Introduction and acknowledgements

I begin by acknowledging the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Traditional Owners of the land we’re meeting on today. I extend that respect to Elders past and present, and to any First Nations Australians here with us today. 

There are many distinguished guests here today – far too many to name – but I acknowledge all of you. 

I want to single out my host, Dr Michael Fullilove, as well as Steven Lowy and the whole team here at the Lowy Institute. 

Steven, your father’s story is still so remarkable – the migrant who made Sydney his home, broke new ground in Australian retail and showed his love of Australia by setting up an Institute that enhances this country’s understanding of its own place in the world. 

Thanks to Michael, Allan Gyngell and many others, the Lowy Institute has made good on that promise – amplifying Australia’s voice and sharpening the strategic focus of its people. 

My appointment as Industry Minister means a pretty full diary, but I always make time for The Interpreter. 

I also want to pay tribute to the Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy, Dr Andrew Charlton, for his partnership in shaping Australia’s approach to artificial intelligence, and all of the strategic questions that this series of technologies touches. 

Industry and Australian resilience

The issues that animate Lowy’s work – strategic uncertainty, economic competition, technological change – are also the prime focus for modern industry policy. 

I know all too well what competition, uncertainty and technological change can mean for Australian workers and industry. 

I spent twenty-five years as an AMWU official, attending the factories and lunchrooms of the industrial suburbs and regions as they confronted deindustrialisation. 

This was the post-Cold War era of economic rationalism, trade liberalisation and comparative advantage. 

National interest objectives, like investing in your industrial base to achieve sovereign capability, boost national resilience and economic security, weren’t front-and-centre preoccupations. This kind of thinking was deeply unfashionable.

What followed was a steep decline in manufacturing’s share of Australian economic output, from 14.8% in 1990 to 5.9% by 2020.^[1] 

Harvard’s Economic Complexity Index shows Australia has fallen from the middle of the pack in 2000 to 105^th place, behind Botswana.^[2]

Sectors like automotive manufacturing were driven offshore, and Australia lost the strategic industrial and management capability, R&D capacity and technological readiness embedded in those industries. 

While trade has enriched developed economies, deindustrialisation has shaken faith in the democratic project. We see evidence of this internationally, and Australia is not immune. 

We want Australians to have confidence that the government is making their economy stronger and more resilient. We want an economy that delivers jobs and opportunity for working people.  

Of course, economic change doesn’t just happen to workers. 

When economic disruption happens, Australians adapt to the new reality. Time and again, I saw workers, managers and firms fighting like hell to lift their capability and offer new products and services to new markets. 

They haven’t always had the respect they deserved in Canberra. 

I’ll never forget former minister for defence David Johnston saying he “wouldn’t trust [the Australian Submarine Corporation] to build a canoe”.^[3]

Well, workers in Australian industry make remarkable Australian products here every day. 

I’m proud of Australian industry’s history, present and future – making Australia stronger, wealthier, more secure and meeting the big national challenges together. 

I was a newly elected Labor Senator when COVID-19 arrived. 

From the vantage point of the nation’s parliament, I saw how much the decline in manufacturing capability mattered when borders closed, goods stopped flowing and strategic weaknesses were exposed. 

The AI contest

Last year the Productivity Commission acknowledged that industry policy had “come back into fashion across much of the Western world”.^[4]

In another sign of the changing times, the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences went to three economists who have worked on innovation-driven economic and industrial growth. 

And industrial policy is increasingly recognised as central to the big debates about Australia’s – and the developed world’s – strategic future. 

The core objective for the Albanese Government’s Future Made in Australia plan is to confront challenge and uncertainty. 

To focus on our future competitive advantages in geography, geology and proximity to the world’s fast-growing region and our strategic imperative for economic resilience in a contested world. 

That industrial agenda is at the heart of Australia’s relationship with our closest strategic partner, the United States. 

This was evident in the Critical Minerals Agreement that the Prime Minister, accompanied by myself and the resources minister, signed with President Trump in the White House in October – supporting an $8.5 billion pipeline of prospective projects. 

My approach to Australia’s AI adoption is the same as my approach to industrial challenges and opportunities.  

AI, enabled by digital connectivity, the internet and social media, is rolling out faster than any previous innovation. 

Closing the door on AI would be impractical, maybe impossible. 

It would also be an act of intergenerational robbery, because this technology will unlock so many possibilities for future Australians.  

Nor can we afford to be blasé about AI. 

The United States and China are engaged in a contest for supremacy in artificial intelligence, computing power and the industrial supply chains on which these capabilities depend. 

Australia knows this, as do the partners in this region who look to us for leadership on internet connectivity and computing capability. 

The choices Australia makes in this strategic environment will have consequences for generations to come. 

The Albanese Government is charting a course through these challenges by leveraging Australia’s strengths – land aplenty, renewable energy potential, proximity to the rapidly growing Asian markets, stable governance and security reliability as a Five Eyes country. 

We’re also charting a course that keeps faith with the values and aspirations of the Australian people. 

The timeless principle of the fair go; the Labor social democratic ideal that no one should be held back or left behind on Australia’s journey.  

In strategic terms, our objectives are clear: AI adoption should strengthen Australian autonomy and build Australia’s future economic resilience.

AI’s promise for Australia

There is a lot of febrile speculation about AI share prices and company valuations in the financial press. 

Most of us, I’m sure, are old enough to remember the dot.com boom and the tech wreck. There are obvious parallels. 

When the tech wreck was helping to drag other countries into recession, Australia kept growing and implementing new IT technologies with purpose. 

I’m not in the least bit distracted by the hype and drama of short-term market movements. 

The Albanese Government brings the same realistic, practical and mission-focused approach to new technology that has served Australia so well in the past. 

An approach that holds out the prospect of substantially higher productivity growth and consequently higher living standards.^[5]

An approach that strengthens Australia’s social fabric. 

I’m not glib about the risks, but if we use AI well, it can mitigate some of the pressures on social democracy today – lifting job satisfaction by reducing dull and repetitive tasks, levelling the commercial playing field for small and medium firms using new time-saving tools, unlocking new investment in regional communities. 

The benefit to Australia lies not in what these technologies are or what they’re apparently worth, but what they can do. 

They can lift the existing speed limits on research and development. 

That means faster drug design and development, better and more effective treatments for Australians with cancer and other diseases. 

I think here of Harrison.AI, an Australian firm backed by a $32 million equity investment from the National Reconstruction Fund. 

Harrison.AI’s state-of-the-art diagnostic technology can lift analytical precision across Australia’s clinics and hospitals. 

AI can help develop the new materials and accelerate the approval processes that deliver more, and affordable, housing. 

It can mean a cleaner, more reliable energy grid; faster, better management of disasters; greater efficacy in government services.   

Above all, it can enhance the vital industrial capabilities that Australia requires in order to remain author of its own destiny. 

The National AI Plan that Dr Charlton and I release today will leverage Australia’s advantages to meet these objectives in the national interest. 

Capturing the opportunity

The first objective of the plan is to make sure Australia can fully capture the AI opportunity. 

That means attracting investment to build the smart infrastructure on which an AI-enabled future depends. 

In line with this Plan, the government is developing a set of national data centre principles for release early next year. 

These will build confidence among Australians in the seriousness of new investment in these new technologies. 

Key co-requisites for data centre investment will include additional investment in renewable energy generation and water sustainability. 

Amazon Web Services, for example, is investing $20 billion to improve and add to its data centre infrastructure in Australia over the next four years – including investment in the three new solar farms to power that infrastructure.^[6] 

In recent years, Australian companies have started lifting their investment in AI research and development.^[7] 

This government is doing its part by investing more than $460 million in AI-related training programs, support and advisory services. 

The AI Plan includes a new AI Accelerator funding round of the Cooperative Research Centre projects, to speed up AI development and commercialisation by businesses across Australia. 

The Accelerator allows us to combine public and private investment to help drive and commercialise Australian ideas at scale, turning them into real world solutions in the national interest. 

Sharing the benefits

Second, the National AI Plan will make sure all Australians share the benefits of AI. 

Left unguided, AI could widen existing digital disparities between the young and old, men and women, migrants and non-migrant, cities and regions, First Nations Australians and others. 

There is a clear onus on government agencies, businesses and the corporate sector, the education and training systems, trade unions and social institutions to ensure a level playing field.  

The Digital Sisters program, run by Good Things Australia in partnership with Telstra, Microsoft and LinkedIn, is a great example of what’s required to lift digital literacy across often-underserviced communities. 

That’s a program of in-person and online mentoring for women from a wide range of backgrounds, helping them apply AI to their everyday lives, education and pathways to work. 

For small and medium enterprises, the government has set up a special purpose AI Centre – one of four under our $17 million AI Adopt Program – so that farmers and small manufacturers get the right advice on AI-enabled tools that suit their needs and commercial contexts. 

Government initiatives must also target critical gaps in skills and training as they materialise. 

That’s why the Future Skills Organisation – funded by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations – is driving the creation of an AI Skills Accelerator, in partnership with Microsoft. 

That Accelerator is a vital initiative, bringing industry and vocational education providers together to ensure that Australia’s VET sector is led by educators who are AI trained and AI confident. 

To make sure Australian society can benefit collectively from AI, the Albanese Government is embedding AI in public service operations in a safe, principled and purposeful way. 

Minister Katy Gallagher’s AI Plan for the Australian Public Service is a massive amount of work that will boost AI uptake within the APS, ensuring secure, responsible use. 

It will also provide for regular reporting and good institutional leadership on AI uptake. 

Because we want AI in the public sector to improve the quality and efficiency of government services, reduce administrative burdens on citizens and improve quality of life for the community.  

Keeping Australians safe

The third objective of this plan is about keeping Australians safe. 

AI comes with new risks and potential for undesired consequences. 

That’s true of any new technological capability. 

If the twentieth century taught us anything, it’s that new technologies can either help or hinder the cause of progress. 

It all depends on the standards we set and the choices we make. 

That’s why the Plan provides for a new AI Safety Institute. 

And I am pleased to announce today that this government will invest $29.9 million in the Institute to be established early in 2026.

Located within my department, the Institute will provide timely, expert-led regulatory and technical advice across government. 

It’s about stepping up now so that government can keep up as the technology evolves. 

There will be commentary, I’m sure, about the fact that the National Plan is not built around a singular AI Act. 

We need to look at this pragmatically. 

The technology is advancing by the day. There are no guarantees that a “set and forget” regulatory approach would keep Australians safe. 

Australia has robust laws and regulations, on privacy and intellectual property, workplace safety and consumer laws. 

Those laws apply to AI right now. 

An attempt at catch-all legislation risks doubling up on rules and undermining the efficacy and accountability of agencies and regulators on their important work.  

Starting early next year, the AI Safety Institute will be on hand to provide regulators and government with the expertise to make informed decisions about strengthening or updating regulations and legislation as needed. 

Of course, this government has taken other actions to keep Australian laws fit for purpose. 

The Minister for Communications, Anika Wells, is working to restrict deepfake pornographic content, AI “nudify” apps and undetectable online stalking tools.  

The Minister for Health, Mark Butler, is reviewing guidelines on the use of AI in health settings. 

Engaging in multilateral forums like the International Network of AI Safety Institutes, and in bilateral partnerships like the proposed Tech Prosperity Deal with the United States, also keeps Australians safe. 

The National AI Centre has been providing valuable, accessible guidance to Australians on best practice AI use. 

They have launched, just this week, clear guidance on transparency, to help businesses know when to label, watermark and inscribe specific metadata on AI-generated material. 

Social institutions and AI

Everyone has a role to play and a responsibility to shoulder if Australia is to realise the full potential of AI and mitigate its potential risks.  

Not just government, but also businesses and tech leaders, civil society groups and organisers, professional associations and trade unions. 

The Plan envisages an active role for unions in shaping AI at work and protecting existing rights. 

Trade unions have provided constructive leadership through countless waves of technological change over the past 150 years. 

They will be central in making sure that every working Australian has a real say and stake in Australia’s AI future. 

This is, for me, just common sense. 

But when I made this point at an AFR summit a few weeks after my appointment to this role, it proved surprisingly controversial. 

The Financial Review ran an opinion piece the next morning under the heading: “Tim Ayres is wrong”. 

The first thing I saw at home that evening was a copy of the offending article on the dining table. My son – until then a stranger to the pages of the AFR – had it open in his bedroom. 

The goal for Australia is to adopt this new series of technologies productively, effectively and responsibly – and there is no world where trade unions are not a valued partner on that mission. 

Conclusion

Australians are adopting AI rapidly in their personal and professional lives. 

The National AI Plan gives Australian workers, firms and communities the confidence to adopt that technology with purpose and impact. 

The Albanese Labor Government’s approach is calibrated to serve Australia’s industrial and strategic needs. 

It allows Australia to keep turning back the tide of deindustrialisation and its corrosive effects on regional and suburban communities. 

It enables Australia to do more – and to do it faster and better – using the skills and materials we have in abundance. 

And it empowers Australia to strengthen its industrial complexity and national resilience in an uncertain, unpredictable world. 

[1] https://www.rba.gov.au/education/resources/digital-interactives/snapshot-comparison/

[2] https://atlas.hks.harvard.edu/rankings

[3] David Johnston, Cth. Parliamentary Debates, Senate, 25 November 2014, p. 9200.

[4] Danielle Wood, “Industry policy in today’s Australia”, 12 September 2024, https://www.pc.gov.au/media-speeches/articles/industry-policy/

[5] Angelina Bruno, Jessica Dunphy and Fiona Georgiakakis, ‘Recent trends in Australian productivity’, RBA Bulletin, September 2023, pp 2 – 3, https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2023/sep/pdf/recent-trends-in-australian-productivity.pdf

[6] Simon Webster, ‘AWS: Working to bridge the AI gap in Australia’, Sydney Morning Herald, 17 November 2025, https://www.smh.com.au/technology/aws-working-to-bridge-the-ai-gap-in-australia-20251111-p5n9cp.html

[7] Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘AI now fastest growing area for business R&D’, ABS, 22 August 2025, https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/ai-now-fastest-growing-area-business-rd