Election a victory for ‘anti-extremism’, Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar says as he amps up corporate giving program

The software billionaire says he is glad Australians ‘rejected extremism on the left or right’ as he accelerates a plan for start-ups to donate more equity to social causes.

Scott Farquhar (far left) is accelerating the Pledge 1% corporate giving movement, in which companies pledge 1 per cent of their equity to social causes.

Billionaire Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar has praised the re-election of the Albanese government, saying he is “glad we rejected extremism on the left or right” as he accelerates a movement encouraging start-ups to donate more of their equity to social causes.

Labor’s landslide victory is the latest in a wave of anti-Trump sentiment that has rippled around the world after the US President started a trade war and tirade against the woke corporate movement, singling out diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs for dismantling.

Mr Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ platform – which now includes a plan to impose a 100 per cent tariff on movies made outside the US – has attracted a backlash in the Canadian and Australian polls, where the electorate punished any tilt to the political right.

Mr Farquhar founded the Pledge 1% movement 10 years ago and on Wednesday became its chairman to take the concept global.

It involves tech companies, mainly those in the pre-IPO phase such as Canva, Culture Amp and Airwallex, pledging 1 per cent of their equity to social causes. More than 19,000 companies have joined the movement, pledging more than $US3bn ($4.65bn).

“I’m glad that we rejected extremism on the left or the right. That’s great,” Mr Farquhar said reflecting on the election result.

He highlighted the performance of independent candidates, which have so far won eight seats.

Mr Farquhar donated $1.5m to Teal independents last election. Fellow Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes donated $1m to the movement and $50,000 to ACT independent David Pocock, according to the Australian Electoral Commission Transparency register. Like Mr Farquhar, both payments were made before the 2022 poll and via Boundless Earth, a not-for-profit arm of Mr Cannon-Brookes’ diverse business interests.

“I think people want to do the right thing. Even in the US, people are saying ‘OK, well, what does this new world mean for us?” Mr Farquhar said.

“But giving back is something the left side of politics and the right side of politics agree on. Where they give back might be different, but the idea that you should help other people is pretty universal.”

Anthony Albanese and Atlassian co founder Scott Farquhar at the Packer Family Foundation lunch in February. Picture: Richard Dobson.

Mr Farquhar stepped down as co-chief executive of Atlassian last August. Mr Cannon-Brookes now runs the $US54.44bn software titan solo.

Mr Farquhar said part of the reason he resigned after 23 years in the software business was to spend more time focusing on Pledge 1%.

“It’s kind of a rebalancing where I spend time and instead of spending 80 hours a week at Atlassian – I spend kind of less than a day a week on that (now) – and that gives me more time to have the impact in other areas.

“Pledge 1% has done an amazing job so far, but I’m hoping to be able to have some more conversations with people that haven’t yet heard the story.”

This includes expanding the movement to India, where he said entrepreneurs are returning after spending time in Silicon Valley.

“There’s a reverse migration. It’s a cultural thing where the oldest son is responsible for taking care of their parents. And what we find is a lot of tech entrepreneurs that have lived in the Valley for a long time have ageing parents, and so they’re heading back to India.”

Pledge 1% doesn’t decide what social causes a participating company gives back to, with the movement leaving that up to individual businesses and their employees.

Scott Farquhar, with his wife Kim Jackson, says he can now spend time at Pledge 1% after stepping down as Atlassian co-chief executive last year.

For example, Airwallex has given away $US56m worth of its shares to charity and programs aimed at supporting the next generation of innovators and start-ups. This includes investing $3m in a partnership with the University of Melbourne to increase Australia’s tech talent pool.

“What we do is we help companies build their social impact programs internally, and we have great experience at doing that,” Mr Farquhar said.

“And for every dollar that we put in, we get about $140 out just in equity pledges out the other side. And so there’s very very few things I can do that you have 140 times impact in the world. For me to put you know, a couple million dollars into play on the sand and have that multiplied 140 times, it has a huge impact in the world.

“Over the last decade, we’ve built a powerful network of CEOs, social impact leaders, investors, banks, stock exchanges, and other business stakeholders who believe in the power of business for good. Together, we’re inspiring and supporting the next generation of companies to embed giving back into their DNA from day one.”