Ms Tracy Keogh:

I thank the Senator for his kind words. They are much appreciated. I will respond first on the report. Many things could be done. We have an e-workers grant, for example, but it is hard for remote working companies to administer and it is not well promoted. There are various things but instead of coming to the committee and asking for one-off items like that or the e-visa that Estonia does very well - there are other models we could adopt from different countries - we would like to open it further and make sure that the things we ask for are viable and will have a meaningful impact. The study is essentially to understand the current landscape. For example, the figure of 216,000 workers is large, but is that the case or not? Can we delve a little further into that? Are there any infrastructure challenges that the Government can work on to support companies to hire outside cities and in more remote areas? That is what we want to do. It is broad, but as soon as the committee starts speaking to the companies we are speaking to, that will begin to firm up. People have been thinking about this but they have not had the opportunity to appear before the committee, as we have been given today. As soon as that gateway is opened, the committee will have floods.