In his speech, Farquhar said the country needed to change its copyright laws to let AI tools train on Australian content such as books and articles, noting that both the US and Europe have rules which are likely to allow such so-called data mining.

Farquhar also called for Australia to increase investment in data centres.

Australia could be the data provider of choice for every government in the region, Farquhar said, and “scores well” in most metrics that tech giants such as Amazon, Google or Facebook consider when choosing where to build their data centres.

“We are surprisingly cost competitive [for] building data centres,” he will say. “We have the talent density and attractively priced green power.”

Farquhar, who has been invited to Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ productivity roundtable in August, also urged the government to open up bureaucratic processes, such as housing approvals, to third parties.

“Interacting with the courts, renewing a license, applying for a passport, claiming the childcare subsidy, should all be possible electronically and embedded in third-party applications,” he said.

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“Politicians, ministers, heads of government departments need to be using AI on a daily basis to understand what is possible,” he said.

In an interview, Farquhar told this masthead that former industry and science minister Ed Husic’s axing from federal cabinet was a significant loss for the local sector.

Husic was dropped from Albanese’s second ministry in May amid factional jostling.

“Ed has been one of the most enthusiastic proponents of the technology industry well before it was cool, sexy, large or meaningful. He had a belief out there, and when you’re a start-up, the biggest thing you need is belief,” Farquhar said. “Across more than a decade Ed always advocated on our behalf.”

He backed the appointment of Andrew Charlton and Tim Ayres to the portfolio, however, and said they understood tech policy.

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