MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE

Senator COX (Western Australia) (17:44): I rise to associate myself with the comments of my colleague Senator Ghosh in relation to this MPI. It's not really a serious policy argument that's being brought here this afternoon; it's another one of the Greens political party's scare campaigns. It's from the same old playbook as usual: find a complex issue, strip out every practical detail, blame the Labor Party, frighten the public and then offer a slogan instead of a solution.

The Greens political party wants Australians to believe that there are only two choices: hand over the country to American tech billionaires or shut the whole thing down. Well, it's absolute nonsense. Two things can actually be true at once.

You can hold both of those ideas together in the light and assess them. That's exactly what the Albanese Labor government are doing. We will not let tech companies write the rules or let communities carry the costs where private companies take the profits, but we will also not pretend that Australia can opt out of the emerging frontiers of AI, digital infrastructure, data security and the associated economic changes.

That's not environmentalism—newsflash—that is retreating from the future. AI is growing, and so is the infrastructure behind it. The question is who shapes it.

Is it Australia, under Australian laws, with workers and safeguards at the centre, or is it other countries building the capability while Australia continues to fall behind? This government's answer is clear. Australia should be shaping the new frontier with Australia's interests at the centre of it.

The Greens bring an MPI here today, and their answer to that is just another stop sign. It makes a neat little media release, but it actually doesn't make a serious policy. The Albanese Labor government has already released our national AI plan and our data centre expectations, sending a very, very clear message to developers that Australian communities come first.

This means prioritising the national interest, supporting the energy transition, using water responsibly, investing in Australian skills and jobs, and strengthening local capability. That is the Albanese Labor government setting the terms. Our approach is practical.

Data centres should bring new renewable energy supply online, pay their fair share of network costs and provide flexibility to strengthen the grid. This is a serious energy policy, not a stunt that sends investment offshore and leaves Australia weaker. On water, communities have a right to ask questions.

Water security matters, whether it's for households, farmers, First Nations communities, industries and the environment. That's why Labor requires sustainable water use, early engagement with communities and water utilities, efficient cooling technology and non-potable water where possible. Projects that don't meet our requirements, standards or national interests should not be waved through, but a blanket moratorium does not protect one river, save one wetland, build one recycled water system or deliver one extra renewable project.

So let's absolutely get the clarity of what this is about. Bringing this MPI may make the Greens political party feel pure, but actually it's telling us everything we need to know. Of course, as always, somebody else has to do the work.

They can pretend to care about jobs. Their answer is to block infrastructure, but that is actually what supports good jobs in communities. Labor expects fair, safe, secure and well-paid jobs and investment in local capability.

On the issue of data and sovereignty, the Greens argument is a house of cards, as usual. You don't protect Australians' data by saying data centres just need to be somewhere else. When companies want to operate here, our government's position is very, very clear: they operate under Australian terms.

That is sovereignty. It's not replacing policy with protest. You don't protect workers by blocking infrastructure that could and will support Australian jobs.

You don't protect water by issuing a press release. You protect it by setting the standards, using the planning systems, requiring sustainable water use and rejecting those bad projects. This MPI concerns the real issues that Australians should be asking about—energy, water, jobs, data—but it turns into another lazy lecture on purity.

While they lecture us, Labor continue to deliver. Labor is setting national expectations, backing the energy transition, protecting water, supporting jobs and skills, and building safety capability through the AI Safety Institute. The Albanese Labor government will continue to build a stronger, safer and more sovereign Australia.