I'm calling on the Australian Government to commission an urgent, independent review of how AI platforms, the data centres that power them, and the multinational companies behind them operate in Australia.

AI is being built into our workplaces, services, schools and government at extraordinary speed. The infrastructure behind it is straining shared resources, while the rules are being written largely by the companies that profit most.

Consider the scale. Data centres already use about 2% of the national grid, and the Australian Energy Market Operator projects this to roughly triple by 2030. Some proposed facilities have sought up to 40 million litres of water a day for cooling, as much as 80,000 households. And the largest AI and cloud platforms are owned by a handful of multinationals whose tax contribution here is modest relative to the revenue and public resources they draw on.

There's also a question of sovereignty. Because these platforms are controlled offshore, Australia's access to the technologies our economy and government depend on could be switched off, restricted or repriced by a foreign government, through export controls, sanctions or pressure on the companies involved. Australia must not be in a position where another government, or a commercial relationship we don't control, determines our access to critical technology.

I'm not anti-AI. I want Australia to benefit from it. But the benefits, the costs and the rules should be set in the open, not handed to us by the lobbying departments of overseas tech giants.

I'm calling for an urgent, independent review with a broad mandate covering three things: how AI platforms are used and controlled and what they do with our data; the energy, water and land use of data centres and who pays for the infrastructure they need; and whether multinational AI and cloud companies pay a fair amount of tax here. The review must give equal weight to government, the Australian public, and Australian-owned businesses, and be shielded from multinational lobbying, with transparent submissions and a public final report.

Sign if you believe Australia's AI future should be decided by Australians, in the open. Then share it with three people who'd want a say.