double quotation markThe commission won\u2019t look at the role of datacentres, which the premier describes as the \u2018mines of the future\u2019<\/p>\n
The 45-year-old\u2019s most recent headline-grabber was the announcement of a royal commission into artificial intelligence. That move prompted ABC state political reporter Thomas Kelsall to dig through his inbox<\/a> where he found more than 50 government media releases using the phrase \u201cnation-leading\u201d in the past year and a half.<\/p>\n Being constantly \u201cnation-leading\u201d is not a specific strategy, the premier says, but a function of being a more nimble state.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe have to turn our smaller size, our relative size, into a source of agility, which we can make a strength,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe state\u2019s always had a bit of a history in trying to seize a first-mover advantage where we can \u2026 and if we can translate that into economic opportunity and better living standards, then that\u2019s the main game.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Forward-looking\u2019 inquiry<\/p>\n In June, Malinauskas released a plan to cash in on the datacentre boom. This month he made a flying visit to the United States, where he met with Apple\u2019s chief executive, Tim Cook, and Anthropic co-founder Tom Brown and signed a memorandum of understanding with OpenAI\u2019s president, Greg Brockman.<\/p>\n He announced the royal commission upon his return, saying the two-day trip merely confirmed his thinking that there are \u201cpretty essential questions that AI raises that no one seems to be answering\u201d.<\/p>\n The inquiry will be tasked with examining the risks and benefits of AI in health, the public service, the workplace and the energy grid. But it is the use of AI in education that is front of the premier\u2019s mind, and the wicked problem of how to teach children to use AI without letting them use it to do their homework.<\/p>\n However, the commission won\u2019t look at the role of datacentres, which the premier describes as the \u201cmines of the future\u201d.<\/p>\n The datacentre boom<\/a> is a source of contention because of their environmental impact.<\/p>\n Anthony Albanese and Peter Malinauskas on the day of the South Australian election. Photograph: Matt Turner\/AAP<\/p>\n Malinauskas says it\u2019s also because they\u2019re a \u201cphysical manifestation\u201d of AI. But he also says he sees them as a ready-made \u201ccustomer\u201d for the state\u2019s prolific renewable energy generation.<\/p>\n \u201cBy the end of next year, we\u2019re going to be 100% net renewables,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only reason a lot more renewables aren\u2019t being developed in SA is because there\u2019s no customer, there\u2019s no demand. Datacentres provide our source of demand.\u201d<\/p>\n It is the third time Malinauskus has called a \u201cforward-looking\u201d royal commission to propose policy rather than investigate specific incidents, following on from the royal commission into early childhood education and care \u2013 led by former prime minister Julia Gillard \u2013 in 2023 and the royal commission into domestic, family and sexual violence \u2013 led by former Democrats leader Natasha Stott Despoja \u2013 in 2024.<\/p>\n The royal commission framework allows them to appoint expert commissioners, rather than having parliamentarians interview witnesses; allocates extra resources to the inquiry; and gives them the power to potentially compel witnesses such as tech companies.<\/p>\n High and low<\/p>\n Malinauskas has not got where he is now without some scuffles.<\/p>\n He faced strident backlash for his commentary<\/a> on the Adelaide Writers\u2019 Week plans to include author Randa Abdel-Fattah.<\/p>\n In June, Malinauskas voted alongside the opposition leader, Ashton Hurn, and four One Nation MPs to restrict abortion access. The move was defeated by 36 votes to nine<\/a>.<\/p>\n His government has also come under fire for its handling of the devastating algal bloom<\/a>, an ecological crisis that is set to be exacerbated by the arrival of bird flu that has begun rapidly spreading among SA\u2019s coastal colonies. And an election promise to \u201cfix\u201d the hospital ramping crisis has not eventuated<\/a>.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter | When needed<\/p>\n Sign up to Breaking News Australia<\/p>\n Get the most important news as it breaks<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Plans to redevelop a public golf course<\/a> in Adelaide\u2019s famous parklands and to host the MotoGP<\/a>, which would require the removal of hundreds of trees, sparked furious \u201cstop the chop\u201d<\/a> protests.<\/p>\n His popularity has led critics to accuse him of arrogance. At a leaders\u2019 debate before the March state election, Hurn asked: \u201cDo you even think you need to try at this election?\u201d<\/p>\n In all these cases, Malinauskas says he thinks \u201cad nauseam\u201d about the right thing to do.<\/p>\n He adds that he \u201coverwhelmingly\u201d votes on what would be considered the progressive side, and laments that the nuance in so many issues is lost in the increasingly polarised world.<\/p>\n Rob Manwaring, a political scientist at Flinders University, says criticism over issues like the MotoGP is unlikely to take off too much paint. Much of Labor\u2019s core constituency is in favour of these sorts of sporting events, Manwaring says, while describing Malinauskas as both thoughtful and \u201cgenuinely concerned about populism and democracy\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s got that Hawke thing where he can do highbrow and lowbrow at the same time,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The government\u2019s enormous majority helps keep the peace between Labor\u2019s left and right factions, Manwaring says, which in turn tends to plug up any damaging leaks.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a sort of \u2018Teflon-ness\u2019 to him,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Another key part of his success \u2013 and of some progressives\u2019 disquiet \u2013 is that the business sector likes him.<\/p>\n In November last year, the Business Council of Australia named SA as the best place to do business for the third time running<\/a>.<\/p>\n And it doesn\u2019t hurt that the state has well and truly recovered from the 1991 state bank disaster<\/a> and the collapse of the car industry, which culminated in Holden\u2019s closure in 2017.<\/p>\n Peter Malinauskas\u2019s popularity has led critics to accuse him of arrogance. Photograph: Matt Turner\/AAP<\/p>\n The SA economy is the fastest-growing in the nation, Malinauskas says \u2013 though critics point to the burgeoning state debt.<\/p>\n In 2014, the then defence minister, David Johnston, said he would not trust shipbuilder ASC to build a canoe<\/a>. But thanks to Aukus and other defence projects, development at the Osborne shipyard is continuing apace.<\/p>\n Renewable energy, advanced technologies including in the space sector, major events and a booming copper industry are all playing a part in bolstering Malinauskas\u2019s economic credentials \u2013 even if he can\u2019t claim all the credit.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2998.jpg\")
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