When Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar stood at the National Press Club podium two weeks ago, he painted a picture of Australia at the precipice of a golden opportunity — or a spectacular missed chance.
He is not the first tech billionaire to call for seizing the “next great industrial revolution” and will not be the last, but Farquhar’s pitch came with a surprising caveat: success would require gutting Australia’s copyright protections.
Australia’s copyright laws are “out of sync with the rest of the world,” he told the Canberra audience, claiming that while the United States and Europe have carved out exemptions for artificial intelligence companies to scrape and mine copyrighted content, Australia remains stubbornly protective of creators’ rights.
This, he argued, is costing the nation billions in foreign investment and the chance to become Southeast Asia’s data centre hub.
