Labor and the Coalition deny there was political interference in a raft of recommendations from an AI inquiry, after accusations of a major party “stitch-up” to justify copyright policy.
What we know:
- Labor MP Jo Briskey and Liberal Senator Jonno Duniam, the respective chair and deputy chair of the inquiry’s committee, made several recommendations about Australia’s response to AI in a letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (Nine).
- But independent Senator David Pocock has raised concerns that an adviser to Anthony Albanese “pre-vetted” the committee’s "early advice" letter before it was sent to the prime minister after finding mark-ups from Albanese’s office on a draft of the document (ABC).
- “I am increasingly concerned that the work of this committee is being used to serve a political purpose rather than provide genuine parliamentary scrutiny and policy input,” Pocock said (The Canberra Times).
- Greens leader David Shoebridge shared Pocock’s concerns. “Captive committees doing pretend inquiries serve no one but a government ducking for cover. The letter to the PM from this committee being edited by the PM’s office is a farce worthy of Utopia,” he said (The Guardian).
- Briskey and Duniam pushed back on the scrutiny, with the chair calling the letter an “indication to the government on where the committee is heading, where we think there is some really important [consensus] to just get on with the job” (ABC).
- The letter reportedly recommends changing copyright settings so Australian creators are compensated and can keep control over their work, in addition to increasing oversight of government systems to quell data-breach concerns (The Canberra Times).
Read more: Pocock criticises ‘deferential’ AI committee (The Saturday Paper)