Andrew Charlton said that in the last three months of 2023, labor productivity in Australia rose by only 0.9%, and this figure is not high enough to maintain living standards. Without this, the path to higher wages is closed.
Blockchain has the potential to grow Australia's economy on par with air travel, the automotive industry, silicon chip creation and the Internet. The politician believes that blockchain can simplify the maintenance of medical records, tax collection, real estate sales and voting. The technology will be useful for tracking supply chains of goods in real time, and will also reduce the time for processing financial transactions by eliminating intermediaries, the parliamentarian believes.
Australia is too slow to develop rules for regulating digital assets - in fact, there are no laws regarding cryptocurrencies on the continent. Egdrew Charlton hopes lawmakers will speed up the emergence of a regulatory framework that will allow local companies to hold cryptocurrencies on the same basis as traditional assets.
The Member of Parliament cited the example of Singapore, Hong Kong, Europe and the UAE, where the authorities allocate a separate place in the legislation for cryptocurrencies. The Australian government must also address the tech talent shortage as it has struggled to attract more digital asset startups in recent years, argues Andrew Charlton.
According to April data from Coin ATM Radar, Australia was among the top three global leaders in the number of crypto ATMs. Last year, the Commonwealth Treasury proposed regulating cryptocurrencies under laws that apply to traditional financial companies.