It's a pleasure to be here. I want to acknowledge some of the attendees here today. Cyrus Adaggra, President of Equinix. Cyrus, thanks for showing us around your data centre. Jonathan, founder and CEO of Groq, great to have you back in Australia. Thanks for showing us how fast your technology is, that's very impressive. Guy, thanks for being here as well. Scott. 

I actually had the opportunity to go to the Groq facility in Palo Alto last year, and I came away really impressed with their technology, impressed by their business model and their vertical integration, it really stuck in our mind. Their focus on inference, their energy efficiency and their ultra‑low latency. To be honest the only thing that I'm not impressed by with Groq is the Australian accent on their chatbot, which I think needs a little improvement. But I was also impressed by the number of Australians in the team, both in the United States and here in Australia. I think that actually is a recurrent story in successful AI companies around the world, one that we are very proud of. 

It's great to see the partnership that's being announced today. I think it's the kind of partnership and investment that strengthens Australia's digital ecosystem and our wider economy. The Government is very welcoming of this type of investment, and we think that this type of investment from companies like Groq and Equinix confirm that Australia is a good place for the digital economy, a good place for investments like this, and a country that can attract the world's best technology. 

And for us these investments are not just chips and concrete. We think of them as investments in our national security, investments in our prosperity, and investments in our future. Every new data centre deployment creates skills, jobs and competitive advantage for our nation. It strengthens Australia's role in the global AI economy, and it gives us a sovereign edge in a world where every nation is asking how they can ensure and secure access to compute. 

What I would like to do today is to give you some context on why this announcement is important and what the Government is doing to support our vision for Australia's AI future. 

AI will transform economies, underpin new services and products and create new opportunities. And from Australia's perspective it's vital that we seize this opportunity. The nations around the world that grab this opportunity, that successfully deploy AI, make AI, use it in their companies, instil those skills in their workers, they are the countries that will rise up the ranks of the world's most prosperous nations. And those countries that do not, those countries that fall behind, that fail to grab this opportunity, they will fall down the list of the world's most prosperous nations. 

Australia's been very fortunate, very successful to build the country that we have, one of the most prosperous countries in the world, and making sure that we retain that competitiveness in the digital era is a fundamental responsibility of government. And the prize is enormous. As Jonathan said, greater competitiveness, better wages, more opportunities for workers and higher standards of living. 

So, for all those reasons it's important that we have the dedicated hardware in place to deliver the greater efficiency and performance for the digital economy. And this announcement today is a clear demonstration of what this can look like in practice. It's important because it's how Australian developers, start‑ups and companies get access to the compute needed to enable innovation across every sector. 

Today's announcement is something we encourage, it's the type of thing we want to see more of. And we believe that Australia can become the natural home for this type of capability.

Australia is already one of the top destinations for data centre investment globally, ranking second only behind the United States. And this recognises our strengths; abundant land, access to renewable energy resources, with immense renewables potential, a highly skilled workforce and comparatively low construction costs, stable regulatory and policy settings, a trusted position with international partners, and access to some of the best technology. 

To put all these elements in place we need the right infrastructure, the right partnerships and the right settings. That's why by the end of this year Australia will release its AI plan. This will set out our ambition for Australia and our ambition for AI in our country. But we're not waiting for the release of our plan to act. We're already investing in AI capabilities through the Industry Growth Program, through the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, and we facilitated major projects that support Australia's national interest. 

Our plan for AI will build on these investments and we want to ensure that we are providing one of the accommodative and supportive environments for this type of investment in the world, consistent with Australia's national interests. 

We're committed to ensure that this technology makes Australia more productive, more prosperous and more resilient. 

So thank you again to Cyrus and Jonathan. Today's announcement is another great step forward and it's a clear signal about how with the right investments and the right mind‑set Australia can not only adopt AI, we can help to build a positive future. Every new data centre, every new hardware deployment creates jobs, strengthens our economy and I'm optimistic about the future that AI can play for Australia. 

Thank you again, I look forward to working with you on what no doubt will be an exciting journey ahead. Thank you very much.