National AI Concept of a Plan

Australia’s new National AI Plan arrives wrapped in three pillars, made from straw, that Canberra is deperately grasping at. What it offers in practice is familiar: much vision, little obligation, and even less that would actually shift Australia up the AI value chain.

Take the headline boast that more than 460 million dollars is “already committed” to AI and related initiatives. Look closely and most of this is rebadged, not fresh money, largely routed through existing research and skills programmes. The plan notes proudly that Australia produces 1.9% of the world’s AI research, outpunching our share of population and GDP. What it does not say is that we used to contribute about 2.6%, and that our relative position has slipped as others have accelerated.

Meanwhile, this rebadged AI priority comes at a cost elsewhere. An academic friend in water management told me that not a single early career grant in their field was funded this year. The money, they say, went instead to whimsical AI projects, including one literally titled “How AI Can Do Comedy”. It may tick some boxes in the short-term but no one will be laughing when the new water hungry data centres come online.

If Australia is serious about keeping pace with AI leaders, it must start where they do: with talent. One route would be to match effective US compensation for scarce AI experts, through targeted tax breaks for immigrants taking critical roles. The global AI labour market is already liquid. Many American researchers and engineers are wondering if they might be happier, and safer, somewhere else.The more contentious route is the one we are quietly squandering. Australia is full of underused migrant expertise. Recruiting for AI roles in Australia has taught me that there are immigrant AI specialists who find it easier to qualify as social workers than as technologists.

The plan’s treatment of AI safety is another missed chance. The AI Safety Institute ignores a genuine comparative advantage. Australia has built real cyber security capability, through Crowdstrike’s investment into Australia and billion-dollar acquisition of firms such as CyberCX - we already have local 24/7 security operations centres that are protecting global clients.Instead of treating AI security as an afterthought, it could be our headline act. Our plague of scams and fraud is grim, but it is also abundant training data. With proper investment we could become the leaders in AI security.

Australia did need a national AI strategy. What it received is a glossy catalogue of existing spending. A serious plan would start by unlocking the skills of migrants we already have, incentivise the movement of top talent, and recognise our edge in this domain to elevate AI security from footnote to flagship industry.

Everything else is words.

8 December 2025

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