Are our politicians slowing down progress?

There have been complaints about if the Coalition regained control of the Federal government that it could mean less progress on the NBN and fewer innovations when it comes to Australia’s technological infrastructure.

Now the big guns in the US tech front, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, say that if Donald Trump takes the Oval office, then it will be a “disaster for innovation.”

Nearly 150 officials from the tech field including Wozniak, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Twitter co-founder Ev Williams, and founders of Reddit, Slack, Tumblr, and the man that helped develop the Internet, Vint Cerf, all have signed a petition against the GOP Presidential candidate.

Key areas of concern for the group are Trump’s apparent relation on drumming up racial anxieties and lack of any real policy. Trump’s constant attack on immigration goes against the tech industry’s reliance on talent sourcing from overseas to help create the gadgets and systems that we all use today.

Each person that signed the letter made sure to state that these are their personal views and not the views of their companies, but they do concede that Trump’s election will impact these areas as well. They site that Trump’s call to “shut down” parts of the internet that he doesn’t agree with is evidence of “poor judgment and ignorance about how technology works.”

The backing of Silicon Valley might be what Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton needs to edge out the popular Trump though if you read the papers, she has a few internet based problems of her own.

What do you think about these tech giants banned together against Trump? Do you think the Coalition could do more to ensure Australia’s technological future?