Andrew Bragg warns Australia’s tax system risks holding back AI opportunities
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The news: Opposition housing spokesman Andrew Bragg has warned Australia’s tax system, including recent changes to capital gains taxes, risks holding the nation back from taking advantage of the AI boom.
Speaking on ABC Insiders on Sunday morning (AEST), Bragg said Australia has a “punitive tax system” that could hold the nation back.
“We want to have the next Afterpay or the next Canva to be developed here, but even Robyn Denholm — who did the review for the government on the R&D tax offset — is saying the government stuffed it up,” Bragg said.
“Of course, the idea of having data centres here in Australia is good.
“But ... I think we can do better than just being a base for data centres,” he said, noting Australia should be “open minded” about the opportunities.
“We now have a very punitive tax system, which is going to push away a lot of the ideas that would have been developed in Australia,” Bragg said.
The context: Asked about whether he agreed with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s AI plan, Bragg said opportunities from the tech are beyond data centres.
“I think if they [data centres] can provide their own power, it’s a good thing,” he said about the substance of the guidelines.
“Don’t forget that the companies will want to have the highest computational capacity with the lowest environmental footprint so using renewables, using unclear, using whatever you can get which is clean and sustainable is going to be the main game,” he said, saying it was “dumb and stupid” that Australia is exporting uranium not now allowing it to be used for domestic purposes.
“Data centres are good but we should be trying to have some of the next best AI companies that can be tools for business, tools for individuals. And I just fear that with the Albanese government’s terrible tax policies, with the highest [capital gains tax] in the OECD and now the highest pay as you go income tax system we’re not going to have these opportunities in Australia. They’re going to be in Singapore or in Silicon Valley,” he said.
What they said: “If you look at the history of technology, it’s created more jobs than it’s killed. I’m confident that there will be a huge AI industry where people will be working in compliance and doing other things that don’t exist today that will exist tomorrow,” Bragg said.
The source: ABC Insiders
