From Canberra to the Kingdom: Former MP’s lucrative job at Saudi megacity
Wyatt Roy, Australia’s youngest-ever MP, has traded in his political career for a high-profile role that has him mingling with royalty in Saudi Arabia.
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Australia’s youngest-ever MP Wyatt Roy traded a rising political career for a high-profile role as head of innovation at Saudi Arabia’s ambitious $730bn desert megacity Neom – a position that earned him prime seats during US President Donald Trump’s landmark visit to the kingdom.
Mr Roy made history in 2015 when then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull appointed him assistant minister for innovation at age 25, before he lost the Queensland seat of Longman the following year.
Now 34, he’s pledged to help the kingdom of Saudi Arabia achieve its costly and ambitious plan, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to diversify the oil-dependent economy by creating an urban utopia with cutting-edge sustainability technology.
When President Trump spoke at an investment forum in Riyadh on Tuesday, Mr Roy was in the crowd documenting the historic event on social media.
In a post uploaded to X, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook, he wrote: “Tonight President Trump said: ‘We are witnessing the birth of a modern Middle East – defined by commerce, not chaos’.
“The President called the Kingdom ‘a major business and high-tech capital of the world’ — with non-oil sectors now leading growth.
“Even Elon was in the room – promising Starlink, robotaxis, humanoid robots … and maybe a tunnel or two.”
It marked the latest post in a series of lengthy and promotional-style messages by the former Liberal MP, seemingly aimed at rebranding Saudi Arabia from oil magnates to environmental champions.
In March, he posted a video on Instagram which showed him wake foiling across the sea while waving the nation’s green flag in celebration of Saudi National Flag Day.
Other posts talk about his participation in Ramadan, electric and self-driving vehicles, and the kingdom’s apparent bid to protect marine life.
Neom is by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and touted as a sustainable megacity where robots perform security, logistics and caregiving functions, along with a range of other technologies including flying cars and an artificial moon.
In a statement about the role last year, Mr Roy said Neom gave him the opportunity to “harness my policy experience in helping to sow the seeds for Australia’s diversification from a resource-reliant economy to one where tech is the third-largest sector of the economy.”
“If we succeed in our mission, Neom will be a dynamic global hub for innovation. We will build a sustainable new pillar of the economy; we will be home to the best global talent and the businesses of the future, solving the world’s most pressing challenges and creating thousands of new, secure jobs. We will give hope to future generations.”
After leaving politics, Mr Roy became the managing director AI data software company Afiniti, and was an executive director of tech lobby group the Tech Council of Australia. He then served as an adviser to Australian start-ups SunDrive and Vow, and as a senior adviser to McKinsey & Company.
After departing from politics, Mr Roy took on the role of managing director at the AI data software company Afiniti.
He then served as an executive director of the tech lobby group, the Tech Council of Australia, and then became an adviser to Australian start-ups SunDrive and Vow, and a senior adviser to McKinsey & Company.
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