Australia, Jeremy Cordeaux warned on this week’s Court of Public Opinion, risks talking itself out of the future. Moving from runaway project costs to a quieter form of self-harm, he took aim at the red tape he believes could push the artificial-intelligence industry — and its highly mobile capital — clean out of the country.
A Decade To Approve Almost Anything
Jeremy began with the glacial pace of Australian process, pointing to approvals that can drag on for eight to ten years even for relatively minor developments — timelines that would be laughable if they weren’t so damaging.
In an industry that moves at speed, that kind of delay is lethal. The technology world will not sit around for a decade waiting on a permit. Make people wait, Jeremy argued, and they simply take the project elsewhere.
Nothing Holding It Here
The core of his warning was mobility. Unlike a mine or a farm, an AI business isn’t bound to a place. Its capital is portable and so are its people. Intelligence and investment, he said, flow to where they’re welcome and steer clear of where they’re not.
That is what makes red tape so uniquely hazardous here. Smother the sector in process and delay and there’s nothing anchoring it to Australia. It can relocate to a friendlier jurisdiction almost overnight — and take the jobs and the wealth along with it.
A Race We’re Losing Ground In
Jeremy framed the danger against the broader picture he’s drawn all year: economies like China and India embracing technology and investment at pace. In that contest, a nation that buries innovation under approvals and consultation isn’t merely standing still — it’s slipping backwards.
He tied it to his frustration with the union push to force businesses to seek worker sign-off before adopting AI. Stack that atop decade-long approvals and Australia begins to look openly hostile to the very industry it ought to be wooing.
Clear The Path
His prescription was straightforward: get out of the way. He reminded listeners he’s a real enthusiast for technology, even where the detail escapes him. The opportunity, he said, is vast — but only if Australia allows it to take root.
The alternative is to watch the innovators, the capital and the talent quietly depart for somewhere that says yes. In a world where the industry can settle anywhere, red tape isn’t prudence — it’s an eviction notice.
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Catch the complete Garage edition of The Court of Public Opinion, recorded live around the dining room table.
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