Damian Kassabgi

Intake applications for the inaugural cohort for the Global Growth Accelerator Program: #WesternAustralia #CriticalTechnologies to the #USA 🇺🇸are live - for a limited time! 🌍 Western Australian startups and scaleups building the next generation of critical technologies — from #Robotics to #Quantum, #AI to #EnergyStorage, #AutonomousSystems to #AdvancedManufacturing — are encouraged to speak to one of the Invest and Trade Western Australia team to understand how this program can benefit you. Over a 3-month hybrid program, accelerate your US market entry with tailored support aimed at uncovering opportunities for dual-use applications in defence and space. This program will empower startups to navigate the complexities of the US market, ensuring your solutions are positioned for success across both commercial and public sector opportunities. ⏰ Why now? As the US strengthens its #industrial, #energy, #aerospace, and #defense capabilities, there is growing opportunities for innovative solutions from global allies. With significant funding initiatives and a thriving #dualuse ecosystem in #Austin, Texas, now is an exceptional time for WA solutions to make a meaningful impact in the US. What’s in store? 💡 Kick-off boot camp during West Tech Fest, Australia’s premier tech event 🌐 Virtual workshops with US defence & tech leaders 🤝 1:1 mentorship from industry experts and the #Investor-in-Residence ✈️ Business mission to #Central #Texas, aligned with SXSW 2025 in #Austin 🗓️ #Innovators! Express your interest in participating by November 15th: https://lnkd.in/gsDZh-8p #WA - Let’s scale your tech across the pond! 🌊 Erin Jacobs Alex Bertram 🌏 Kim Wiltshire Krystal H. Philippe Pierson Sonja Montague MacKay James Yuen Peta Arbuckle MVO Lisa Nolan Simone Spencer Linda Dawson Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation Government of Western Australia

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⏲️ Less than two weeks remain to apply to join the cohort for the upcoming Global Growth Accelerator Program: WA #CriticalTech to the #USA 🇺🇸 We encourage startups, scaleups and companies who fit the criteria to reach out for a conversation with us to understand the value this program could bring to your growth strategy in the USA. Erin Jacobs Krystal H. Alex Bertram 🌏 Philippe Pierson Sonja Montague MacKay Peta Arbuckle MVO James Yuen Kim Wiltshire #GTM #DualUse #GovTech #Accelerator

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Another #TEAM Tuesday post spotlighting one of the many wonderful Sporting Facilities and Sporting Clubs across Lake Macquarie City. The new-ish Cooranbong Park Sports Complex. My middle son has just finished his first season playing soccer with @southernlakesunitedfc. What a cracker of a season it's been and a joy to be a part of such a great little club and sporting community in Cooranbong. My family and I are big fans of team sport! My husband has been coaching a basketball team for years and I have both managed and played in a women's football team in seasons past. Team sport has so many benefits outside of the obvious advantages of increased physical fitness. Knowing that you're accountable to other people means you show up on time, for your team... win and lose as a team. So many life lessons and opportunities for personal growth operating and functioning within a team. I think it's important to note and acknowledge all the unsung heroes and the hundreds of volunteers who work behind the scenes - including the volunteer coaches and managers who make it possible for our clubs to operate and children and families to be able to participate in team sport across the region. HEALTHY relationships and NAILING TEAMWORK isn't always easy. WORKING WITHIN A TEAM has its natural challenges... we all bring our personalities, needs, interests and varying beliefs to the party. Some are more naturally inclined towards team activities. Others aren't. But as the saying goes - "it takes two to tango". So even if you don't necessarily see yourself as a "TEAM" person... any and every relationship requires a TEAM approach. Learning the art of communication and working together is a vital skill each and every one of us can continue to grow in. The learning for me certainly never stops. How about you? Full video: https://lnkd.in/gc6DWbcU

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What is the government going to do to bring excessively high public service remuneration packages into line with community expectations? AND What can the government do to stop excessively overpaid elites lecturing us about disadvantage?

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My client's response to the Federal Budget's new impact investment initiatives is featured in OnImpact Media. Impact Investing Australia says these initiatives highlight crucial support for social enterprises and measures to address entrenched disadvantage. Read more about how these investments will foster positive social change. #impactinvesting #socialimpact #socialenterprise https://lnkd.in/dZdjibwQ

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It’s been terrific to work alongside the Municipal Association of Victoria’s Housing Taskforce as we prepared a comprehensive paper for the State Government’s engagement process to inform a Plan for Victoria. When tackling significant challenges, setting ambitious goals can be a valuable strategy in devising solutions. In preparing a Plan for Victoria it's crucial for the Victorian government to leverage the expertise and insights of councils to address the housing crisis effectively and foster sustainable communities in the long term. The MAV Housing Taskforce submission builds on the previous papers prepared by the Municipal Association of Victoria late last year in partnership with SGS Economics and Planning, ‘Shaping Metropolitan Melbourne ’ and ‘Shaping Regional & Rural Victoria.’ This submission by the MAV Housing Taskforce is informed by an evidence base prepared by RMIT Centre for Urban Research and focuses on the recent housing targets and the need for a comprehensive statewide Housing Strategy. Our recommendations highlight additional factors requiring attention and emphasise that growth must enhance liveability. This involves actively engaging councils in planning processes and ensuring all levels of government invest in local amenities and infrastructure to meet community needs. The MAV is committed to strengthening partnerships between local, state, and federal governments and the private sector to collaboratively tackle Victoria's housing challenges. I extend my gratitude to all MAV Housing Taskforce members for their timely engagement in this critical work. Together, we can shape a future where everyone can thrive in vibrant, sustainable and inclusive neighbourhoods. Libby Porter Rob McGauran Harriet Shing Sonya Kilkenny Patrick Fensham Planning Institute of Australia Dan Hill 🗺 Bonnie Shaw Kat Panjari James McLean Carmel McCormack Jane Keddie Council of Capital City Lord Mayors Australian Local Government Association Linda Scott (GAICD) Andi Diamond Kelvin Walsh Ron Torres Evan Counsel Evan King Scott Barber Andrew McMaster Stephen Wall Helen Sui Brett Luxford Rebecca McKenzie Rachel Dapiran Emma Appleton Johnathan Guttman Stephen Swart Luke Connell Celia Haddock Sanjay Manivasagasivam MAICD Tennille Bradley-Ow Rachel Sarah Lunn MRICS Dr. Marjan Hajjari Jacqui Weatherill

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Jumped on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) this afternoon to discuss the LNP’s housing plan, released today. Also, considered points of convergence between the Labor and LNP plans, both in focus this state budget week. Check it out, hopefully it offers some interesting analysis. https://lnkd.in/gPiqp-RE #StateBudget #BudgetReply #Queensland #HomeMatters #BetterTogether

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Is your association in a position to Secure Government Grants in 2025? The Australian Government allocates over $800 million annually in business grants, with state governments adding millions more each year. Is your association prepared to access some of this funding? Join our webinar this Thursday, October 31st at 12 noon AEDT, where expert Angela Krepcik, Association Executive Services Consultant, will guide you through the grant application journey. With extensive experience as an association CEO, grant writer, and former Victorian Government grant assessor, Angela provides invaluable insights on: 😎 Understanding the grant application process and assessment criteria 😎 Evaluating your association’s readiness for grant success 😎 Best practices for submitting a winning proposal 😎 Navigating approval, compliance, and contractual obligations 😎 Demonstrating the impact of grants on your association’s growth Don’t miss this chance to enhance your association’s funding potential. To gain insider tips and strategies that could make a real difference for your association register in the link in the comments below #grantwriting #association #associations

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New data on domestic and international travellers who attended theatre, concerts or other performing arts was created by the team at Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade)’s Tourism Research Australia to support our evidence at the Australian Parliamentary Committee inquiry in Live Music. The TRA analysis indicates the number of domestic travellers attending theatre, concerts or other performing arts follows a seasonal pattern with peaks generally in summer months and troughs in the winter. Attendance dropped off significantly through the COVID period but began to recover from early 2022. The number of domestic travellers attending theatre, concerts or other performing arts in March quarter 2024 was 2.5 million and this was was 17% higher than the number in March quarter 2019 (pre-COVID). In 2023, 652,000 international visitors attended theatre, concerts or other performing arts. This was 87% of the number in 2019 (pre-pandemic) and 10% of all international trips in 2023. The number of international visitors in the March quarter of 2024 of 257k was 8% higher than the number in March quarter of 2019. Australian live music and arts performance are clearly valued by our international travellers. When planning for travellers or our own trips - consider how you can include live performances to enhance the experience. #Tourism #Travel #Australia #LiveMusic #Theatre #Arts #Data #PerformingArts #FirstNations Creative Australia Australian Tourism Export Council

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We are currently forecasting a 78-seat majority for Labour but is that due to the general anti-politics mood in the country and what does it mean for them governing? We have being doing this modelling for over 18 months now - long before it was trendy! As the window for set piece events close, can the the Conservative's shift the dial today? Will Conservative tax ‘promises’ cut through - traditionally a hesitation for voting Labour but is anyone listening anymore after 14 years and the D-Day disaster? Farage is a game changer. Still a lot of don’t knows! Remember - where and how Labour win will dictate much of their policy agenda. See where we predict they’ll win. https://lnkd.in/eQafXQst

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The ACT Government welcomes the wide range of initiatives in the 2024-25 Commonwealth Budget that will benefit Canberrans and our city. We know that Canberra households have faced significantly rising costs over the past two years. The $300 Energy Bill Relief for every household in the ACT will provide much needed relief for nearly two hundred thousand Canberra households. Across the five jurisdictions in the National Electricity Market the ACT will continue to have the lowest standing offers in 2024-25 after other jurisdictions increased by up to 29% last financial year. The ACT Government will assess further energy bill relief for Canberra households in the June Territory Budget once the ICRC final price determination is known. The redesigned Stage 3 Tax Cuts will provide income tax relief to every worker in the ACT from 1 July 2024. Collectively, ACT residents will benefit the most from these tax cuts as we have a high proportion of pay-as-you-earn taxpayers in the relevant income tax brackets. We welcome the changes to the tax cuts that were designed to support lower and middle income workers to manage cost of living pressures. While rising cost of living pressures have been broad based, households’ ability to deal with these pressures is unevenly distributed, impacting employees substantially more than others. Almost four in every five taxpayers in the ACT will receive a larger tax cut compared to the previous Liberal Government’s plan. We also welcome the HECS debt relief for 57,000 people in the ACT, predominantly providing support to younger Canberrans who have recently graduated. The changes, particularly the fact they have been backdated, are a necessary intervention to avoid unfair outcomes for young workers now and into the future. The ACT has the highest proportion of university level educational attainment in the country so, collectively, Canberrans will be the greatest beneficiaries from these changes. The deeming rates freeze will also provide additional cost of living relief to an estimated 14,500 income support recipients in Canberra. Additionally, the Federal Government’s investment through the Strengthening Medicare fund in partnership with the ACT Government will take the pressure off our hospital system and continue to ensure Canberrans get the care they need when they need it. This investment will strengthen our partnership to make our nurse-led walk-in centres even better, delivering more healthcare workers and more services and ensure we can better support older Canberrans can stay out of hospital and get home sooner. We also support the decision in the Budget to freeze the cost of medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The increase of Commonwealth Rent Assistance by a further 10 per cent, building on the 15 per cent increase in last year’s Budget will benefit approximately 7,300 Canberra households.

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It's Budget Day 💹 The Regional Australia Institute will be examining tonight's Budget to see how well it delivers on the RAI's quest to 'rebalance the nation'. We're looking for answers to these particular key questions: ❔ How has the Regional Investment Framework (the Government's signature regional announcement in last Budget) delivered better outcomes for the 9.6m Australians 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 who live outside capital city bounds? ❔ $11.3b for housing 🏡 is welcomed inc. $1b for enabling infrastructure - how much of that will be quarantined for regions & is there enough logistical support for RRR women escaping domestic violence? ❔ Will the Future Made in (regional!) Australia supercharge investment in a REGIONAL manufacturing renaissance and bush-based renewable energy projects? ❔ How are we, as a nation, planning for the continuing great exodus from capital cities to the bush i.e. will the Government commit to a #nationalpopulationplan? 🎤 Regional Australians, what are you be looking for in tonight's Budget?? RAI's Budget Submission 👉 https://lnkd.in/gmWNs-de Liz Ritchie | Christian Zahra AM FAICD | Amanda Barwick | Angus Spencer | Melinda Hayter | Cassie Gates | Marisa Cartland | Sarah McCosker | Luke Jeffress Pic: Like country people, Tess the Kelpie, is an eternal optimist.

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When a policy review comes along, it's not just about change for the sake of it, but about ensuring we don't dismantle what's already working. In my column for The Land News & Livestock, I look at the current review of the working holiday visa, and the potentially devastating ramifications of removing it. I invite you to read more on why this matters for our farmers, rural businesses and communities: https://lnkd.in/gtgvegey

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I'm pleased to share with you the latest Infrastructure Victoria research, ‘Weathering the Storm: Adapting Victoria’s Infrastructure to Climate Change’. The research finds that action to better prepare Victoria’s infrastructure for more frequent and extreme weather can keep Victorians safer, limit disruption and reduce the costs of disaster recovery. Victoria’s infrastructure was not built for our changing climate. But governments will not be able to do everything, everywhere, all at once to adapt it. Governments have many options to better adapt infrastructure to climate change. Our research shows how to better assess these options. It gives governments the tools to help them make decisions about how and where to invest in adapting infrastructure to make the most difference. We use 3 case studies to test the method we have developed: flooding and bushfire risks for Victoria’s roads and extreme wind risks for the electricity distribution network. Each example compares different solutions. The examples show low-cost adaptation solutions, such as preventative maintenance for roads or replacing overhead electricity conductors with insulated cables, can have a large return on investment. Options like choosing more robust construction materials or applying a different design can also come with little added costs and real benefits. Victoria spends about $3 billion every year recovering from extreme weather events. The Productivity Commission estimates that just 3% of Australian Government spending on disasters is invested in proactive efforts to limit the impact of future events. That represents a big opportunity to invest more in prevention and minimise disruption and harm to communities. The report makes 7 recommendations to help the Victorian Government better assess and prepare infrastructure for more frequent and extreme weather. You can read the report and technical documents here: https://lnkd.in/gKzP4qKt Please join me, Director of Research and Economics Llewellyn Reynders and Principal Policy Officer Caroline Evans for a live webinar and Q&A on Wednesday 1 May, 9.30am – 10.30am to discuss the findings and recommendations from our research. You can register for the webinar here: https://lnkd.in/gm-gTq3k #climatechange #infrastructure #adaptation #research

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It’s easy to forget corporate activity is an important part of public markets and while it might be sad to see some firms depart the NZX Limited, with others I’m sure some investors will be counting their lucky stars. For every Diligent that rapidly accumulates value after shareholders sell out, there’s an Airwork Holdings Ltd that’s buffeted about by events beyond its control. The big issue at the moment, as Eden Bradfield pointed out last week in his excellent weekly newsletter (you should subscribe), there’s very little liquidity going on in the mid and small-cap space – something that seems ripe for the picking by some plucky upstart market maker (nudge nudge). Here’s my latest at BusinessDesk NZ. https://lnkd.in/gzxCksp7 

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Ramping up Human Resources at the IRD is pointless. What we need are smarter, more efficient systems and processes to track tax liabilities and collect them effectively. We should be putting in place policies that make tax evasion costlier than simply paying taxes. Without this, the gap between the “3rd Cross Street mudalali” and the working class will only continue to widen. Just as it has over the past few decades. 🫥 #SriLanka #TaxReforms #Policies

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With ASIC (deservedly) under fire for being comprehensively broken, it's worth remembering the government is very much part of the problem (ICYMI): https://lnkd.in/gvBzKefX

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How do we improve independent scrutiny during policy reform? Independent scrutiny is critical to sound public policy governance, but how do we get the most out of it? 1️⃣ Who commissions the review matters! 2️⃣ Choose truly independent consultants. 3️⃣ Ensure a direct line to decision-makers. 4️⃣ Protect confidentiality. ➡️ Learn how to fix your reviews for better policy-making in my latest article: https://lnkd.in/gGzy-4Xm #PublicPolicy #Governance #PolicyReview

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