Shadow Portfolio — 21 August 2026

Shadow Minister Andrew Hastie used a parliamentary statement to frame artificial intelligence as a defining strategic challenge for Australia, positioning the Opposition as the party of sovereign AI capability, reliable energy, and educational reform. His contribution centred on the establishment of a Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence — an initiative he jointly proposed with the Member for Curtin — which secured the government's agreement to cooperate.

The statement wove together national security, energy policy, and education into a single opposition narrative on AI readiness.

**A Parliamentary Vehicle for AI Governance**

Mr Hastie announced the Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence, noting the government had agreed to cooperate with the Opposition's initiative. He said the committee will examine AI's impact on national resilience, productivity, economic competitiveness and living standards, and will also assess effects on national security, the political system, data sovereignty and community impacts.

He framed the committee as a first step toward a national conversation on Australia's AI future.

**Sovereign Capability and Strategic Competition**

Mr Hastie warned that a race for AI dominance is unfolding between the United States and the People's Republic of China, and urged Australia to adapt while protecting its sovereignty and security. He argued Australia can become a Southern Hemisphere AI compute hub by leveraging its land, energy resources, critical minerals, stable government and homegrown talent [TA-260820-house-7e3fe583b6fb:s007].

He warned that without sovereign AI capability, Australia faces security risks from AI-driven military applications and dependence on foreign infrastructure such as U.S. submarine cables [TA-260820-house-7e3fe583b6fb:s007].

**Energy Policy as AI Enabler**

Mr Hastie highlighted that AI is energy-intensive, noting a ChatGPT query uses ten times more energy than a Google search. He called for reliable baseload power to support AI development and asserted that renewables alone cannot meet AI's energy needs, arguing energy security must take precedence over climate ideology [TA-260820-house-7e3fe583b6fb:s007]. This positions the Opposition's broader energy critique — favouring baseload generation — within an AI-readiness frame.

**Education and Human Capital**

Mr Hastie called for reforms to education, including improvements to NAPLAN and PISA results, to prepare young Australians to build AI models rather than become dependent on them.

**Synthesis**

The Opposition's approach frames AI governance as a parliamentary priority, linking sovereign capability, energy security and education reform into a single strategic narrative. The committee announcement gives the Opposition a concrete institutional vehicle, while the energy and education arguments embed existing Coalition policy positions within the AI debate.