Tim Ayres is resisting mounting calls for comprehensive new laws to address the risks of potentially \u201cgame-changing\u201d AI technology.<\/p>\n
In an interview with The Saturday Paper, the minister for industry and innovation pushed back on the case for unified new AI legal architecture that artists and unions in particular have sought to make, citing grave concerns for their intellectual property and jobs. Ayres\u2019 stance is a marked shift from that of his predecessor, Ed Husic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve just got to be pragmatic about all of this,\u201d says Ayres, leaning into a deregulation theme that\u2019s gained traction in Canberra and promises to heavily inform this month\u2019s Economic Reform Roundtable, which starts on August 19.<\/p>\n
He says he wants Australia in the \u201cbox seat\u201d for AI investment, and while it also needs to \u201cwork for everyone\u201d, there are administrative tools already available to deal with the downsides.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are very strong powers in our financial regulation authorities, in our criminal law, and a sensible management of this approach, of course, goes to being diligent in making sure that our laws are fit for purpose,\u201d the minister tells The Saturday Paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd working through that in a steady, careful way, but also building the capability of our law enforcement agencies, our regulators and the capability of firms and Australians themselves to deal with these challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n
Artists and other creative groups \u2013 many of whom have already seen their work scraped and stolen by the technology \u2013 are concerned their livelihoods will disappear, while unions fear large-scale job replacement as Australia increasingly embraces AI.<\/p>\n
The push for new regulations to tackle AI adds to the challenges the Australian government already faces to contain the power of the United States tech giants that now dominate the media landscape. Its attempts so far \u2013 which have drawn criticisms of being either too restrictive or ineffective \u2013 include a news media bargaining code and a\u00a0ban on social media for children.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe parallel that\u2019s often drawn is social media. Completely unregulated,\u201d a science and industry insider tells The Saturday Paper. \u201cThe genie is out of the bottle. Too late to get the social media companies who are benefiting from everyone\u2019s misery to do anything to protect. We don\u2019t want to make that mistake again. They can\u2019t leave it \u2026 in the hope that later we come in and backfill. It\u2019ll never happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are different views in caucus on the way forward.<\/p>\n
As the minister for industry and science in Labor\u2019s first term, Husic proposed to tackle AI comprehensively, as he regarded it as \u201cprobably one of the most complex policy challenges facing the government\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe parallel that\u2019s often drawn is social media. Completely unregulated \u2026 We don\u2019t want to make that mistake again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Insisting the days without government intervention were \u201cwell and truly over\u201d, he proposed last September a legislative approach that \u201ccould include updating current legislation, bringing framework legislation or bringing in an Australian AI act\u201d.<\/p>\n
Now a backbencher and chair of the House economics committee, Husic still wants the government to follow this route to\u00a0enshrine controls.<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernments are notoriously bad at shaping laws to account for the impact of technology. Yes, we have some laws that can deal with AI\u2019s impact, but overall, we have a Swiss cheese-type landscape, legal holes everywhere,\u201d Husic tells The Saturday Paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd just like tech developers can\u2019t predict everything their tech will do, neither can governments say their laws are futureproof.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole argument for getting a stable, unified regulatory framework up-front, captured for example through an AI act, is designed to try and help us keep better pace. This is what was largely called for through nearly two years of consultation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tech sector \u2013 as much as I\u2019m a big booster of theirs and a supporter \u2013 are sometimes their own worst enemy. They bridle at the idea of an economy-wide AI regulatory framework \u2013 for technology that will touch the economy broadly. But they then also complain about the fatigue that comes from countless rounds of consultations triggered by whack-a-mole regulatory responses biffing every new problem with a\u00a0new law.\u201d<\/p>\n
Husic says the tech giants want to transport Australia back 15 years or so, to the days of self-regulation, which he says were a\u00a0failure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf self-regulation worked, we wouldn\u2019t need a social media ban, we wouldn\u2019t need media bargaining laws and we wouldn\u2019t need all the other interventions that we\u2019ve had,\u201d he\u00a0says. \u201cThe reality is, we would never accept a pharmaceutical firm developing a new drug and asking us to trust them that patients will be safe because of all the in-house testing that firm did. Tech firms need to accept the same should apply to their models. Better to get all this done once, done right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahead of the economic reform round table, the Productivity Commission has estimated economic gains would add $116\u00a0billion to Australian growth over the next decade, through a loosening of rules and regulation.<\/p>\n
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has talked up a government mission to find a \u201cresponsible middle path\u201d between restraining AI and \u201cletting it rip\u201d.<\/p>\n
Leaked Treasury advice, seen and reported by the ABC, has listed a national AI plan to speed up environmental approvals on its list of expected outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it comes to regulation, it\u2019s really all about doing as much regulation as we need to to protect people and as little as we can to encourage innovation,\u201d Chalmers told the ABC\u2019s 7.30 program last week.<\/p>\n
As for the need to legislate or not, \u201cThe government is working through those issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the most serious concerns surrounding the misuse of AI is the notable increase over recent years of scams powered by the technology, and its contribution to deepfakes and child abuse material.<\/p>\n
Adding to this is the finding, published in a recent Australian study, of discrimination by AI recruiters \u2013 which are already used by almost a third of Australian organisations \u2013 against candidates who speak with an accent or live with a disability.<\/p>\n
Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay this week redoubled her agency\u2019s calls for an AI act and monitoring for potential bias in AI functions.<\/p>\n
While Ayres says he wants to \u201cwrestle the risks of the technology to the ground\u201d, he\u2019s inclined to treat AI in the same way that the government has approached the innovation of\u00a0the internet.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach of these waves of technology presents its own challenges. Our streaming technology presents challenges for Australian creatives. The internet presents challenges and artificial intelligence will too,\u201d the minister says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to attack these with confidence. There are opportunities here too, and I\u2019m not sanguine about the risks, but I\u2019m determined to make sure that we seize the opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralian law applies now. It\u2019ll be treated no differently to internet… all of those technological platforms engage very similar issues, actually, and we\u2019re going to deal with it\u00a0the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an interim report released this month, the Productivity Commission considers a new \u201cfair dealing exemption\u201d that favours AI firms, covering the text and data mining that goes into training their models with copyrighted materials. The recommendation was echoed by Scott Farquhar, chair of the Tech Council of Australia, in a National Press Club speech this month.<\/p>\n
The proposed exemption would supposedly open the door to billions of dollars of foreign investment but has raised alarm among creative industries.<\/p>\n
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance regards AI as an existential threat and it wants Labor to stick to plans for an economy-wide AI act.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe existing copyright obviously is\u00a0important. It has been working, but we need more to enhance its effectiveness,\u201d the union\u2019s chief executive, Erin Madeley, tells The Saturday Paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe existing copyright just simply doesn\u2019t deal with the complexity of tech, tools, training, the data to be used,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s also the complication around our existing copyright doesn\u2019t go offshore for protections either.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim Ayres has repeatedly ruled out changes to the Copyright Act. \u201cThere are no plans for legislative change in any direction on copyright law. That\u2019s just not something we\u2019re contemplating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arts Minister Tony Burke is also clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have no plans, no intention, no appetite to be weakening those copyright laws based on this draft report that\u2019s floating around,\u201d he told the publishing industry conference BookUp last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are issues to be worked through. I don\u2019t fear technology, I just know we need to be able to respond to technology.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is a cross-portfolio mission. Attorney-General Michelle Rowland has been advised by a reference group established by her predecessor Mark Dreyfus to consider some changes designed to favour Australian content providers, including a move to force tech giants to reveal what they use to train AI models as well as a new compensation effort for small copyright holders.<\/p>\n
The Coalition has leapt on this, saying the government is confused about how to handle AI\u2019s challenges and opportunities.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralian families and industry are crying out for certainty on AI regulation, but after more than three years and two different ministers \u2013 with very different approaches on how to regulate AI \u2013 Labor have nothing to show for it,\u201d the opposition\u2019s industry spokesman Alex Hawke tells The Saturday Paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cA case in point is over protecting Aussie creatives. Attorney-General Michelle Rowland is considering changes to copyright law, but Industry Minister Tim Ayres has already ruled out any changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut one thing is clear: Labor is more than happy to let the unions interfere in the rollout of AI. Minister Ayres has already said that he wants to \u2018strengthen\u2019 the role of unions as AI continues to spread.\u201d<\/p>\n
Independent ACT Senator David Pocock wants an overarching AI act, warning of the seemingly inevitable moment of achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI), the so-called human-level AI.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly this has become an arms race between companies and countries, and it\u2019s one of those things that even if you regulate for the use of AI, countries are not going to do that when it comes to their militaries,\u201d Pocock tells The Saturday Paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a huge challenge and I was really disappointed the last parliament had little focus there on it. All of a sudden, there\u2019s a renewed focus. Too often politicians are behind the curve.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we hit AGI, there\u2019s going to be a huge number of roles [where] people will just become redundant. And I don\u2019t think we should kid ourselves when it comes to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked to confirm that the government is not going down the path of legislation at this stage, Ayres tells The Saturday Paper, \u201cI\u2019m leaning into the opportunities and the strategy for Australia first and we\u2019ll deal carefully in a considered and pragmatic way with the regulatory implications for Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t be making pronouncements ahead of time, but we\u2019ll work through these things carefully. But I think what you can hear from me is, I\u2019m determined to seize the opportunity,\u201d Ayres says.<\/p>\n
At least one top science industry advocate says AI reform should be the minister\u2019s No.1 priority.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can live without an AI act, but they need to be really comprehensive about their regulations and really clear about them,\u201d the industry insider tells The Saturday Paper.<\/p>\n
Ayres says he has a sense of urgency, but that there are big priorities for Australia\u2019s future, right across the science and industry portfolio.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll work through it in a careful, orderly way. I\u2019ve been out there, not just listening to the tech sector, but more broadly across the community and, trying to communicate the approach, the possibilities, as well as the risks,\u201d Ayres says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll keep doing that over the coming weeks and months.\u201d<\/p>\n
This article was amended on August 16, 2025, to correct an error in a quote from\u00a0the shadow spokesman for industry.<\/p>\n
\n This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on
\n August 16, 2025 as “AI rules”.<\/p>\n
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