The new Tasmanian Government has heard loudly and clearly that Science and Technology is a major growth area for Tasmania – TasICT has made sure of it.
Like many in the industry, I was dismayed when the incoming Government removed a dedicated Minister – so we immediately got to work to ask for a rethink.
The outcome is that the Government accepts how important the industry is – but the return of a dedicated minister is still to be delivered.
Rest assured, TasICT will continue to campaign on this.
Our campaign consisted of several media releases along with direct communication with the Premier and other State Government members of parliament. We would like to thank the Tasmanian media for the coverage they provided us.
Premier Rockliff did respond to our requests, acknowledging the points we made and also what an important contribution the ICT sector makes to the economy along with noting we are a growing industry – over 11,000 jobs today and a contribution to the economy of $1.7b annually.
Mr Rockliff said that his Government is taking a ‘whole of Government’ approach to ICT and therefore has distributed the responsibility across ministers.
· Minister Eric Abetz – responsible for the sector’s continued growth and support
· Minister Felix Ellis – overseeing skills and training
· Minister Madeline Ogilvie – overseeing UTAS STEM initiative
TasICT thanks the Premier for taking the time to respond to our concerns. We have therefore accepted that this will be the structure, at least for now, and have immediately moved our focus to building on our relationships with the said Ministers.
Additionally, we have had excellent engagement and support from the Opposition Leader Dean Winter along with the Shadow Minister for Science and Technology, Janie Finlay. TasICT looks forward to further engagement as we continue to drive support for initiatives in the ICT sector with all Members of Parliament.
With the recent appointment of Russell Kelly as TasICT’s General Manager with a focus on stakeholder engagement and communications, I am confident that Russell, through his already strong relationship with Tasmanian MPs and the media, will be poised to represent members in delivering on TasICT strategy. On behalf of the TasICT Committee, I formally welcome Russell and look forward to working with him.
“I firmly believe TasICT has an exceptional opportunity to help grow the industry and create jobs – and there has never been a more important time to work together.”
Your membership of TasICT is vital for the work we do and I encourage you to join us at our networking events this year and make you voice heard.
Know a tech business who is perhaps not a member? Let them know about TasICT – the more members we have, the more effective we can be on your behalf.
David Mills
TasICT President