Claire Clutterham (Sturt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

To put the concerns of the member for McPherson at rest, the government does have a national AI plan. There are three pillars. The second is to spread the benefits, and that has a dedicated goal of ensuring that Australian workers are not left behind in the AI transition. It also has a secondary goal of ensuring that Australian workers are appropriately upskilled and trained so they can meaningfully participate in the AI transition and share in the benefits. So the suggestion that the government doesn't have a plan for workers during the AI transition is incorrect. In December 2025, the National AI Plan was launched, and, as I said, it includes a direct goal of ensuring that Australian workers are upskilled and can share in the benefits that we will all enjoy through the AI transition.

AI is here to stay, and it has boomed in recent years. It has become commonplace in both business and everyday life. People use AI every day to make their lives easier, interacting with AI-powered virtual assistants or programs. Companies use AI to streamline their production processes, make unbiased projections of gains and losses and predict when maintenance will have to occur. AI can also help the Australian worker by reducing the risk of human error, and it can complete particularly difficult or dangerous tasks, meaning humans can mitigate or avoid the risk of injury or harm. So there are many benefits.

But, like anything, of course there are negative aspects. Although AI can create original and unexpected ideas, it just can't overtake humans in the ability to be creative, which means that it may be prohibited in its decision-making. If companies or governments or individuals are looking for a new or creative solution to a problem, humans are better at providing that solution, and humans, being human, will always inherently consider the emotional ramifications of decision-making. So there will always be that gap with AI, and there will always be a role for the Australian worker.

There is also a role for government and regulation in AI. It's the role of government to regulate without paralysing innovation and technological development. The role of government is to avoid overregulation because, as well as paralysing development, overregulation can create unnecessary fear and uncertainty. Governments have a difficult job of regulating to ensure that AI, which is not going anywhere, improves the lives of Australians in a way that is safe, sustainable and cost effective.

There is no greater need for balanced regulation than in the industrial and workplace space. This government will always protect jobs and working families—always. Our track record speaks for itself, with a consistent policy platform of protecting conditions for working Australians, growing wages sustainably, budgeting for continued rounds of tax cuts for every taxpayer and deliberately creating a pathway for collaboration and partnership between industry, unions and workers. The Labor Party will always stand with workers, and we believe that, by working together with unions, businesses and skills organisations, the interests of workers can be advanced.

Our consistent approach to conditions and support for working Australians will not change in the face of the disruption that AI poses in the workplace. We will support working Australians across a range of industries through all facets of AI—the growth, the disruption, the challenges. And we will do this by ensuring that worker protections remain a core policy driver, meaning that we'll consistently review and measure them to make sure AI is working for businesses and workers. We will also ensure that productivity gains from AI are shared fairly and not just concentrated. But, in doing that sharing, we will insist that the gains are real and measurable. We'll also invest in lifelong skills and training programs.

As well as being the party of working Australians, Labor is the party of education. We firmly believe that every Australian should have the opportunity to develop the skills and receive the training that they want and that we need in order to prosecute our policy of a Future Made in Australia and so that working Australians can meaningfully participate in a changing workforce in order to earn a fair wage, contribute to the economy and provide for their families. This is why we have a National AI Plan, which has a deliberate AI vision for Australia, where AI is used to build a fairer, stronger Australia and where every person, especially working Australians, benefits from this technological progress.

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