Labor is trying to fix a ‘broken’ economic system. Now it must keep going

July 20, 2026 — 5:00am

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Last week, attacking Anthony Albanese’s speech about AI – and specifically his proposal to create an “office of AI” – Angus Taylor had a good, if not entirely accurate, line. Albanese merely wanted to create “an office inside his own office”, said Taylor. (It is actually in the prime minister’s department.)

Taylor’s description of the speech was not entirely misplaced, either: “It’s motherhood statements at this point.” Mostly, it was. The speech had some announcements about the operation of data centres. These are not unimportant. As data centres are necessary for AI, it would be more accurate to describe this portion of the speech as an infrastructure announcement. We heard various principles that may or may not end up driving government policy on the technology and its implications.

Which is – at this stage – reasonable enough. These are complex matters that need public discussion. It would have been premature to announce anything more specific. Albanese has properly started that conversation in the Australian political sphere.

How you choose to read the prime minister’s speech at this point probably comes down to your overall sense of his beliefs and style. If you see him as a laissez-faire neoliberal, largely willing to do what business wants so as to avoid political conflict – and there is some evidence for this view, including the government’s slow and weak approach to gambling – then the speech........

© The Age