Western Australian independent Wilson Tucker has farewelled the Legislative Council after a four-year term that saw him pushing for smarter innovation and tech policy.
A former software engineer, Mr Tucker co-convened the Parliamentary Friends of Technology and Innovation and pushed his colleagues on “the need to diversify to a service based economy and connecting members with the private sector”.
“I somehow managed to get an Innovation inquiry off the ground, with the government agreeing to eleven of the eighteen recommendations, securing funding and focus for the tech and start-up ecosystem,” Mr Tucker said in a LinkedIn post.
“I also helped to strengthen WA’s data privacy laws and raised issues that I believed in, including relaxing retail trading hour laws, strengthening renters rights, 4-day work week adoption and closing the digital inclusion gap.”
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water Secretary David Fredericks has announced his retirement, which will start on 20 June 2025. Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said Mr Fredericks “has been a source of sound and practical policy advice for the Government” during the energy transition.
The federal government’s National AI Centre has confirmed the appointment of former Microsoft executive Lee Hickin as its new executive director.
A former CTO for Microsoft ANZ and a leader of Microsoft’s Responsible AI team in Asia, Mr Hicken brings over 30 years’ experience to the role. He has also had roles with fellow hyperscaler Amazon Web Services and was a member of the Singapore AI Verify Advisory board.
Griffith University Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Carolyn Evans has been appointed chair of Universities Australia, succeeding University of South Australia Vice-Chancellor and President Professor David Lloyd.
The university sector group also announced the appointment of new board members; University of Tasmania’s Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Rufus Black; Curtin University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Harlene Haynes and University of Sydney’s Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Andrew Parfitt.
Andrew Dettmer, trustee and board member of TAFE Queensland has been terminated 18 months before the expiry of his term, according to his LinkedIn post. The move ends Mr Dettmer’s long association with the organisation, which began in 2002 when he was appointed to the advisory board of Yeronga TAFE.
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner director Kate Bower has out out a call for expressions of interest for new roles at the privacy regulator for complaints handling, freedom of information processing, regulatory intelligence or corporate communications and policy and program coordination.
The Small Business Development Corporation Board has announced three new appointments. Regional business leader Sharni Foulkes will join the Board as chair, while Amit Khullar and Adam Grizich have been appointed as board members for three-year terms.
The South Australian Space Industry Centre (SASIC) has appointed Campbell Pegg as its new director, Space, which it says marks “a significant step in SASIC’s mission to grow the local space industry and build on the state’s strong history of space activity.”
Campbell brings over 15 years of experience in the space industry across five countries, having played a critical role in numerous international and national space missions, and leadership positions across government, commercial and startup sectors.
Atlassian’s Pirow Cronje has been appointed head of operations at Year13 as the youth-focused tech company moves to become “100 per cent AI native”.
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