From firefighter to policy architect: how AI frees government affairs to shape better public policy for Australia

Three weeks ago I had lunch with a Government Relations Director at a Top 20 ASX resources company.

Brilliant guy. Fulbright Scholar. Twenty years navigating Canberra. The works.

Something wasn't right though. He looked exhausted. Not normal tired. The kind of tired that comes from months of grinding.

"How's it going?" I asked.

"Honestly? Drowning. I'm working till midnight most nights just to keep up."

Then I asked what he was working on.

His answer gutted me: "Stakeholder updates. Briefing packs. Monitoring reports. The usual."

"What about the Future Made in Australia policy? Your company could shape that."

Long pause.

"Yeah... I know. Just haven't had the bandwidth to get strategic on it yet."

That's when it hit me: Australia's policy outcomes aren't being shaped by who has the best ideas. They're being shaped by who's not too busy to show up.

Australia's policy deficit problem

Australia faces a policy development crisis that few recognise.