Press conference, Melbourne

MURRAY WATT: Well, thanks for coming along this morning. Obviously, it’s great to be in Melbourne for Grand Final Day, where I expect by the end of the day we’ll see the Brisbane Lions take out their second repeat – second three-peat in this century alone. But of course, there’s a lot of other things happening in the world today, as well as the Grand Final.

I'm stepping in for Chris Bowen today to deliver the weekly fuel update. We know that the international situation regarding fuel remains quite uncertain, and that's why Chris right now is in India visiting the world's largest oil refinery, and of course, pursuing talks with India and Saudi Arabia around ongoing fuel supplies. I'm happy to report that fuel supply to Australia remains very solid despite the difficult circumstances that we continue to face.

To give you a few facts and figures, we now have 42 days of petrol supplies in Australia, that's one day more than this time last week. 32 days of diesel supplies, which is also one day more than last week. 29 days of jet fuel, which is three days less than last week, but still within normal levels. And we have 45 ships on the way to Australia with a range of fuel supplies, that's up from 40 last week.

What that means is that we have 3.5 billion litres of fuel locked in for delivery to Australia in the next four weeks, and that includes 1.9 billion litres of diesel. We've seen 60 ships laden with fuel arrive in Australia in September so far. So they are all still strong numbers that demonstrate that Australia is in a good position.

As I say, we’re not being complacent about this, we know the international situation remains difficult, and again that’s why Chris is pursuing those discussions as we speak. And we will continue to work as a country to ensure that Australia secures the fuel that we need, and also builds our sovereign capability for the future. Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Petrol prices are still on the rise. Is the Government considering cutting the fuel excise again? MURRAY WATT: No, that’s not on the Government’s agenda.

We did say previously that the temporary reduction to fuel excise was just that, temporary. But we understand that Australians continue to face cost of living pressures. What we’re focused on is delivering permanent cost of living relief.

The tax cuts that we’ve delivered to every Australian worker, the cheaper medicines, cheaper childcare, free TAFE, and we’ll continue to look for ways to support Australians with those pressures. JOURNALIST: Minister, you mentioned that Minister Bowen is having discussions to shore up our supply. What's he achieved so far?

How have those discussions been going? MURRAY WATT: Well, we know that India and Saudi Arabia are major suppliers of fuel to the world, and it is important that we build those connections, maintain those connections to ensure that our fuel supplies stay strong. It was through the efforts of Chris Bowen, the Prime Minister, and other ministers in our government that we've managed to secure fuel, despite what we've seen in other parts of the world.

And maintaining those discussions with major fuel suppliers is a good way of shoring up those supplies for the future. JOURNALIST: Just a couple questions on OpenAI. So, OpenAI published a report today confirming that they – their agents were breaching dozens of third party websites, does... including our Medicare website.

Does that sort of add weight to the Government's concerns? Are you more – really concerned about what they’ve done? MURRAY WATT: Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, it's been very clear this week from the Prime Minister's response and other ministers as well that we regard these breaches by OpenAI as completely unacceptable. They have an obligation to Australians – to explain to the Australian people exactly what these breaches have been and what they are doing to ensure this doesn't happen again. I think that the events of this week have demonstrated why it is so important that the government has taken the action that we have.

Both here domestically, by reviewing and working towards AI standards, and of course the work that we're doing internationally with the Prime Minister pressing this point at the United Nations this week. JOURNALIST: The ABC's published a story just this morning showing that OpenAI spent almost a week trying to access the PBS as well as the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare website.

How concerned are you about whether or not our private Australian citizens' private information is being breached? MURRAY WATT: It is absolutely vital that as AI develops, the AI companies can guarantee Australians that data will be safe. That's why we are taking that action, to put in place world leading standards around the regulation of AI to ensure that Australians remain safe.

But it is also incumbent on AI companies to come clean with the Australian public about what's been happening their AI models, and what they’re doing to increase their safety standards. As a government, we welcome AI. We can see the benefits to the community, to productivity, to healthcare, to a range of issues.

But we need to make sure Australians are in control of their data, and that this AI technology is safe and that's why we'll keep working towards those systems. JOURNALIST: Have they provided any further updates to the government? Are you aware of any other websites that have been that they impacted?

MURRAY WATT: I'm not aware of that. You would have seen that we appointed a task force to review this situation and what has occurred. We have asked OpenAI to provide full information about what breaches have occurred, and we expect them to do that as soon as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Might go to the phone? JOURNALIST: Sam Altman has posted online saying that [Indistinct]... or should the AI companies just be reporting breaches [Indistinct]...? MURRAY WATT: Well, I think it's important that AI companies are as transparent as possible with Australians and the world at large.

We know that this is new and emerging technology, we know that it hasn't had the regulations around it that it has needed which is why we're acting as a government to ensure those regulations are in place. But if AI companies want to maintain social licence with the community, they need to be as transparent as possible, and to do that as quickly as possible. JOURNALIST: With all these concerns around OpenAI in particular at the moment, and OpenAI also being some of – a company that the Government has really been courting.

You know, Richard Marles was in San Francisco, met with Sam Altman. OpenAI has also met with various government officials. But does the Government still – can you trust OpenAI?

MURRAY WATT: Well, I think OpenAI has some work to do to ensure that Australians can trust its technology. I think, as I've said and as others have said in our government, it is completely unacceptable what we saw from OpenAI. First in wrongly accessing that information, and secondly failing to report it to government agencies as quickly as they should have.

So, If OpenAI or other AI companies want to have the trust of the Australian people, they need to act a lot more transparently and provide information a lot more quickly than they have today. JOURNALIST: You spoke yesterday about the possibility of prosecuting with regard to these breaches. Isn’t the reality OpenAI is a Californian based company.

There are no laws in Australia that effectively allow us to prosecute this company, so ultimately, why should Australians believe that AI – that OpenAI is going to pay a price for what they’ve done? MURRAY WATT: Well, as I said yesterday, this is one of the matters that the task force we’ve appointed is looking into, is not only how did this event occur, but also what changes we may need to make to Australian law to ensure that these kind of things don't happen again and that those responsible are held accountable.

This is a novel situation in Australia, where we've seen a rogue AI agent inappropriately access information. One of the things we're establishing through this task force is whether Australian law, as it currently stands, allows for the prosecution of those involved. And if it doesn't, that's obviously something we'll take into account in developing our new AI standards.

So as I say, this is a novel area of the law. We're not talking about an individual who has accessed this information, we're talking about an AI agent. And what we need advice on, and what we're seeking advice on, is what is possible under current Australian law, and what may be necessary in the future if the current law doesn't deal with the issue.

JOURNALIST: But are you suggesting that you might prosecute retrospective that is, prosecute OpenAI for something that’s already happened, retrospectively? MURRAY WATT: Well, I haven't gone as far as saying that. What I have said is that what we're seeking advice on is what is possible under current Australian law.

And if the current law doesn't deal with the situation, that's something we can take into account in drafting our new legislative standards. JOURNALIST: Minister, I’m just curious to hear from you what the Government has or will do to support private businesses, specifically small businesses, as they now try to grapple with how they work with AI? MURRAY WATT: This is certainly something that my colleagues, including Minister Ayres, Minister Charlton, Minister Aly, the Minister for Small Business, and the Treasurer had been thinking through, is how can we ensure that Australian small business can take advantage of the opportunities that AI presents, but also protect themselves some of the negative aspects of AI as well.

I don't want to pre-empt what my colleagues are going to be saying on that, but it is certainly something that the Government is looking at. JOURNALIST: Sorry Minister, one more from me. Do you think the Government is throwing enough funding at things like the AI Safety Institute to combat these issues?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, look, my view is that the Australian Government is really setting the benchmark internationally in establishing the AI Safety Institute. This is a new agency that we’ve only created in the last few months, as part of a very strong effort by the Albanese Government to make sure that we have the protections in place that we need. The amount of money that it is been allocated to date, which I think is in the order of $6-8 million, is a large amount of money for a brand new agency.

But of course we’ll keep these things under review, and if further resources are necessary I’m sure that will happen. JOURNALIST: We’re all good here. Thank you.

MURRAY WATT: Great. Thanks everyone, thanks all. We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture.

We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.