HASLUCK MP Tania Lawrence seconded a motion for the lower house to acknowledge the impact AI will have on Australian lives and efforts to make it accessible beyond just businesses and support its incorporation into training the future workforce.

On October 27, Maribyrnong MP Jo Briskey moved for the house to recognise AI’s place in the economy and look at how employment of AI in the workplace would serve people instead of displacing them.

“Unions like the Finance Sector Union and the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance are leading the way, partnering with employers that address AI safety with consultation, transparency and upskilling,” she said.

“The potential for AI to transform our society and economy cannot be understated,” she said.

“Already 68 per cent of Australian businesses use AI, yet we still lag behind the United States and China in training employees and employing skilled AI workers.

“Through one million free TAFE and university places and $47 million for the next-generation AI graduates, we’re giving Australians the skills to guide this technological responsibility.”

Ms Lawrence seconded the motion and said the technology was already making an impact in WA through its adoption by the mining sector, agriculture and financial services.

“AI is not merely another app or tool that will change work around the edges, rather it’s a revolutionary change” she said.

“AI is expected to contribute up to $116 billion a year to Australia’s GDP, to create an additional 150,000 jobs by 2030 and to increase annual labour productivity growth by over four per cent across the next decade.

“Natasha Banks of Day of AI suggests that in the near future most jobs will be augmented by AI and that there’ll be new jobs arising such as an AI engineer, but there’ll be many more hybrid occupations where technical expertise is combined with background experience in areas such as health care, education, energy or public policy.”

In Mundaring adopts new AI policy Shire of Mundaring, City of Swan and the City of Kalamunda said they had begun responsible implementation of AI at the local government level.

Echo News asked Ms Lawrence’s office whether AI was being incorporated into the federal level at the Hasluck office.

A spokesperson for Tania Lawrence said the office was continuously exploring a range of digital tools designed to support efficient service delivery to the electorate of Hasluck.

“As with any new technology, we take careful and considered approach to adoption, with particular focus on the sensitivity, confidentiality, and personalised case management service we provide to constituents,” she said.

During the October 27 parliamentary meeting, Liberal Grey MP Tom Venning said while the contribution of AI to the future of the Australian economy was a bipartisan notion, his experience rolling out generative AI at NAB showed the cybersecurity considerations that had to be made.

“The annual cyber threat report 2024-2025 from the Australian Signals Directorate should be a wake-up call,” he said.

“The technologies that I saw drive productivity at NAB that can free up humans for complex tasks requires a workforce ready to harness them.

“NAPLAN results have shown roughly one-third of students are not meeting expectations in literacy and numeracy.

“We are setting them up to fail in an AI economy.

“You can’t be a prompt engineer if you don’t have the skills of logic, critical thinking and communication.”

The Nationals Lyne MP Alison Penfold also acknowledged AI had arrived but that trust in the technology was low and said there needed to be more protection against AI.

“We need to consider how this all-encompassing technology is safely accommodated into our lives, including ensuring that we have a choice as to whether we use it or not,” she said.

“While AI can be used to put finishing touches to a person’s letter, a proposal, a project, a policy or a body of work, it’s really a matter for each person to develop their own position on their AI use.

“Ideally, in a liberal democracy, that is not an area for government to regulate.

“But then there is the use of AI for villainous, deplorable or senseless purposes.

“This is where the government must step in.”