Tom Venning (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Artificial intelligence—specifically, generative artificial intelligence—presents an enormous challenge for businesses, students, families, governments and departments. We welcome the notion that AI should contribute to the future of Australia's economy and that it should be deployed safely and for the benefit of all, but small funding announcements are not enough. Labor is failing to manage the transition to AI effectively. They are behind the curve. Their complacency is putting our security, our economy and our children at risk. Before entering public life, I wore two hats. I was a farmer, but I was also a strategy consultant. Working at NAB, I helped roll out their generative AI programs. I saw its power firsthand, and I learned how efficient it can be, but this experience also taught me something else. AI is a double-edged sword and a sword that can easily cut into cybersecurity.

The Annual cyber threat report 2024-2025 from the Australian Signals Directorate should be a wake-up call for this government. In FY24-25, under Labor, the Australian Cyber Security Hotline received over 42,500 calls, a 16 per cent increase from the previous year. The Australian Cyber Security Centre also responded to over 1,200 cybersecurity incidents, an 11 per cent increase. During FY24-25, ASD notified entities more than 1,700 times about malicious cyber activity, an 83 per cent increase from last year. Australians are being relentlessly targeted by sophisticated internet scams, and AI is now the weapon of choice for online criminals. Less than two weeks ago, we saw the Prime Minister's phone number amongst many others skimmed by AI. This government has left the door open.

The technologies that I saw drive productivity at NAB that can free up humans for complex tasks requires a workforce ready to harness them, which is why the coalition is right to call for a stronger focus on back to basics and foundational knowledge in our schools. NAPLAN results have shown roughly one-third of students are not meeting expectations in literacy and numeracy. We are setting them up to fail in an AI economy. You can't be a prompt engineer if you don't have the skills of logic, critical thinking and communication. The $47 million for the Next Generation Graduates Program and the TAFE NSW 'Introduction to AI' scholarships are a fine starting point, but they are token gestures compared to the challenges ahead for the next generation.

Finally, let's turn to the growing challenge that threatens to undermine Labor's own climate agenda: the levels of energy required to power AI. The very engines of the AI revolution will put pressure on Labor's reckless renewables rollout and stifle its already impossible emissions targets. The government's response is an unfunded hope that our 'advantage in renewable energy' will solve the problem. Hope is not a strategy. There also exists a significant opportunity with respect to data centres as a growth industry. Industry leaders won't just give us contracts because we want them. We will get data centres if, as a nation, we deliver energy that's cheaper than other places. It's as simple as that. Organisations looking to operate at scale are going to be looking at a competitive advantage, not emissions targets or where the power comes from. Australia risks missing out on this next big boom, and I would argue we're missing out on it already.

A cybersecurity failure has made Australians soft targets for AI powered crime. An education failure is leaving our children unprepared for the job of tomorrow and an energy infrastructure failure risks turning the AI boom into a renewables crisis. Opportunity knocks, but will this government answer? Australia needs a serious and strategic plan for artificial intelligence—specifically generative artificial intelligence—that is built on foundations of cybersecurity and educational excellence. If not, we leave Australians dangerously exposed and ill equipped for the future. The AI future is here. It's powerful and it's exciting, but, under this Labor government, it's also unmanaged, unsecured and fundamentally at risk.

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