Senator McLachlan urges Australia to protect artists and biodiversity in AI policy

Liberal senator Andrew McLachlan is urging Australia’s government to put artists’ rights and biodiversity ahead of concessions to attract AI investment. In remarks published by the Guardian, the South Australian backbencher challenged both Labor and his own party’s approach as the government develops a policy package covering copyright, data centres and other AI issues.

The pressure for copyright changes has come with an investment argument. AI companies have sought legal certainty before committing money to Australia, while some have rejected making agreements under existing copyright laws on the grounds that doing so is too difficult. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously called using creatives’ work without paying them “theft”.

Anthropic has proposed an opt-out approach that would allow it to scrape music, books and journalism unless a rights holder objects, according to the Guardian. Leading recording-industry voices have opposed weakening existing protections. That leaves a dispute not only over payment, but over whether creators must actively refuse access to their work.

A property-rights challenge from within the Coalition

McLachlan’s intervention comes as senior opposition figures favour cooperation with Labor. Shadow ministers Jonno Duniam and Aaron Violi said this week that AI was too important for an unnecessarily partisan contest and promised constructive engagement. Both major parties support attracting more AI investment and data centres to Australia.

He framed his objection around ownership rather than rejecting AI’s potential. McLachlan said AI offered Australia “amazing opportunities”, but argued that any trade-offs must be clearly explained. Artists’ work, he said, should not be sacrificed for global corporate profit, and their property rights must remain protected.

The state should never seek to compulsorily acquire or trade away an individual’s property rights except in very limited circumstances and not without just compensation.

Andrew McLachlan, quoted by the Guardian

That position adds weight to a constitutional objection already raised by recording-industry body Aria and backed by Coalition senators Ross Cadell and Michaelia Cash. Their concern is that granting AI companies permission to scrape copyrighted material could amount to a government acquisition of property, triggering the constitutional requirement for acquisition “on just terms”.

McLachlan also questioned how compensation would work. He said arrangements should be considered individually for each artist and warned that ensuring fairness through an industry-wide scheme would be difficult. His demand goes beyond securing a payment for the creative sector as a whole: it concerns the treatment of each person’s rights.

Biodiversity alongside the safety agenda

His environmental warning puts another condition on the investment push. McLachlan said data centres must not come at the expense of biodiversity and called for Australia to develop its own AI capability sustainably. “I choose real forests over virtual ones,” he said. The Guardian reported that expected increases in emissions and household power costs have prompted opposition from environmental groups and some communities.

The government has already outlined the safety part of its agenda. In its 10 November announcement, Labor proposed mandatory protections for frontier AI companies—developers of the most advanced models—operating in Australia. A new targeted regulator would enforce the obligations, with significant penalties for noncompliance. The measures are proposed legislation, not rules already in force.

The six proposed company obligations

• Maintain security controls throughout development and deployment.
• Identify and manage serious model risks.
• Allow independent evaluation of models.
• Rapidly notify the government of incidents.
• Maintain and publish safety and security frameworks.
• Respond to updated standards and rules as technology changes.

Copyright remains under consideration within the broader package, which also covers data centres, energy resources and economic benefits. Labor’s package is expected before the end of 2026, leaving the terms governing creators’ rights and the AI buildout still to be settled.