Under the purple lights of the National Gallery of Australia, Cliff Obrecht holds a beer as he stoops for a selfie with Ed Husic, Labor’s spokesman for Industry and Innovation. Tall with dark eyes and an easy smile, the Canva co-founder is dressed in tech’s pseudo-serious uniform: an unbranded T-shirt and jeans underneath a smartly cut blazer.
It’s Obrecht’s first trip to Canberra. Along with fellow tech heavyweights Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar from Atlassian, he’s there to launch the jobs plan for the recently formed Tech Council of Australia lobby group. Like every tech boss in the country, Obrecht is desperately trying to hire more people.
Jessica SierNorth Asia correspondentJessica Sier is the North Asia Correspondent for The Australian Financial Review. She is based in Tokyo, Japan. Jessica has previously written on technology, global capital markets and economics. Connect with Jessica on Twitter. Email Jessica at jessica.sier@afr.com
