Operation Get Google: Business leaders in campaign to lure tech giant to Adelaide

THE new Premier should make a bold pitch to get Google’s Australian headquarters located in Adelaide after a bid in Sydney that would have created up to 10,000 jobs fell through, some of our top business and academic leaders have urged.

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PREMIER Steven Marshall and Adelaide Lord Mayor Martin Haese should drop everything, get on a plane and convince Google to establish its headquarters in Adelaide, some of the state’s top business and academic leaders have urged.

As news broke that a development proposal for a tech hub in Sydney, with Google as its anchor tenant, has been rejected by the NSW Cabinet, SA business leaders are urging political leaders to strike while the iron is hot.

SA Property Council executive director Daniel Gannon said if NSW won’t come to the party in terms of desirable sites and incentives, then a business-minded South Australia should.

“Premier Steven Marshall and Lord Mayor Martin Haese should literally drop everything, get on a plane and do the deal to secure this global household brand,” he said.

University of Adelaide Vice-Chancellor Peter Rathjen said he would very much like to see companies like Google coming to the state’s capital.

“We recognise that to make that happen, it would take a partnership between the University of Adelaide, the City of Adelaide and the South Australian Government, and we’re willing to do our part,” Professor Rathjen said.

The Google headquarters in California.

The Lord Mayor said the council had already made contact with Google to discuss its 10 Gigabit program and “would welcome” the tech giant establishing its Australian headquarters in the CBD.

“Adelaide is currently rolling out 10 Gigabit Adelaide, the fastest data network in the nation,” Mr Haese said.

“As a result, we now have something that no other city in the nation can offer.

After spending over two years preparing, we are ready for organisations like Google to establish a presence here in the city.”

Mr Haese said he was very keen to discuss the next steps with Mr Marshall and the property sector as soon as possible.

A spokeswoman said “the State Government has been in contact with Google to further explore its Australian intentions and requirements, and will be promoting South Australia as an attractive place to invest”.

Google has 1300 employees in Sydney. Reports have suggested the new tech hub could have increased its workforce to as high as 10,000.

Mr Gannon said SA should do a deal to secure the global brand.

“Our pitch is simple, and should focus on people and lifestyle because we have what the world needs,” Mr Gannon said.

“South Australia is a global food bowl and international wine mecca, a cultural entertainment stage, an emerging biomedical research powerhouse.

“Our high-data using industries like film and medical imaging are about to boom under the transformational 10 Gig Adelaide infrastructure currently in the pipeline, and we have a healthy start-up and entrepreneurial sector.”

Business SA chief executive Nigel McBride, who has consistently argued State Government’s should not pick winners, said this morning there was merit in talking to the global giant.

“We think simply picking winners is wrong, but we need a new approach to attracting big companies because we have one of the best business environments, working conditions and lifestyles in the world,” Mr McBride said.

“Having said that, there will be times when there are extraordinary opportunities to enhance our brand as a state and get international attention, and where the State Government should consider what it does in turn to attract major companies.

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“There are many ways, not simply writing a cheque, including asking Google what they’re looking for and what their considerations are, such as access to high quality staff.

“We need to proactively put to them that we can offer a lifestyle viewed as one of the best in the world, having been named the world’s fifth most liveable city.”

Last week The Advertiser revealed Google could be one of the companies targeted by the council to establish a presence in Adelaide as a result of the new high speed internet system to be rolled out in the CBD and North Adelaide.

Both Mr McBride and Mr Gannon suggested the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site on North terrace could be a potential site for the Google headquarters.

Mr Gannon said: “The ORAH site — with its superior connectivity to residential living and public transport — is a no-brainer, particularly because the Premier has a plan to appoint a chief entrepreneur to oversee the creation of an innovation and start-up business hub in a historic corner of the old hospital.”

The pair also talked up Adelaide’s liveability as a perfect case for Mr Marshall and Mr Haese to pitch to Google.

“While thousands of Australians are being locked out of the housing market on the eastern seaboard due to spiralling costs, we enjoy relative housing affordability in South Australia as the second most affordable state to buy a house or unit in the country,” Mr Gannon said.

“If Google wants to keep its employees happy, then it should relocate to a jurisdiction where the median house price starts with a ‘4’ rather than ending with ‘million’.”

Mr McBride said mega companies are looking for small boutique cities, such as Silicon Valley, Stockholm, Austin and Dublin.

“We’re among the small boutique cities which are the most liveable in the world,” he said.

“Adelaide offers plenty of advantages, such as lifestyle, great schools and universities, it’s safe and accessible, it’s the fifth most liveable city, it’s globally recognised as one of the best places to live and raise a family, and we have an amazing food and wine culture.

We have extraordinary advantages.”

Google has declined to comment.