Australia to Spend $575M on Tech Including Blockchain to Boost Pandemic Recovery

[kolbalish]

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced the federal government has set aside nearly A$800 million (US$575 million) to invest in digital technologies as part of its coronavirus recovery plan.

Morrison announced the news Tuesday, saying the funding is aimed to help the country's businesses recover from the economic effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as create more jobs.
While Australia hasn't been hit as badly as nations like the U.S. and India by the virus, it has still seen around 27,000 cases and nearly 900 deaths in total, according to its official figures.
After seeing growth for a record 30 years, the coronavirus has now tipped the country into a recession as lockdowns sent spending spiraling.
The US$575 million investment, to be concreted in the 2020 budget, is part of Morrison's plan to bounce back from the pandemic.
In the announcement, he sets out that varying amounts will be spent on different prongs of the plan, including:
$256.6 million on a digital identity solution that will make it easier and more secure to interact with government services (and later, the private sector).
$419.9 million to fully implement the Modernizing Business Registers (MBR) program.
$22.2 million will go to help small businesses utilize digital technologies through tools and training made available under the Australian Small Business Advisory Service.
Blockchain technology gets a specific mention with a $6.9 million initiative that will see two pilots aimed to cut business compliance costs.
Other prongs include the accelerated rollout of 5G and industry trials of the technology, a "regulatory technology commercialization initiative" to improve compliance and support digital technology companies, and an effort to mandate the adoption of electronic invoicing by July 1, 2022, for government agencies.
“The Plan supports Australia’s economic recovery by removing out-dated regulatory barriers, boosting the capability of small businesses and backs the uptake of technology across the economy,” the prime minister said in the announcement.

Reference- https://www.coindesk.com/australia-to-spend-575m-on-tech-including-blockchain-to-boost-pandemic-recovery

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[momchilandonov]

Not so big amount of money for the whole country. Anyway, better than nothing

[el kaka22]

Honestly half a billion dollars is nothing considering it is a whole nation that is putting up this money, just to give you an example USA has printed more than 4 trillion dollars and given that away to companies and people, 4 trillion vs 500 million, consider that.

I know the story here is that we are going to see blockchain investments in this as well but that will not have any sort of price change for us neither, we have a lot of trade every single day, hundreds of millions even in billions so having just one blockchain investment for once doesn't really change much to us neither. It is nice news obviously to know that they are looking at blockchain as something good and investable which is a nice gesture but it is just a psychological good thing and will not have real changes.

[Lorence.xD]

Honestly half a billion dollars is nothing considering it is a whole nation that is putting up this money, just to give you an example USA has printed more than 4 trillion dollars and given that away to companies and people, 4 trillion vs 500 million, consider that.

Maybe the reason that the fund for pandemic recovery was small was because the people that was infected and affected by the virus was also small. That 4 trillion that was printed was because got more infection rate during the pandemic.

[proTECH77]

Covid-19 has reduce the economy of Australia to lower level which the government is trying to bring the economy back as normal.

I guess with the money the Australia government has released to boost the pandemic recovery, it will help the citizens to free from lockdown, corona virus, and business failure in the country. Many people will return back to their normal business and many investors will start investing to different sectors as usual.

[sheenshane]

IMO, If the Prime Minister was the one who initiated it, then there's a very high possibility that Cryptocurrency will then be accepted by the world.
Australia already earned the respect of everyone. Their initiation will then be considered.  This ain't just a recovery plan. It's a disruption, and I will not be more than agree with the decision of Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

However, we know that each country now had combat the coronavirus not keep spreading, they do anything even they spent a big amount of money just to stop this pandemic.

[tsaroz]

IMO, If the Prime Minister was the one who initiated it, then there's a very high possibility that Cryptocurrency will then be accepted by the world.
Australia already earned the respect of everyone. Their initiation will then be considered.  This ain't just a recovery plan. It's a disruption, and I will not be more than agree with the decision of Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

However, we know that each country now had combat the coronavirus not keep spreading, they do anything even they spent a big amount of money just to stop this pandemic.

Internet based system with little or no human interaction are on rise with the need on social distancing and crypto and blockchain are surely going to act as both tool and ends.
Australia surely is one of the most crypto friendly nation from start. People can freely buy and sell crypto and they have bitcoin atms in Melbourne and sydney. Universities like Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and University of Technology sydney are offering courses on blockchain.

[Gozie51]

Covid-19 has reduce the economy of Australia to lower level which the government is trying to bring the economy back as normal.

I guess with the money the Australia government has released to boost the pandemic recovery, it will help the citizens to free from lockdown, corona virus, and business failure in the country. Many people will return back to their normal business and many investors will start investing to different sectors as usual.

This money coming into the economy will definitely help the country because many will get loan to start little businesses. Moreover, it is little businesses that help the different economy to flourish. I expect the Australian economy to grow soon.

[batang_bitcoin]

I wouldn't point out the amount of budget. But let's see the positive side of it which is being noticed by the Prime Minister. If there's a go signal coming from him then the country can be another place where investors or startups can go for their blockchain projects.
The pandemic has opened the idea of investing to blockchain technology and this is a good initiative from them as I've heard the news before on Brisbane that they accept bitcoin. They are being open to blockchain and cryptocurrency and that's the good news on this article.

[Hydrogen]

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced the federal government has set aside nearly A$800 million (US$575 million) to invest in digital technologies as part of its coronavirus recovery plan.

Blockchain technology gets a specific mention with a $6.9 million initiative that will see two pilots aimed to cut business compliance costs.

Less than 1% of their recovery fund is devoted to bitcoin and crypto.

If their goal is to cut business compliance costs through crypto. It might be more effective to offer tax cuts or credits to bitcoin users to encourage crypto agnostic businesses to adopt it. The advantage with tax cuts is them requiring little or no liability spending. Bitcoin and crypto probably aren't taxed enough for cuts to have any impact.

With the united states economy currently being repressed by corona virus lockdowns. Nations like australia might look to take advantage of america's negative economic situation to expand their own economies at america's expense.

[justdimin]

I believe these are the small starts that will make the difference, you may think 575 million dollars is not a lot of money and I agree that when we are talking about governmental help it may not be enough, it may look small, but when you consider how much this could help startups in Australia to be interested in blockchain, I can tell you that you can build at least 100 companies with 5 million dollars help to each and that 100 company could make Australia a lot more crypto country, it could help them have a lot better results from taxes as well and have a lot of hyped up and high level marketing people as well, these are not the get in and make it big amounts, these are milestones when you do it the future is a lot better thanks to it, slow process but still a better result.

[crwth]

Those regulated barriers for economic recovery probably need that upgrading. It's not that much, but it still worth exploring. Australia has stepped up when it comes to investing in new technologies that and there is no denying that crypto has come a long way from before. I hope the other countries step up and follow it in a way that could benefit the citizens with them. The most important thing is that the citizens would get to benefit from that budget.

We all aim for recovery, and maybe crypto is the key. Let's see.

[AmoreJaz]

I believe these are the small starts that will make the difference, you may think 575 million dollars is not a lot of money and I agree that when we are talking about governmental help it may not be enough, it may look small, but when you consider how much this could help startups in Australia to be interested in blockchain, I can tell you that you can build at least 100 companies with 5 million dollars help to each and that 100 company could make Australia a lot more crypto country, it could help them have a lot better results from taxes as well and have a lot of hyped up and high level marketing people as well, these are not the get in and make it big amounts, these are milestones when you do it the future is a lot better thanks to it, slow process but still a better result.

it is better to start small, so when they reap their success, it will be fulfilling for all those stakeholders. because if they will allocate huge funds and the results are below their expectations, it will just be a disappointment!
 they are already allotting millions of dollars to blockchain tech, it means, they believe in some way it will have impact on their economy.
if they see good results, then maybe they will grant more funds. so imo, whether they are giving small or big allocation right now, it is how they will optimize this fund to deliver whats need to be done! it is just their starting point.

[oHnK]

Honestly half a billion dollars is nothing considering it is a whole nation that is putting up this money, just to give you an example USA has printed more than 4 trillion dollars and given that away to companies and people, 4 trillion vs 500 million, consider that.

I think the amount of money that the Australian government has spent in dealing with covid on the basis of digital technology is not a big or small issue of funds.  But what matters most is how effective these policies will be in boosting their economies during this pandemic.  The size of the funds does not guarantee the effectiveness of policies, but how well the government can manage these funds so that they are as effective as possible can have a big positive impact on the economy.  Looking at the comparison of the countries you mentioned, it doesn't seem like apple to apple, it's clear that the US is one of the most densely populated countries while Australia is not that big.  Looking at the number of victims of Covid, the US is the highest in the world, while Australia is not that high.  So, it is no longer rational to compare them.

[Yatsan]

Honestly half a billion dollars is nothing considering it is a whole nation that is putting up this money, just to give you an example USA has printed more than 4 trillion dollars and given that away to companies and people, 4 trillion vs 500 million, consider that.

Maybe the reason that the fund for pandemic recovery was small was because the people that was infected and affected by the virus was also small. That 4 trillion that was printed was because got more infection rate during the pandemic.

I agree. The reason why the Australian government have put up a back up fund is for the recovery of its economy which is not directly affected by the pandemic considering the 27,000 infected cases and 900 death poll compared to the large number that the US has which is already 7,000,000 cases. With such number, the amount spend is already considerable and appropriate to be stated for those different nations are into different situation. Better to have even a small amount than nothing well at least the government is doing what it can do to help its people to start up adapting into the latest technology that they think can gradually help them to recover.

Honestly half a billion dollars is nothing considering it is a whole nation that is putting up this money, just to give you an example USA has printed more than 4 trillion dollars and given that away to companies and people, 4 trillion vs 500 million, consider that.

I think the amount of money that the Australian government has spent in dealing with covid on the basis of digital technology is not a big or small issue of funds.  But what matters most is how effective these policies will be in boosting their economies during this pandemic.  The size of the funds does not guarantee the effectiveness of policies, but how well the government can manage these funds so that they are as effective as possible can have a big positive impact on the economy.  Looking at the comparison of the countries you mentioned, it doesn't seem like apple to apple, it's clear that the US is one of the most densely populated countries while Australia is not that big.  Looking at the number of victims of Covid, the US is the highest in the world, while Australia is not that high.  So, it is no longer rational to compare them.

Yes I agree. The amount doesn't matter at all but the effectivity it can guarantee to the people to make up a recovery is the important thing to be seen in here. No matter how big or small the fund is, if there is no effective policies to make up the recovery, then all will make no sense.

[hatshepsut93]

Blockchain is not relevant to Bitcoin, and if some government does something with blockchain, or how it often happens on practice, they just announce that they will do something with blockchain, it all doesn't mean that they will like Bitcoin. Blockchain technology these days has very little in common with Bitcoin - it's centralized, it's mutable, it's made by and for companies, not communities. This isn't some positive news for Bitcoin hodlers.

[fiulpro]

Honestly half a billion dollars is nothing considering it is a whole nation that is putting up this money, just to give you an example USA has printed more than 4 trillion dollars and given that away to companies and people, 4 trillion vs 500 million, consider that.

I know the story here is that we are going to see blockchain investments in this as well but that will not have any sort of price change for us neither, we have a lot of trade every single day, hundreds of millions even in billions so having just one blockchain investment for once doesn't really change much to us neither. It is nice news obviously to know that they are looking at blockchain as something good and investable which is a nice gesture but it is just a psychological good thing and will not have real changes.

Exactly
What did USA achieve till now ?
Have the pandemic started getting better there both economically and psychologically?
Have the people who received money 💰 from the government able to still go on with their loans, tasks ?

The government needs to understand a very basic thing: Charity for people is a good thing (especially when the elections are there )

But we have to look for a better solution.

They have to get people jobs.
They have to make sure work be shifted online.
People who are not familiar with the IT sector needs a lot of consideration too since most of the times I see people are just ignored when it comes to job profiling if they are unfamiliar with the computers.
Government have to put in trials faster for the vaccination.
We have to build a mask which can be safely reused!
Homeless people can also be the carrier and have more problems , so those people needs help , settle them in some government made shelters.
If in the US government was able to build a whole place for the refugees and mexicans , they can do a good deed too!
They need to open booths to check people's health for free of cost since insurance companies are not helping.


There are a lot of things that needs to be done ✅ but right now giving them money is not a permanent solution, it's very beneficial temporary but if they want a solid lead they need better governance and take better steps which would eventually help their economy in the long run.

[TheGreatPython]

A good plan, once they make use of the money in the right way they will be able to build up their economy again. And I like the fact that they are doing that’s something that’s going to be helpful to small businesses, because these ones has been hit pretty badly by this coronavirus and lockdown. So, it’s good that they are setting aside funds that will be of help to them.

Government in my country is also doing the same and they have released funds to support over 1 million small businesses. Though I have not heard any other concerning that as of recent , so not sure as to what has happened next.

[n0ne]

This is real growth with the country. What's been allocated for the purpose of market recovery is quite big compared to other countries which never mind of the prevailing situation. Giving importance for the tech growth, in specific the growth of blockchain technology keeps Australia steps ahead of other countries in the world. People are still in the ring and were not able to move same as before the pandemic, but the governments just try to retain the economy without much importance given to people.

[ashmodeus]

well, still under 30k cases ( by this time ) and already have a big cost to boosting back the economic, i wonder how other country like INDIA or USA for recovery.

Government in my country is also doing the same and they have released funds to support over 1 million small businesses. Though I have not heard any other concerning that as of recent , so not sure as to what has happened next.

well about it, there is nothing you can do but entrust your own government , some incident like a riot maybe can be happened due the panicked or frustrated the civil during this pandemic.