Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will announce the creation of a new Office of AI within his department and fast-track approvals for datacentres, aiming to boost investment and public confidence in artificial intelligence. In a major speech on Wednesday, Albanese will declare Australia the first country worldwide to bring economic, social, national security and environmental issues from AI under a single national framework.
Fast-Track Approvals for Datacentres
The federal government will introduce faster approval processes for AI projects, including datacentres, across Australia. Albanese will say: “Getting this right will enhance our appeal to international investors, by delivering greater clarity and speed for approvals, and a streamlined process for verifying compliance. It also imposes an important discipline on government.”
The speech comes as Labor seeks to address concerns about massive datacentre infrastructure, energy systems, and intellectual property protection for Australian creators. AI companies have cited policy uncertainty as a major impediment to investment, with Anthropic raising this issue ahead of meetings with senior cabinet ministers earlier this year.
New Office of AI
The Office of AI, established within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet with immediate effect, will design new Australian AI standards and coordinate cross-government work. It will collaborate with Minister for Industry and Innovation Tim Ayres and Assistant Science and Technology Minister Andrew Charlton.
Albanese will compare the need for a coordinated government approach to the development of civil aviation in the 1920s and genetics in the 1990s. The office will address national security risks, with the newly released national defence strategy labelling AI and machine learning as holding “the most significant potential for technological disruption”.
“We know that both extremists and state actors already use AI to create propaganda aimed at young people, and to spread disinformation that targets democracies,” Albanese will say, according to preview excerpts. Defence Minister Richard Marles and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke are working with national security agencies and Five Eyes allies on potential threats.
Copyright and AI Training
Ayres said on Tuesday that the speech would address concerns from AI companies about Australian copyright laws and their desire to use Australian content to train large models. “We have made it very clear as a government that there won’t be a text and data mining exception in Australia, but we are working hard to secure these investments because they are in the Australian national interest,” Ayres said.
The finance department recently launched a multi-stage procurement process for new AI tools in the public service, including AI chat, to boost efficiency within government departments.
Climate Concerns
Climate Council chief executive Amanda McKenzie called on Labor to align datacentre expansion with climate action. “Datacentres are hungry for energy. Governments must proactively manage the surging demand, making sure that they are powered with clean renewable power. If they don’t, there is a big risk that they will push up pollution from coal and gas at a time when we’re already living through more frequent floods, and ferocious fires,” she said.
