Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you to the member for Wentworth for her question and also for participating in the government's reform roundtable towards the end of last year where artificial intelligence was a big focus of the discussions because we know how important that is to the future of our economy. Of course, I would contest the inference in her question to how long it's taken the government to get our thinking together on this. We've been working on some of these really important questions and making, I think, some substantial progress.

The honourable member knows, as every member on this side of the House knows, that AI is a transformational technology, and we want to make sure that Australians are the biggest beneficiaries of this change rather than victims of this change. We brought forward the release of Australia's National AI Plan in response to the urgency of some of the most contentious and most important policy issues. Here I want to acknowledge the really important work in our team by the member for Parramatta, who brings an extraordinary amount of intellectual horsepower to these questions, and also Minister Tim Ayres, the minister for industry in the other place. The member for Parramatta works very closely with Minister Ayres on these key questions. Together they released our AI plan on 2 December last year. It is a comprehensive road map to build an AI enabled economy that harnesses the full potential of artificial intelligence for the benefit of all Australians.

The National AI Plan, which our colleagues released on behalf of the government, really has three goals. The first is to capture the opportunities of AI, including attracting more investment. The second is to spread the benefits of AI, whether it's in public services, building skills or public organisations. And the third is to keep Australians safe. The important work that we need to do together to make sure that the—

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