atlassian bosses Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes only recently joined the Business Council of Australia after years of railing against the peak bodyâs stance on climate change. And yes, Business Council president Tim Reed â" a former tech bro himself â" was apparently very persuasive. But it appears thereâs been a change of heart.
Cliff Obrecht Robyn Denholm, Anthony Eisen and Scott Farquhar.Credit:John Shakespeare
Atlassian is one of the big players to form the new industry group, called the Tech Council of Australia. Other foundation members include Canva, Google, Microsoft, Tyro Payments and Afterpay. The Sydney-based Tesla chair Robyn Denholm is mooted to be the councilâs chair, while other founding directors including Atlassianâs Farquhar, Afterpay chief executive Anthony Eisen, Canvaâs Cliff Obrecht, CultureAmpâs Didier Elzinga and Mina Radhakrishnan from online property management platform Different. Former Accenture managing director Kate Pounder is expected to be announced as chief executive. Not that any of the companies or individuals involved are prepared to talk about it yet.
Thankfully CBD found an early website â" in beta planning phase, no doubt â" which also reveals Queenslandâs former innovation and tourism minister Kate Jones and former West Australian MP Wyatt Roy to be executive directors.
A video introduction hints at the new lobby groupâs raison dâetre. In a piece to camera, Microsoft public affairs boss Belinda Dennett laments the âtechlashâ of the past few years.
Only the tech industry could describe one of the most prosperous periods in human history for anyone with a vaguely innovative idea as a âtechlashâ, but thereâs no point banding together if you donât have a common enemy.
Liberals let off steamItâs been an eventful week for Opposition Leader Michael OâBrien, who was left red-faced after a closely guarded internal memo outlining the partyâs tactics and talking points leading into the election leaked within half an hour of being circulated to the parliamentary team.
But there are other, happier events to celebrate.
The Malvern MP turns 50 on Thursday. Backbenchers Gary Blackwood and Brad Rowswell â" both staunch OâBrien allies â" invited all of the parliamentary team to a low-key knees-up on Wednesday evening to celebrate.
Just how many will turn up to congregate on the back deck of Parliamentâs canteen, Strangers, is another question given COVID restrictions were cited earlier this week as a reason to kybosh a party meeting some members believed was shaping up as a spill.
OâBrien has other reasons to celebrate. He has hired a new spinner to replace former communications director Mitch Grayson, who was appointed chief of staff earlier in the month to fill a role left vacant by the sidelined Brett Hogan.
New communications boss Lee Anderson, who has come from 7News Melbourne, is an old colleague of Graysonâs. The pair worked under former Queensland premier Campbell Newmanâs short-lived administration. Andersonâs new role includes the leaderâs image management, a tough gig when everyone knows the leader doesnât like taking direction.
Anderson made headlines early in Newmanâs tenure in 2013, when the premier was forced to defend his spinner before a parliamentary committee over a phone call between Anderson and the head of the stateâs Crime and Misconduct Commission, Ken Levy.
Baesâ beach partyHigh-profile cast members of Netflixâs Byron Baes are bound to be feeling hot under the collar with Byron Bay and Tweed police investigating a party held at a home believed to be occupied by cast-mate Nathan Favro.
Readers will recall that police are probing the July 24 bash over concerns it went against public health orders capping household visitors to just five. As CBD revealed, more than 14 influencer types attended the evening, enthusiastically documented on social media by Baes cast member Elle Watson, with other Insta-celebs including model Neve Fogg and robot coral farmer Stephen Rodan.
But as it turns out, itâs not the only event on July 24 attended by the showâs cast members that has drawn the ire of locals and chatter of a police investigation. Community members contacted Crime Stoppers about what has been dubbed a âbush doofâ on the same evening in nearby Foxâs Lane, attended by Baes cast-mates Elias Chigros, model-artist Cai Leplaw and spiritualistic therapist Simba Ali.
Social media posts from Ali and Chigros obtained by CBD show the trio at the event. Earlier in the evening, both Chigros and Ali appear to have attended a âHape and Cacaoâ ceremony that Ali â" who purports to practise ceremonial medicine â" also documented on social media.
Hape is a substance used in traditional South American and Amazonian tribal ceremonies and often nicknamed herbal snuff. Could you get any more Byron Bae?
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Noel Towell is Economics Editor for The Age
Samantha is a CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. She recently covered Victorian and NSW politics and business for News Corp, and previously worked for the Australian Financial Review.
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