Thursday, 6 February 2025

 Darren CHEESEMAN (South Barwon) (10:26): I am sure many parliamentarians have seen over the last 12 months the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence that has been achieved around the planet. This is going to profoundly change the way citizens engage with their governments. It is going to profoundly change the way in which customers interact with small business. What I am particularly interested in is what this might mean for the jobs of many Victorians and indeed many Australians.

The introduction of artificial intelligence and how rapidly it is coming at us requires governments to think carefully and to plan carefully to make sure that we have protections in place not only to protect individuals’ privacy but, most importantly, to make sure that we protect the jobs of Victorians and that we have a strong and comprehensive jobs plan to ensure that when this technology comes at us we do have a strong plan that is designed to protect the jobs of Victorians. I urge the Parliament and the government to think carefully about this and to make sure that a comprehensive plan is put in place to protect Victorians and to ensure that we all do have the opportunity to have work in this state.