Published on the 12/07/2016 | Written by Beverley Head
The Coalition has clung on to claim control after a narrow election win; now the Australian Computer Society wants to see some action…
More than a week after the Federal Election, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull – architect of the innovation nation agenda – has clung on to his position and is expected to be sworn in later this month.
In his victory speech Turnbull noted that; “We need to ensure that we have a strong economy in the years ahead. We need to ensure that we maintain a successful transition from the economy fuelled up by the mining construction boom, to one that is more diverse.”
He however also noted the need to bring the Budget back into balance – something Standard & Poor’s demanded last week when the ratings agency put Australia on a watch list and effectively gave it six months to demonstrate why it should retain its AAA rating. Moody’s followed suit this week. Every dollar spent bringing the budget back in balance is potentially one missing from the innovation purse.
The Australian Computer Society has however signalled that whatever financial pressures the Government faces, the digital agenda needs to get a kick start.
According to ACS president Anthony Wong; “Throughout the election campaign both parties made strong commitments to the ongoing support of digital development and digital literacy. Now it is time for the incoming Government to make good on its promises…and progress our digital economy.”
He cited analysis from Deloitte Access Economics, commissioned by the ACS, which suggested that, supported properly, Australia’s digital economy could grow to $139 billion by 2020.
Wong stressed the importance of investment in digital skills, cyber security, the funding for and acceleration of the $1.1 billion National Science and Innovation Agenda, and the completion of the national broadband network.
While Wong did not expressly call for a technology rethink with regards to the NBN he did note that; “Australia currently ranks 60th in global internet speed ratings and this needs to change.”
While the final outcome of the election in a handful of seats won’t be known for a few more days, and the Senate for considerably longer, Turnbull expects to be sworn in as Prime Minister within a week or so. One person missing from his team will be Wyatt Roy, former assistant minister for innovation, who conceded defeat in his Queensland seat after several days’ counting.
Asked whether the Government would pursue the notion of electronic voting in part to speed up the election process, which was proposed by Labor leader Bill Shorten, Turnbull said he had been a long term advocate of electronic voting and it was “something we must look at”.
Besides exploring the option of electronic voting in the future, the Prime Minister said that there would be a review of the use of robocalls and text messages in the lead up to an election, and the risk of voters being misled.
