Dave Sharma (Wentworth, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last month I was privileged to welcome the Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, to Sydney to meet with the team at Local Measure. Local Measure is a technology business that's helping businesses connect to their customers through digital channels and artificial intelligence. A home-grown success story, it was founded in 2014 by the CEO, Jonathan Barouch, and has since gone global, with teams in the United States, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Cape Town and Singapore. Jonathan and his team are already taking advantage of the changes to employee share ownership schemes, announced in the 2021 budget. As part of our $500 million overhaul, employees are no longer required to pay tax on shares invested in the company they work for after leaving. For unlisted companies, the cap on the value of shares sold or lent to employees will increase to $30,000, up from the present $5,000.

Australia's place in the world will be defined by how we adapt to digital technologies and modernise our economy. COVID-19 has accelerated the increasing use of digital technology and highlighted how it can enhance business and government operations. Local Measure is leading the way in Australia, and the Treasurer and I were lucky enough to test out their AI-driven customer service platform and hear from their passionate workforce about how the tech sector in Australia is creating jobs, exports and opportunities. Thank you to Jonathan and all the team at Local Measure for the important work they are doing in developing Australia's digital economy. We are only at the start of this exciting journey.