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| Over the past several weeks AmCham has been encouraging the Government to facilitate more US-Australia investment to support the national economy. Australia has historically filled the multi-billion dollar gap between domestic savings and investment through foreign capital, and as we come out of COVID facing a massive debt burden, investment from our trusted ally is more important than ever.
Foreign investment supplements our domestic savings so we can fund investment opportunities and help Australia reach its potential. It raises productivity, enhances global value chains, transfers knowledge and technology, contributes to tax revenue, stabilises the country’s balance of payments and creates jobs.
Anyone reading this newsletter already knows that the United States is an indispensable economic partner to Australia, but today there are further opportunities to enhance Australia’s reputation as a great place to do business so that we don’t see valuable opportunities being redirected to other countries.
Competition for global capital in 2021 will be higher than ever. Australia has an opportunity to present itself as the pre-eminent destination for US investment and increase the already substantial American investment in Australia.
Australia’s many advantages include: a highly educated workforce, secure IP protection, the rule of law, a world-leading health system, abundant resources, etc. However, there are also barriers that must be addressed. For example, competitive tax rates and clean, affordable, reliable energy are essential for driving investment. These initiatives will take a lot of time and cost a lot of money, so they were not the crux of our discussions about Covid-related measures. AmCham will continue to engage on these topics separately.
But in relation to what can be done now – today - Chairmen and CEOs from a range of sectors worked for several months with AmCham and PwC to develop the following achievable, bipartisan, inexpensive recommendations:
- Modernize and simplify outdated, ineffective regulation, which slows business down, adds costs and increases project risk. At the same time, we must maintain the strong stakeholder protections Australians deserve and have come to expect. Aspiring to reduce the total number of regulations by 30 per cent would lead to the desired efficiency gains. This could be achieved through a national cabinet-style coordination with the states and territories.
- Recalibrate risk tolerances in alignment with the government’s deregulation agenda to encourage investment from our trusted partner, the United States. Move from a “No, you can’t unless I say so,” mindset to a “Yes you can, subject to…” assumption.
With smarter and simpler regulation, a regulatory culture biased to action, and a series of targeted microeconomic reforms that showcase Australia as a great place to do business, AmCham is working to position Australia as the best place for US investment.
I’m also pleased to include in this month’s newsletter a round-up of the AmCham committees who are working hard behind the scenes to make sure AmCham is represented when policies are being considered, new laws tabled, and exciting opportunities floated. If you would like to nominate someone to join a committee, please contact the Committee Secretariat.
Please click here to read the 1st Quarter 2021 Committee Report.
Yours sincerely,
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April Palmerlee, Chief Executive Officer
American Chamber of Commerce in Australia
E [email protected]
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I’m delighted to welcome these new members and here are links to their websites:
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AmCham is pleased to announce the appointment of the following new Governors.
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Maurice Ben-Mayor
Governor - NSW
President
Stryker
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Corinna Davison
Governor - NSW
Managing Director ANZ
American Express Australia Ltd
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Anne Harris
Governor - NSW
Managing Director ANZ
Pfizer
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Joe Hockey
Governor - NSW
Founding Partner and President
Bondi Partners
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Sue Martin
Governor - NSW
Managing Director ANZ
Johnson and Johnson Pty Ltd
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Lindsay Partridge AM
Governor - NSW
Managing Director
Brickworks
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Jennifer Purdie
Governor - SA
Olympic Dam Asset President
BHP
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Phil Rowland
Governor - NSW
President and CEO ANZ
CBRE
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Robert Skeffington
Governor - NSW
Senior Managing Director
FTI Consulting
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Chris Stemple
Governor - NSW
Vice President and General Manager ANZ
AbbVie
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Lynette Clunies-Ross
Region Vice President & Managing Director | SAS Institute Australia and New Zealand
Lynette Clunies-Ross is a proven and innovative General Manager and Chief Operating Officer, with a unique blend of deep technology, business and operational expertise.
Joining IBM in the nineties, Lynette held systems engineering, consulting, sales and marketing leadership roles. In the last decade with IBM, SAS, Oracle and Citrix, Lynette has undertaken strategic global and regional strategy, business operations and transformation assignments based in Shanghai, Sydney and Singapore.
SAS Institute Australia and New Zealand have been active members of AmCham since 2020.
1. Driving force in your life? I am driven by a “fear of stagnation”, of not learning and growing and moving forward with my goals and aspirations, both professionally and personally. This fuels my passion for helping organisations to solve complex problems, transform their operations and improve decision making, through the application of analytics. It drives my own personal re-invention.
2. Most rewarding part about your job? The most rewarding part of my job is to see the organisation and teams that I lead, pulling in the same direction, supporting each other, doing their best work to enable individual and collective success. I love it when I see great ideas turn into action and great results for customers. I like to think of myself as a ‘talent orchestrator’ constantly identifying and offering up opportunities for talent to develop and grow.
1. Personal motto that helps you power through obstacles? “Better is good” is a motto I first heard from Barack Obama. As a natural perfectionist, it helps me give myself and others a break and opportunity to discover and learn as much from failure as well as success. It also helps to navigate adversity.
4. The biggest risk you took? The biggest risk I have taken was to uproot my family from Australia and take on an international strategic assignment to Shanghai sight unseen. I would say not only was it the biggest risk it was also the most rewarding learning experience in my life to watch the global financial crisis unfold from the vantage point of China’s phenomenal growth!
5. Best advice you ever received? “If before you used to shout, now whisper”. The more leadership responsibility and accountability you take on, the more your words and actions are amplified. In the past 12 months, in a virtual working environment, this has become even more important to encourage diversity of opinions and ensure all voices are heard, not just the loudest!
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PwC Australia to Create 300 Jobs in Adelaide With New Onshore Delivery Centre
PwC Australia
PwC Australia is expanding its presence in South Australia and today announced plans to open a new onshore delivery centre in Adelaide which will create 300 new highly skilled jobs within 18 months. The centre will give local university students the opportunity to ‘work while they study’ in a field directly related to future employment. Due to open in July 2021, the centre will provide onshore delivery capabilities in cybersecurity, cloud and financial audit services.
PwC Australia’s onshore delivery centre will include appropriate training in the vocational and tertiary system to feed the centre with the skills required. The aim is to move into new skills and capabilities with a view to develop ‘homegrown’ talent to drive growth in high demand areas - to build the talent of the future for the Australian market as well as supporting PwC Australia’s clients.
Tom Seymour, CEO of PwC Australia, said, “Our plan to open a new onshore delivery centre in Adelaide demonstrates our ongoing commitment to investing in Australia and Australian skills.
“University students in Adelaide can gain a real edge by taking this opportunity while they pursue their studies. Skilled workers from around Australia will also have the chance to join a dynamic team at the centre and experience the innovation that PwC and the vibrant city of Adelaide have to offer.
“As part of PwC Australia’s digital transformation strategy, we are making a significant investment in growth to meet the rising demand for skills in cyber, cloud and assurance services, plus increasing our capacity onshore to address data sovereignty and security concerns.
“The initial focus of the centre is on cyber, cloud and financial audit services and this is a reflection of the high market need due to the skills shortage exacerbated by border closures. We expect to see significant growth over the first 3-5 years of the centre with a blend of experienced technical and managerial staff as well as a strong pipeline of junior staff with relevant technical qualifications,” said Seymour.
Jamie Briggs, Managing Partner of PwC Australia’s Adelaide office, said, “The South Australian Government has a strong focus on cybersecurity as an area of economic growth, making Adelaide the new destination for innovation. Its bold yet cool vibe makes it the city Australians want to work in, whether they live in or out of state. It is opening up new and different prospects for resourcing and helping to build Australia’s workforce of the future.
Read the full media release here...
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Shop Small Returns as a Year-Round Movement to Help Accelerate Small Business Recovery
American Express
American Express is backing the recovery of small business by transforming Shop Small into a year-round movement, incentivising customers to spend where it is needed most. American Express Card Members who first save the Shop Small offer to their eligible Card, will get three extra points per dollar spent with participating small businesses until 31 March 2022, in-store or online, up to 40,000 extra points.
Now in its ninth year, Shop Small celebrates the valuable contributions small businesses make to their communities. Traditionally held in the lead up to Christmas, this year’s shift to an always-on initiative, aims to assist small businesses that have been affected by the Covid crisis as they navigate the road to recovery.
Read more...
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ConocoPhillips Awards Contracts for Supply of Barossa Subsea Infrastructure
ConocoPhillips
The major contract, covering the Transport and Installation of all the SURF infrastructure as well as the supply of the infield flowlines, has been awarded to Subsea 7 with project management and engineering to be based in Perth, WA.
Two other EPC contracts have been awarded: to Aker Solutions for supply of the umbilicals and to National Oilwell Varco Denmark I/S for supply of the flexible risers.
“Award of the SURF contracts is an important milestone for the project with contracts now in place for all the major facilities, following the earlier award of separate contracts for the FPSO facility, Gas Export Pipeline and Subsea Production System.” said Steve Ovenden, ConocoPhillips Australia-West Vice President for the Barossa Development.
Read more...
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GE Scientists Developing Technology to Add COVID-19 Virus Detector to Your Mobile Device
GE
Building on a suite of successful sensing technologies that have resulted in field demonstrations and a commercial launch for industrial monitoring, GE Research has been awarded a 24-month NIH grant (U01AA029324) of the RADx-rad program to develop miniature sensors that can detect the presence of the COVID-19 virus nano-particles on an array of different surfaces.
“One of the first lines of defense against any virus is avoiding exposure, which is easier said than done when you can’t see it,” said Radislav Potyrailo, a principal scientist at GE Research and principal investigator on the NIH project. “Through our project with the NIH, we are developing a sensor small enough to embed in a mobile device that could detect the presence of the COVID-19 virus.”
Learn more…
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Doing Business in Australia Guide
Mazars
Conducting business across borders involves challenges and complex decisions. If you’re a business looking to establish an effective and successful business in Australia be sure to check out the useful Doing Business in Australia Guide compiled by Mazars. This guide provides an overview of key legal and regulatory areas to create a practical, action-focused resource. The guide will help you ask the right questions in areas such as foreign investment policy, tax requirements, insurance regulations, employment laws and government initiatives.
Download guide...
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Best Lawyers names Ben McLaughlin Lawyer of the Year for Life Sciences, Sydney, 2022
Baker McKenzie
Baker McKenzie's Healthcare & Life Sciences Group congratulate Ben McLaughlin for being recognised by Best Lawyers as Lawyer of the Year for Life Sciences Practice in Sydney, 2022. Only a single lawyer in a specific practice area and location is honoured with a Lawyer of the Year designation. Ben has also been recognised for his work in Corporate / Governance and Mergers and Acquisitions Law.
For more on Best Lawyers 2022 see here...
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MSTS Rebrands as TreviPay, Ushering in a New Era of Business-to-Business Payments Amid Digital Commerce Transformation
TreviPay
TreviPay, formerly MSTS, a global B2B payments company announced a rebrand in March to reflect its role as the preferred B2B payment provider for leading Fortune 500 companies and small- to mid-sized businesses.
The transition to TreviPay builds on MSTS’s legacy of helping clients grow by streamlining B2B payments through a combination of innovative technology, service expertise, and working capital to improve their customer’s experience and free up funding for growth. TreviPay addresses the challenges of merchants and suppliers with credit decisioning and onboarding, producing an invoice that a buyer can easily consume and pay, and related accounts receivable processes from dunning to collections.
TreviPay helps its clients unlock new or challenging customer segments and geographies, simplify complex purchasing processes, and navigate eCommerce and marketplace expansion.
Read more...
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Virtual International Internship Program
Global Experiences
Has your business moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic? Are you looking for short-term help within your organisation?
The Global Experiences virtual international internship program connects businesses facing commercial challenges with university students and graduates with specialised skills who could make a lasting difference.
Global Experiences are looking for Australian companies and organisations interested in hosting a student for part time virtual internships. If you have a project or need help with daily tasks they have students to help out. They recruit, vett and match interns to your company at no cost to you. Global Experiences work with university students from North America and Asia and they are looking for work experience to complement their studies. For more information, please email Andrea or call on 0432521528. Feel free to look at their website www.globalexperiences.com and www.aifsabroad.com/internships/
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