What Australian politicians have said about AI safety
Newest first.
61 statements from 11 people, most recently 15 Jul 2026.
All statements
“Establishing a clear and enforceable social licence for AI is fundamental towards achieving this objective.”
Andrew Charlton · Labor · · Joint media release: AI in Australia's interests
“Australian Standards for AI strengthen Australia’s framework to make sure AI investments are on Australia’s terms and strengthen our resilience, security and economy.”
Tim Ayres · Labor · · Joint media release: AI in Australia's interests
“If we set our national standards high, then we can make AI stand for Australia’s interests.”
Anthony Albanese · Labor · · Joint media release: AI in Australia's interests
“This world-leading framework is about Australia choosing to shape the future rather than letting the future of AI shape us.”
Anthony Albanese · Labor · · Joint media release: AI in Australia's interests
“If we get this right – if governments listen, if workers’ voices are at the centre – then AI can help us build an economy where expertise is widespread, middle-class jobs are plentiful, and the fair go is stronger than ever. The story of technology is not destiny. The future of AI is not written. It is ours to shape, and we should shape it so that work in the AI age is fairer, safer and more rewarding for all Australians.”
“I believe that regulation and innovation are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they go hand in hand.”
“Concerns about accuracy, bias, client confidentiality and broader ethical concerns in relation to the use of AI cannot be lightly dismissed”
“83% of Australians would be more willing to trust AI systems with appropriate assurances and safeguards in place.”
“In fact, it is incumbent on those of us who seek to unlock the benefits of AI to confront these issues squarely so that Australians have confidence in AI, and confidence in our justice system using AI.”
“This is a technology that has the potential to improve Australia’s productivity, to grow our economy, to benefit our workers and benefit our communities if we get it right.”
“[In response to criticism of the Productivity Commission's anti-regulation stance and call to roll back existing protections] I feel duty-bound to say you know the productivity commission is but one source of advice for the government. I pay attention to what they have to say... I think we should be pragmatic and lean into the opportunity and build our own capability to respond to problems.”
Tim Ayres · Labor · · Per Capita - Burning Platforms Podcast
“I think it's completely reasonable for Australians to be skeptical... I don't think that means that we should be frightened and curl up in a ball on these questions. I think we should be pragmatic and lean into the opportunity and build our own capability to respond to problems.”
Tim Ayres · Labor · · Per Capita - Burning Platforms Podcast
“We've got to always find that balance point, but especially when it comes to AI, between overregulating and underregulating [...] You can overdo it and you can underdo it when it comes to regulation of AI”
“There's broadly 3 schools of thought on AI and big tech change. There's the let it rip crowd. There's the people who pretend that we can turn back the clock [...] Or there's our approach, which is a sensible middle path”
“The only way to make our people and workers and industries beneficiaries is if we treat AI as an enabler, not an enemy of what we want to see in our economy”
“We can chart a middle course that makes our workers and our people and our industries beneficiaries not victims of technological change”
“I'm optimistic that AI can be a force for good, but I'm also realistic about the risks. It is not beyond us, in my view, to maximise the opportunities of AI while we manage the risks the best that we can”
“Artificial intelligence is a game changer for our economy. It has the potential to support all of our major economic goals, making our economy more productive, stronger, lifting living standards over time”
“The only thing that would be more disruptive in terms of employment and job opportunities is stepping back, having economies that pass us by.”
Tim Ayres · Labor · · The Nightly
“Other countries in the region are moving fast – and so must we.”
“But I hope that this brief contribution gives you some clarity about my instinctive response on tech and AI adoption – to lean in, to anchor investment and capability here, and to shape a social democratic national interest approach that includes all Australians in our shared digital future.”
“I will be looking in particular at how we can strengthen worker voice and agency as technology is diffused into every workplace in the Australian economy and I look forward to working with our trade union movement on all of this.”
“Australia has to lean in, to secure a stake in global digital and AI development – to shape the digital future rather than have a future shaped for us.”
“The Australian challenge is to lean in to adopt AI to lift productivity and living standards, deliver investment in infrastructure and capability and protect our security.”
“There are of course questions of regulation, norms, standards and how best to manage risks and harms, which need to be worked through here in Australia and with the sector and our friends and partners overseas. Increasing skills and education of Australians, and confidence in AI adoption is key.”
Tim Ayres · Labor · · Department of Industry, Science and Resources
“I think we’re all concerned about the implications for privacy. I think there are reasons to be concerned about the potential anti-competitive aspects if the AI engines consolidate over coming years. But it’s also very clear that this is a technology with great potential to take away drudge parts of our jobs and allow people to focus on the most stimulating types.”
Andrew Leigh · Labor · · The Bulletin
“We have to do more to embrace technology, particularly the AI opportunity. There's a huge agenda there for us”
Jim Chalmers · Labor · · SmartCompany
“If you were thinking of boarding a plane that had a 5% chance of crashing, you probably wouldn’t get on. Reducing that 5% probability is a huge priority.”
Andrew Leigh · Labor · · Australia's AI Crossroads: Election 2025 Town Hall
“AI represents the biggest catastrophic risk that we face.”
Andrew Leigh · Labor · · Australia's AI Crossroads: Election 2025 Town Hall
“The biggest thing that we can do is to set Australia up for another generation of prosperity is to digitise the Australian economy, to recognise that the meal ticket of Australia will be built in the global digital economy over the next several decades.”
“Our focus with AI is also on the huge gains on offer, not just the guardrails”
Jim Chalmers · Labor · · InvestorDaily
“With an election just months away there is still time to put in some essential guard rails, but for this to happen we need the government to join us in making it happen.”
“It's extraordinary that the government has been on notice about the risks here for more than a year and almost nothing to stop the deepfakes being used to steal the election. They haven't even required that political AI deepfakes be labelled.”
“With the growing uptake of AI, legislation to mandate how AI is used in high-risk settings needs to be an urgent priority for government.”
“Mis and disinformation is an evolving threat and no single action is a perfect solution, but we must continue to improve safeguards to ensure digital platforms offer better protections for Australians.”
“The Minister for Industry and Science is progressing reforms on regulation of Artificial Intelligence.”
“It is incumbent on democracies to grapple with these challenges in a way that puts the interests of citizens first.”
“Deepfakes [and] generative AI pose a real risk to democracy and we need the government to ban the use of this technology when it comes to elections.”
“Now is the time for the government to act to safeguard our democracy and ensure elections are fought and won as a contest of ideas, not on the basis of who can produce the best deepfakes or tell the most convincing lies.”
David Pocock · · ABC News
“We need more people to use AI and to do that we need to build trust.”
“Australians know AI can do great things, but people want to know there are protections in place if things go off the rails.”
“We’re proposing guardrails for the safe and responsible use of AI in high-risk situations. And we’re proposing that those be mandatory.”
Ed Husic · Labor · · Department of Industry, Science and Resources
“The benefits of modernisation are accompanied by threats to our democracy, through disinformation, interference, cyberattacks and the unregulated use of AI. Regulation, rules and norms are not keeping pace with technological advances.”
Penny Wong · Labor · · Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs
“Deepfakes used without consent threaten our democracy and should be banned in the context of elections. Australians deserve to know that the information they receive from parties and politicians is genuine.”
“Senator David Pocock expressed his concern that Science and Industry Minister Ed Husic was creating temporary expert advisory bodies but hasn't taken steps to create an enduring AI Safety Institute. After hearing evidence about the funding Canada and the UK provide to their AI Safety Institutes, Pocock said, 'that seems very doable to me'.”
“The filter bubbles and echo chambers of social media, powered by opaque algorithms, germinate and grow this bigotry. They are not just straining the social fabric of our country. They are ripping at it, continuously, aggressively.”
“Generative AI technology promises unprecedented productivity and scientific breakthroughs. It also threatens, via social media, the proliferation of more voluminous, more targeted, and more believable harmful content.”
“Recent years have seen an explosion in interest in artificial intelligence and big data. The technology is promising, but its use in government rightly makes people nervous. Yet it's useful to see areas where artificial intelligence and big data have helped produce better outcomes for citizens, without undermining key ethical values of transparency, privacy and human oversight.”
“Indeed, the potential for the spread of AI generated messages information makes taking action even more pressing”
“Australia is a wealthy country and a fast adopter of new technologies, which makes us an attractive target for cyber criminals.”
“We will advance the global frontier of cyber security. We will lead the development of emerging cyber technologies.”
“On the optimistic side, AI can be a valuable competitive force in product and service markets. It might help small firms scale faster – placing pressure on lazy incumbents. If all firms have access to similar quality AI, it can have a democratising effect on the economy, potentially boosting dynamism. However, AI also poses five risks for competition.”
Andrew Leigh · Labor · · The Weekend Australian – Opinion piece
“The rise of AI engines has been remarkable. To reach 100 million users, the telephone took 75 years. The mobile phone took 16 years. ChatGPT took two months.”
Andrew Leigh · Labor · · The Weekend Australian – Opinion piece
“Minimizing the risks from artificial intelligence is not only a blend of philosophy and programming; it requires governments to synthesize their innovation-backing role with their regulatory duties. At present, these responsibilities are often delegated to different parts of the bureaucracy. Governments should learn from car designers, who recognize the value of putting the gas pedal next to the brake.”
Andrew Leigh · Labor · · What's the Worst That Could Happen (Chapter 5, p. 86)
“Safety should not be an afterthought.”
Andrew Leigh · Labor · · What's the Worst That Could Happen (Chapter 5, p. 80)
“It makes sense today to make the preparations that will help ensure that humanity’s final invention does not bring our final hour.”
Andrew Leigh · Labor · · What's the Worst That Could Happen (Chapter 5, p. 87)
“Once a superintelligence has been created, it would be near-impossible to contain.”
Andrew Leigh · Labor · · What's the Worst That Could Happen (Chapter 5, p. 79)
“When the leading researchers on an issue believe that there is a one in twenty chance it could extinguish the world, it’s not alarmist to be looking for solutions.”
Andrew Leigh · Labor · · What's the Worst That Could Happen (Chapter 5, p. 82)
“The key to advances in artificial intelligence is the speed at which machines can improve themselves. Because human generations are around thirty years, genetic evolution takes thousands of years to bring about noticeable changes. But a computer algorithm can adapt instantly and rerun the code. This means that algorithmic ‘generations’ are measured in fractions of seconds, so technological advances occur at a dizzying rate. When they approach our levels of ability, it’s possible that computers might blast past us as though we are standing still. We could see an ‘intelligence explosion.’”
Andrew Leigh · Labor · · What's the Worst That Could Happen (Chapter 5, pp. 76–77)
“Ultimately, tackling existential risks is a political problem. Private citizens can achieve many things, but preventing nuclear war, averting bioterrorism, and curbing greenhouse emissions are fundamentally problems of government. Governments control the military, levy taxes, and provide public goods. So the values of those who run the country will determine how much of a priority the nation places on averting catastrophe.”
Andrew Leigh · Labor · · What's the Worst That Could Happen (Chapter 1, p. 14)
“It is an agreement to co-operate more closely on cyber, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and additional undersea capabilities.”