Why Nitro is becoming more Dublin than Melbourne

A couple of years on from the exciting "innovation agenda" announcements, it feels like the Federal Government of today knows farming and mining better than they do technology.

That's why April's skilled visa reforms incited widespread backlash from business leaders across the country, with my fellow technology entrepreneurs among the most vehement denouncers.

I remain hopeful the government will provide sensible revisions to the approved occupation list for 457 workers in its July 1 update, so Australia's burgeoning technology industry isn't further handicapped in the global war for talent. But in many respects the damage to our recruitment image is done.

The 457 changes have already made Nitro think twice about its growth options as we hire aggressively following our latest funding round. In an industry where access to top technically-skilled people can make or break a business, I question whether the government's positive steps towards building a vibrant local technology sector in recent years have stumbled, and resulted in a horrendous own goal for Australia's innovation policy. I am not talking about low-skilled IT jobs, by the way, where concerns have been raised that some employers used the 457 system to recruit foreign workers at below-market rates. Efforts to prevent that type of abuse are a good thing. But we must not throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water. Read more

Sam Chandler - Australian Financial Review - 28 June 2017