Liberal MP Andrew Hastie Calls for Major Increase in Australian AI Investment

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie delivered the annual Tom Hughes Oration to party members in Sydney on Monday night and called for Australia to dramatically increase investment in artificial intelligence. Hastie, the shadow minister for industry and sovereign capability, warned that without stronger domestic capability Australia risks becoming “a supplicant state” tethered to the United States.

He compared the current race for AI dominance to the nuclear arms race of the Cold War era and said Australia should position itself as a technology hub in the southern hemisphere.

Hastie proposed the appointment of a new AI ambassador and said the education system should be overhauled “so we can unleash Australian hearts and minds on AI”. “Last century, Australia missed the opportunity to become a nuclear power,” he said.

U.S. Nuclear umbrella. Hastie said Australia now sits between its closest security partner, the United States, and its largest trading partner, China, as both pursue global leadership in AI and semiconductor production in Taiwan. Whatever the outcome, he said, Australia will be involved in any conflict in the Taiwan Strait “whether we like it or not”.

“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that a hot war between the US and China over AI dominance and advanced chips in Taiwan would be infinitely worse than a hot war in the Middle East,” Hastie stated. He warned that failure to invest would leave Australia with less agency over its own future and that AI would replace many blue- and white-collar jobs, creating divisions in the labour market.

“If AI potentially starves people of work, we can expect great social upheaval,” he said.