Varun Ghosh (WA, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

Yes, they are, Senator Faruqi. If you want to interject on this, look at this motion. It is barely credible in the way that you've framed it. It's incoherent. And the attack that was made earlier is deeply misguided.

But the principles that are at the core of the Albanese government's National AI Plan are that we will work to attract investment in the necessary infrastructure, both physical and digital; we will work to make sure that workers and public services share in the benefits that can be derived from artificial intelligence; and we will develop regulations and legislation that will mitigate the risks from emerging AI. Data centres will have to go through rigorous environmental and planning approvals, like other infrastructure, and our expectations around that are that the projects will meet the standards and needs of Australians and must be in our national interest. Such projects will need to demonstrate their ability to help Australians invest in skills and jobs, encouraging global operators to partner with local researchers and startups to encourage innovation and to develop sovereign capacity. They will need to use water sustainably and responsibly, and they will need to support Australia's energy transition by contributing to the cost of network infrastructure and helping bring new energy supplies—sustainable energy supplies—onto the grid. Projects that do not meet those expectations will not be supported by the federal government.

Overall, this government is conscious of the need to achieve balance here, in an uncertain and quickly evolving environment. We need regulation to harness this technology effectively and make sure we mitigate or minimise its impacts, and it needs to be used on behalf of working people.