Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s 2022 Federal Budget is shaping as a colossus of the genre. Election years always ratchet up expectations, but with reports of a government war chest worth billions being readied to spray at the electorate, those expectations are sky high.
Whether or not this election year largesse translates to new programs or a new focus on science, technology and innovation is not clear. But both sides of politics are paying more attention to industrial policy renewal since the start of the pandemic and the economic shocks that came with it.
InnovationAus.com will again host its annual Budget Insider 2022 policy soiree, a policy wonk’s paradise, where we get deep into the entrails of the budget measures that relate to our national tech and innovation ecosystem.
After two years where the Budget Insider was driven into the virtual world, in 2022 we are back to an ambitious in-person event – complete with drinks and canape networking – with the panel sessions and reporting streamed LIVE to the internet. ????
The Budget Insider is an evening of serious networking and serious fun. It is part cocktail party and part industry forum, run as a hybrid in-person and virtual economic funk-fest. We are putting a call out to all industrial policy nerds – please join us for a serious wonk-fest among like-minded and enthusiastic pointy-heads.
The format is simple. With a wine in hand, we welcome a panel of experts to discuss their hopes and expectations for the budget. We then watch the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg deliver the budget speech.
We then cross live to Parliament House in Canberra where the InnovationAus.com editorial team will have just existed the Budget lock-up for a run-down of the innovation- and technology-specific announcements that did not make it into the Treasurers speech – followed by a panel discussing these initiatives and more.
It’s not for everyone. But if you’re into this brand of wonkiness, whether you attend in-person or online, you will find your happy place.
Our panel of experts for the 2022:
- Anne-Marie Elias – Chief Executive Officer at Beckon Capital
- Bronwyn Le Grice – Founder and Chief Executive Officer at ANDHealth
- Clive Mayhew – Board Chair at Fishburners
- Glenn Wightwick – Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Innovation and Enterprise) at the University of Technology, Sydney
- Jas Chambers – Chair and Convenor, Ocean Decade Australia
- Michael Biercuk – Professor of Quantum Physics and Quantum Technology and Founder/CEO at Q-CTRL
- Rupert Taylor-Price – Chief Executive Officer at Vault Cloud and Board Director at the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA)
- James Riley – Editorial Director at InnovationAus.com
- Corrie McLeod – Publisher at InnovationAus.com and Budget Insider panel moderator
- Denham Sadler – National Affairs Editor at InnovationAus.com
- Rachael Bolton – Journalist and Budget Insider panel moderator
There is a lot at stake for Australia in the world right now, and the 2022 budget will set out on the financial ledger the government’s approach to dealing with multiple global challenges.
The ongoing pandemic-related supply chain issues seem like small potatoes compared to the fracturing of decades-long geopolitical norms of behaviour and its impact on global trade. And that was before Russia invaded the Ukraine.
Science and technology is at the centre of these issues, as the term ‘sovereign capability’ entered mainstream discussions for the first time, as industrial policy has been moving steadily toward the centre of political discourse.
Will this be reflected in the Treasurer’s budget speech on the evening of March 29? We will find out.
Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.