Cannon-Brookes Throws Down Gauntlet On PM’s “Bullshit” Fair Dinkum Power

Images: Mike Cannon-Brookes

Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes has taken exception to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s “fair dinkum power” approach and is creating a brand from the three words.

Here’s the video from Australia’s PM that raised his ire.

You asked about how we’re getting electricity prices down.
Here’s my answer. pic.twitter.com/LFrxFLcLpR

— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) October 23, 2018

Mr. Cannon Brookes’ response:

⚡ Argh! Bullshit mate ? @ScottMorrisonMP you’ve made me mad & inspired me. We need a movement. We need a brand for Australia’s energy future. We need a rallying cry for Australians who believe in ☀️ ?️ & ?. You said it perfectly: “Fair Dinkum Power”. #fairdinkumpower 1/2 https://t.co/cbLOCAvM2f

— Mike Cannon-Brookes ??‍?? (@mcannonbrookes) October 31, 2018

Mr. Cannon-Brookes went on to tweet:

“I’m not sure you know what fair dinkum means. It means fair to Aussies, to our wallets AND to the planet. ⚡ can be reliable, renewable & cheap. @fairdinkumpower registered. Let me get back to you with some logo concepts. Give me an hour.”

He returned with a variety of logos, including this one that was voted most popular as of this morning:

As for the new Twitter account, at the time of publishing @fairdinkumpower was “temporarily restricted” by Twitter due to what it says was unusual activity.

The PM shouldn’t brush off the tweetfest – Mr. Cannon-Brookes has some clout and Mr. Morrison might find he loses control of his message, if he hasn’t done so already.

It was a tweet from Mr. Cannon-Brookes to Tesla’s Elon Musk back in March 2017 that helped see South Australia’s “Big Battery” become reality, and in record time.

On a related note, with “fair dinkum power” now firmly in Australia’s lexicon it’s no surprise that someone has registered the fairdinkumpower.com.au domain name – and it redirects to RenewEconomy, a site focused on renewable energy. Scott Morrison and Energy Minister Angus Taylor missed an opportunity there.

Who Is Mike Cannon-Brookes?

In case you haven’t heard of him, Mike Cannon-Brookes is the co-founder and co-CEO of collaboration software company Atlassian. He is an angel investor in Shoes of Prey, Ninjablocks and Tyro Payments, a Venture Partner at Blackbird Ventures and a mentor/investor at Startmate.

He was the lead backer for home energy funding platform Brighte, which provides on-the-spot finance for solar power and battery systems, plus other home improvements. Brighte was founded by Katherine McConnell in 2015 after her long stint in investment banking and financial services.

Mr. Cannon-Brookes is also an adjunct professor at the University of New South Wales’ School of Computer Science and Engineering, assisting students with start-up ventures, and one of UNSW’s most high-profile graduates.