‘Australia can set the ground rules for AI’: Albanese says world queuing up to invest down under

“This means that if we act now, Australia can set the ground rules for AI, we can shape the future, not let the future shape us. We can secure new jobs and investment, we can build our sovereignty and our resilience, and we can do it the Labor way, the Australian way, without undercutting conditions, dividing communities, or damaging our environment,” he said.

Albanese spend much of the speech laying out the government’s progress on key areas of paid parental leave, tax reform and energy, while lashing the “axis of grievance” from Liberal, One Nation and Nationals rivals.

The context: Albanese described the current housing status quo as not “fair or reasonable” and hit out at criticism of the recent federal budget and its tax changes, saying no one has been able to argue the housing market was working fine.

“And once you get to that point, once everyone acknowledges that the system is broken, then the choice for a party of government is very clear,” he said.

“If you don’t have the ticker, you can kick the can down the road and leave the problem to a future generation.”

He also criticised the Liberals, saying it’s not their “brand” but their “product” that is an issue.

“It is not their sales pitch — it is their policies. It is not what they call themselves — it is who they are. It is the race to the bottom that all three rightwing parties are caught up in. They are the axis of grievance. Each trying to be more anti-fairness, more anti-worker, more anti-aspiration,” he said.

On energy, Albanese said it “matters that we set ambitious and achievable targets for climate action and renewable energy into the next decade”.

“That is a responsibility we owe to our environment and to future generations, and it is a profound economic opportunity for Australian industry and Australian manufacturing,” he said.

“Yet the most compelling argument for clean energy is not a number in 2035, it’s the first power bill that a small business gets after they’ve installed rooftop solar. It’s the savings that a family sees from a cheaper home battery, and it is secure, well-paying jobs in the Illawarra and the Hunter.”

What they said: In one of his most impassioned defences of his controversial budget reforms to date, Albanese said the government’s tax changes are “better aligning the way the system works and treats income earned through work and wages compared to income from selling assets, because the fact is that most Australians have nothing to sell but their time, nothing to give but their hard work”.

“That’s how they make a living, that’s how they provide for their family, that’s how they put food on the table by working their guts out every single day, and everything they do, every sacrifice they make, everything they give up and go without is about giving their children a better life with greater opportunity than they had,” he said.

“These are the hardworking Australians that our Australian Labor Party was created to serve. They deserve an economy that works for them, not the other way around, and they deserve the opportunity to buy their own home, and that’s why after 25 years of Howard and Costello tax breaks for property investors, pushing home ownership out of reach and beyond the aspiration of everyday Australians.”

“We have taken action. We have reformed negative gearing and capital gains tax.”