COMMITTEES

Mr BURKE (Watson—Minister for the Arts, Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Cyber Security, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and Leader of the House) (09:26): I move: That: (1) a Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence be appointed to inquire into and report on: (a) the opportunities presented by artificial intelligence (AI) to lift Australia's resilience, productivity growth, economic competitiveness, and living standards; (b) the opportunities for the benefits of AI to be spread across Australia's suburbs and regions; (c) the opportunities of AI and robotics to drive research and innovation, new industries and business, and export opportunities, including in sectors of Australian comparative advantage such as agriculture, resources, health and medical research, advanced manufacturing, financial services and defence industry; (d) the rate and extent of AI adoption across the Australian economy, and the barriers to adoption, faced by small and medium businesses and family businesses; (e) the opportunities for Australian sovereign AI capability, including the measures required to build, retain and commercialise domestic capability, grow research and development, and attract and retain investment and talent; (f) the importance of data sovereignty, and the opportunities presented by narrow, domain-specific AI models trained on Australian data in areas of Australian sectoral expertise; (g) the workforce and skills implications of AI, including the adequacy of Australia education system, job creation and displacement, and the effects on the quality and security of jobs; (h) the adoption of AI by Commonwealth departments and agencies to improve services for Australians, and the transparency and accountability measures that apply to AI use; (i) the adequacy of Australia's existing laws and regulatory frameworks as they apply to AI and whether there are any gaps that warrant reform; (j) the interaction of AI with existing intellectual property and copyright laws, including the use of Australian creative, cultural and media content in the training of AI models; (k) the risks and harms arising from AI, including fraud and scams, deepfakes and risks to the safety and wellbeing of children and vulnerable Australians; (l) the national security and cyber security opportunities to protect Australians, as well as the foreign interference risks, associated with AI, including the security and resilience of supply chains and of systems supporting critical infrastructure; (m) the implications of emerging AI capability for Australia's national security and strategic resilience, including the ability of regulators, the Australian AI Safety Institute and the intelligence and security community to identify and respond to emerging risks; and (n) any other related matters; (2) the committee present its final report by no later than 30 November 2026; (3) the committee consist of twelve members, three Members of the House of Representatives to be nominated by the Government Whip or Whips, two Members of the House of Representatives to be nominated by the Opposition Whip or Whips, one Member to be nominated by any minority group or independent Member, three Senators to be nominated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate, two Senators to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and one Senator to be nominated by any minority group or independent Senator; (4) every nomination of a member of the committee be notified in writing to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives; (5) the members of the committee hold office as a Joint select committee until the committee's final report is presented or the House of Representatives is dissolved or expires by effluxion of time, whichever is the earlier; (6) the committee elect: (a) a Government member as its chair; and (b) an Opposition member as its deputy chair who shall act as chair of the committee at any time when the chair is not present at a meeting of the committee or the position of chair is temporarily vacant; (7) at any time when the chair and deputy chair are not present at a meeting of the committee the members present shall elect another member to act as chair at that meeting; (8) in the event of an equally divided vote, the chair, or the deputy chair when acting as chair, shall have a casting vote; (9) three members of the committee constitute a quorum of the committee, provided that in a deliberative meeting the quorum shall include one Government member of either House and one non-Government member of either House; (10) the committee: (a) have power to appoint subcommittees consisting of three or more of its members and to refer to any subcommittee any matter which the committee is empowered to examine or conduct public hearings; and (b) appoint the chair of each subcommittee who shall have a casting vote only; (11) at any time when the chair of a subcommittee is not present at a meeting of the subcommittee, the members of the subcommittee present shall elect another member of that subcommittee to act as chair at that meeting; (12) two members of a subcommittee constitute a quorum of that subcommittee, provided that in a deliberative meeting the quorum shall include one Government member of either House and one non-Government member of either House; (13) members of the committee who are not members of a subcommittee may participate in the proceedings of that subcommittee but shall not vote, move any motion or be counted for the purpose of a quorum; (14) the committee or any subcommittee have power to: (a) call for witnesses to attend and for documents to be produced; (b) conduct proceedings at any place it sees fit; (c) sit in public or in private; (d) report from time to time; and (e) adjourn from time to time and sit during any adjournment of the Senate or the House of Representatives; (15) the provisions of this resolution, so far as they are inconsistent with the standing orders, have effect notwithstanding anything contained in the standing orders; and (16) a message be sent to the Senate acquainting it of this resolution and requesting that it concur and take action accordingly.