A Labor politician has left attendees of Australia’s premier tech conference scratching their heads after giving a lengthy speech about how ‘A-one’ was reshaping society.
Victorian parliamentary secretary for jobs Bronwyn Halfpenny was presumably referring to AI, or artificial intelligence, during her pre-written speech at the $1,500-a-ticket National Tech Summit in Melbourne.
She told the crowd how ‘A-one’ was revolutionising the economy, that ‘A-one’ would become a permanent part of Australia going forward and how the jobs market would have to shift to accommodate ‘A-one’, reported Nine Newspapers.
Ms Halfpenny later tried to downplay the embarrassing gaffe by posting a picture of herself posing with staff at the A1 bakery in Brunswick, Melbourne, on Thursday.
‘Should have been here on Tuesday when A1 Bakery was on my mind,’ she captioned the photo posted to her social media accounts.
‘Finally made it today. Thanks to Grace and Jules for the delicious food as always!’
The venue – while it is a popular coffee joint which serves well-reviewed Lebanese baked goods – has nothing to do with artificial intelligence.
Ms Halfpenny’s speech was made in front of some of the nations biggest technology movers and shakers with Atlassian co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht and Google’s director of engineering Roisin Parkes also speaking at the event.
Victorian Liberal member for North-Eastern Metropolitan Region, Richard Welch, later tweeted the speech made him ‘weep for Victoria’.
Federal industry and science minister Ed Husic, there to let the sector know the Albanese government was backing it, must have been particularly mortified.
‘Thank you to Bronwyn Halfpenny MP for your support of the tech industry as a whole,’ organiser the Tech Council of Australia wrote.
Ms Halfpenny, the state member for Thomastown, previously worked as the assistant secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union food and confectionary division and as an industrial officer at the Victorian Trades Hall Council.
The event cost Tech Council non-members $1,550 to attend – which included welcome drinks, two days of speeches and a gala dinner – while members were charged $1,250.
According to the Tech Council’s website it ‘works with governments at all levels to ensure that Australia and Australians can take advantage of the vast opportunities that technology brings’.
‘We advise and engage with Australian governments, businesses and the wider community to help support the ongoing creation, development, and adoption of technology across industries.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Halfpenny and the Tech Council for comment.