2020年9月8日

包括風險投資家保羅·巴薩特(Paul Bassat)在內的墨爾本科技行業知名人士擔心，維多利亞州政府的嚴格封鎖限製將對該州經濟產生嚴重而持久的影響，並損害其新興的創業行業。巴薩特還是AFL委員會的董事，他表示，在他的投資基金Square Peg Ventures每周舉行團隊會議，具有“一定的諷刺意味”。盡管以色列每天錄得3000例新冠肺炎病例，但以色列的員工仍在辦公室工作，而墨爾本的員工則被困在家裏，受到世界上一些最嚴格、時間最長的限製。Square Peg Capital的巴薩特(Paul Bassat)表示，中國需要更快退出。巴薩特表示，雖然他並沒有暗示以色列采取了正確的做法，但總理丹尼爾·安德魯斯(Daniel Andrews)提出的結束封鎖的路線圖是基於“令人難以置信的保守基準”，他對封鎖的長期影響感到擔憂。他說:“我們必須找到一種方法，使我們能夠以更快的速度限製經濟運行，而不會再次陷入第三波危機。”“我們必須讓全州和全國所有最優秀、最聰明的人都參與檢測和追蹤工作，因為我認為很明顯，我們沒有達到應有的水平。”巴薩特表示，商界領袖被指責出於自身利益而發言，但他表示，他關心的是他所熱愛的城市和州，Square Peg投資組合中的公司表現“相當不錯”。他說:“我認為，長期封鎖的後果是，經濟活動大幅減少，孩子們基本上錯過了整整一年的教育，至少是麵對麵的教育，我們可能會在未來5年或10年感受到這種影響。”我真的很擔心明年、明年或後年，對我們社區的人來說會是什麼樣子。保羅·巴薩特說:“我認為，作為一個熱愛墨爾本並喜歡住在墨爾本的人…… I'm just really worried about what next year, the following year, or the year after, look like for people in our community, particularly people in need, particularly people who need to get jobs or have mental health issues, or don't have the same educational opportunities." Adir Shiffman, chair of ASX listed sports technology company Catapult Sports , described the government's road map as "a highway to hell" and said instead of a universal lockdown, restrictions should be based on areas where there were clusters of cases. Loading "There are pockets that are booming in tech, like e-commerce, but everyone is very worried, particularly in Victoria, about what happens when JobKeeper ends," he said. "At the moment, the federal government is providing pocket money to the Victorian tech sector and we all know an economic cliff is coming." Mr Shiffman said he had never anticipated there would be this level of sovereign risk involved in basing a business in Melbourne. "I'm sure every business employing staff is reconsidering where to employ them," he said. "There is a tsunami of economic devastation coming to Victoria. In a situation where it is easier to work from anywhere now, Victoria is unreliable in terms of understanding and justifying decision making," he said. "That's not a great investment pitch." However, the co-founder of health startup Halaxy, Alison Hardacre , said founders started businesses where they lived and the lockdown would not change that. Halaxy has staff based in Cork, Ireland, and Ms Hardacre said it was challenging managing workers in the country who had returned to the office while Melbourne employees were stuck at home. She said the government's exit strategy was "very, very conservative" but she understood it from a health perspective. "If Daniel Andrews can announce the financial support measures for businesses as soon as possible, he is going to stem some of the mental health impacts I would hope," she said. Didier Elzinga, founder of employee engagement startup Culture Amp , said there were no easy answers and the government was in a difficult position. "Is it too slow? Probably. Could we open up more quickly? Probably not," he said. "The problem we have at the moment is everyone is feeling deflated and flat. We have to keep an eye out for each other, it is a long slog." Technology Newsletter The top technology stories and reviews delivered weekly. Sign up to The Age's newsletter here and The Sydney Morning Herald's here . Business Briefing Start the day with major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion from our leading business journalists delivered to your inbox. Sign up for the Herald's here and The Age's here .