Tech investor Steve Baxter funds Washington trip for politicos
Queensland tech entrepreneur Steve Baxter is funding a Washington trip for five young politicos who he says could become the next generation of conservative leaders in Australia.
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Queensland tech entrepreneur Steve Baxter is heading off to Washington with five young Australians to attend the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this month.
The former Shark Tank judge is funding the trip for the political hopefuls aged under 30 with the help of CPAC Australia president Andrew Cooper. Baxter say the aim is to help build the next generation of conservative leaders in Australia at a time when the views of those on the centre right are often shouted down.
The visit to the conference, which helped launch President Donald Trump’s campaign for the White House, is part of the CPAC Young Explorers program to empower participants with the skills and self-assurance to articulate their beliefs.
Baxter tells your diarist that the five young people were selected by taking part in a Shark Tank like competition to show they had the ability to articulate a political view. They will be required to post social media content during the conference.
The effort comes as a time when more young people appear to be turning more conservative, t least in the United States.
According to an analysis by Tufts University, young voters as a whole favoured Kamala Harris over Donald Trump, 52 per to 46 cent, in the 2024 presidential election.
However, there was a notable shift toward Trump compared to 2020 when his support amoung young people was just 36 per cent.
Baxter says Trump, who is likely to turn up as guest speaker at the conference, is doing a good job so far in his second stint in the White House. “I would give him an A minus,” he says. “At the moment, you can’t get a bucket of popcorn large enough to watch US politics.”
Power drive
Brisbane-based Battery World Australia has kicked its sports sponsorship presence up a gear. Battery World general manager Johnny Kennedy and his team has extended its partnership with Supercars, which means it will continue as Supercars’ official battery retail partner through to the end of the 2027 season.
The company, which has almost 30 years under its belt, first appeared with Supercars as an event partner of the 2022 Repco Bathurst 1000, stepping up its involvement in 2023 to become the official battery retail partner of the championship.
The retailer is slso hitting the water, sponsoring the 2025 national drivers’ championship for forced induction boats.
Digital message
Brisbane marketing agent BFJ Digital founder Ben Henzell has been busy rearranging his executive team, including adding three new senior roles.
Henzell has promoted Fabian Valadoto to general manager while at the same time hiring Nivedita Pillai as head of digital solutions, Jayden Osborne as creative director and Dana Cano as customer relation manager (CRM) manager.
Founded in 2009, BFJ Digital’s client list now includes Herron Todd White, Harley Davidson, Hyundai, Griffith University, Sealy, Ainslie Bullion, Swyftx, Covermore Group, Smart Clinics, Better Medical, Lutheran Services, Asthma Australia and Lady Gowrie.
Henzell says data will be increasingly important in the marketing world.
“Clients often don’t know the gold nuggets they were sitting on in terms of data, often out of a variety of systems and where to look for them,” he says
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Originally published as Tech investor Steve Baxter funds Washington trip for politicos
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