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July 13, 2026
Monday 13 July 2026
Greg Brown
The Australian
The Coalition has raised the stakes on the artificial intelligence debate by declaring a fast rollout of AI is a “national security imperative” that could be undermined by foreign interference.
The warning comes amid a union push for even stronger government oversight of the technology, going even further than the stringent AI policies recently inserted into Labor’s draft policy platform.
ALP sources say union officials have been working to garner support for a debate at next week’s national conference for strengthened positions on protecting workers’ rights during the rollout of AI. However, there is doubt whether the push for further changes to the Labor platform will succeed.
Anthony Albanese on Wednesday will deliver a speech outlining the government’s approach to regulating AI, with Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy declaring the plan would be akin to Labor’s “world-leading” social media ban for children.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the Prime Minister against unveiling onerous “community benefit” requirements on data centre developers that could deter investment, while the Tech Council of Australia said the government should be “ambitious about developing and adopting AI here”.
“We are still at an early stage of adoption, and the opportunity is substantial. Realising it will require investment and policy settings that support growth, alongside clear safeguards that give Australians confidence in how AI is used,” the Tech Council’s spokeswoman said.
Opposition defence spokesman James Paterson argued against burdensome rules by declaring “winning the AI race is a national security imperative”.
Senator Paterson also warned “foreign authoritarian states” may try to slow the AI rollout in Australia, amid claims China, Russia and Iran were undermining support for the technology in other Western nations.
“The nations who secure sovereign AI will not just win commercial and economic advantages but a strategic and military edge too,” Senator Paterson said.
“So we should not be surprised if foreign authoritarian states try to throw sand in the gears of AI adoption among their potential rivals.
“Australia should not allow foreign interference to get in the way of the immense opportunities offered by data centre investment and the sovereign AI capability that comes with it.”
Menzies Research Centre director Jarryd Williamson said public support for Australia’s data centre boom would likely be tested by foreign interference, urging the Albanese government to get ahead of the issue.
Mr Williamson said there had been reports of Chinese, Iranian and Russian state media pushing messages to Americans “portraying the boom as a way for the powerful to profit while ordinary families pay higher bills”.
“Overseas, the public support on which these projects depend is being deliberately eroded by foreign states seeking to slow the West’s AI build-out. There is little reason to think Australia will be exempt,” Mr Williamson said.
“For Australia, hoping to attract tens of billions in new investment, that is a real risk. Investment is mobile and easily spooked, and an offshore campaign the developer never sees can turn a community against a project, raising the cost of building here.”
Mr Williamson pointed to OpenAI banning a network of Chinese-based ChatGPT accounts running a covert campaign in the United States to undermine public support for data centres.
“Posing as ordinary Americans, the operators generated comments, comic strips and doctored images blaming data centres for driving up household electricity bills, then posted them on X under hashtags such as #datacenters,” he said.
“A second campaign attacked US tariffs and tried to discredit OpenAI itself. These campaigns work because the anxiety they exploit is real.
“Australia is an obvious target, and the pattern is familiar.
“Government needs to get ahead of this while it can. Our intelligence and electoral agencies should be actively on the lookout for co-ordinated, state-linked campaigns aimed at major infrastructure decisions, and say so publicly when they find them.”
With Mr Albanese expected to unveil a requirement that data centre developers invest in local communities, Mr Conroy on Sunday said AI was a “huge challenge for all sectors of our society, including defence”.
“We have to seize the opportunities of AI, we can’t be left behind while other countries dominate in this area … (but) we need to make sure that we spread the benefits of AI to workers and the broader community,” he said.
Labor has already flagged the need for data centre developers to commit to measures to prevent electricity prices increasing, including investing in enough renewable supply to offset energy demand, covering grid connection costs, and agreeing to limit production when the grid is under strain.
Mr Albanese is expected to use his speech to further expand on government guardrails, including on community investment, industrial relations rules and copyright requirements.
The Australian revealed last week that Labor’s draft policy platform has been significantly amended to insert a raft of union priorities for regulating AI, tying Mr Albanese to a heavy-handed oversight over the technology’s rollout after national conference.
ACCI chief executive Andrew McKellar said a recent government report showed AI had not yet caused major upheaval in the labour market.
Mr McKellar said it would be problematic to “load up business with a whole new set of obligations or mandatory requirements that run the risk of putting us behind the curve”.
He said it would be concerning for the government to put onerous requirements on data centre developers providing community benefits.
“It runs the risk that it would discourage investment that would otherwise come to Australia,” Mr McKellar said.