July 14, 2026, (Inside AI) — Federal Labor MP Ed Husic has issued a stark warning to his party: watering down copyright law for AI companies would betray Labor's core values, and allowing big tech to self-regulate is a path "doomed to failure."
Husic's comments come ahead of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's major speech on artificial intelligence in Sydney on Wednesday. The speech is expected to address policy guardrails for AI, data centers, and Australian intellectual property, but not long-awaited copyright reforms.
The Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA), representing journalists, artists, and creatives, has called for tougher copyright rules to prevent creative works from being used to train AI models without consent or payment.
Husic, a former industry minister known for his interventionist stance on AI, rejected the idea of relying on "social licence"—a voluntary, self-regulatory approach by tech firms. He drew a parallel to emissions reduction, arguing that governments must step in when industry fails to act.
"If we were to wait for social licence with industry, we wouldn't get emissions reduction. Governments sometimes have to step in," Husic told Sky News on Tuesday.
"We've tried this. Going down the path of social licence with tech is a path that's sadly doomed to failure, because we tried self-regulation for a couple of decades and found out that it didn't work."
Husic's critique targets giants like OpenAI and Anthropic. He stressed that Labor's foundational principle of fair remuneration must extend to the digital age.
"I'm from the Labor side of politics. We've grown up with the notion of a fair day's pay for a fair day's work—that people should be remunerated fairly for the labour, the effort that they provide. If you're a Labor person arguing to water down the Copyright Act, you're actually going against the ethos of your own party," he said.
When asked if colleagues were considering such changes, Husic acknowledged internal debate: "obviously, there's a debate that's going on behind the scenes. Clearly, there's elements of this being teased out. Otherwise, we wouldn't be getting this type of media speculation about what might happen."
He added a sharp rebuke to AI firms: "These companies—Anthropic, OpenAI—these are going to be the biggest or are already the biggest firms on the planet. Their executives get paid for their work, and if they're expecting others to hand over their work without being paid, that is just a no-go zone and should be resisted."
Behind the scenes, cabinet discussions on copyright are ongoing. Documents obtained under freedom of information laws show Treasury officials warned Treasurer Jim Chalmers that Anthropic would complain copyright rules were "impeding the development of data centres" in Australia, ahead of a meeting with CEO Dario Amodei.
This lobbying has created a rift within the government. While Labor has publicly ruled out a text and data mining exemption for AI firms, some senior ministers are reportedly open to industry proposals for special copyright exemptions. The outcome remains uncertain.
The Energy and Equity Dilemma
Albanese's speech will also grapple with the physical footprint of AI. Data centers are energy-intensive, and a proposed development in Plumpton, Melbourne's outer west, has sparked community backlash. Labor MP Sam Rae and backbencher Alice Jordan-Baird voiced concerns about strain on local energy, water, and traffic.
"Our community deserves clear answers, genuine consultation and transparent planning processes... The west cannot simply become the destination for infrastructure that places additional strain on resources while delivering little in return," they said in a joint statement.
The MEAA urged the government to consider equitable remuneration rules, guaranteeing creators an inalienable right to be paid when their work is used by AI systems. They also want an explicit ban on training models on creative works without consent and payment.
"The benefits of AI cannot be captured by the same global entertainment and tech giants that already profit from our members' work—it must be the workers who benefit," an MEAA spokesperson said.
As the government walks a tightrope between innovation and protection, Husic's intervention signals that the copyright fight is far from over. With global AI investment accelerating, Australia's decision could set a precedent for how nations balance creator rights against technological progress.
