Australia has ‘big problems’ as AI revolution creeps in
Millions have been warned they could lose their jobs, with parallels now being drawn between AI’s growing presence in Australian offices and remote work.
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has warned millions of Aussies could lose their jobs, drawing parallels between AI’s growing presence in Australian workplaces and working from home.
Joyce criticised a new proposal from the Australian Services Union (ASU), which calls for employers to be required to give employees six months’ notice before mandating a return to the office.
The union also proposes that work-from-home requests should be presumed approved unless an employer validly objects, with any changes to arrangements also subject to the same six-month notice.
The union also argues that employers must genuinely attempt to reach an agreement with the employee, respond within 14 days to work-from-home requests, and if refusing, set out the business grounds for doing so.
But Joyce says that’s all “absurd”.
“What you’re doing there is encouraging people not to employ people. You can’t just say you’re going to work from home today or you won’t have a job,” he said on Channel 7’s Sunrise.
Host Natalie Barr pushed back, informing the politician that many people can and do work from home successfully. But Joyce says employees should be “doing everything in their power” to ensure their position remains viable as AI creeps into the workplace.
“I think you got to be careful. It’s not a myth, AI is coming. What you’re doing is encouraging people to say ‘OK, stay home for the whole week because you don’t have a job anymore’. AI is coming into clerical work and remove jobs left, right, and centre,” he rebutted.
“I’d be doing everything in your power to try and keep your jobs because if people can prove they don’t need to come to the office, then the office can prove they can be replaced by AI. Be really careful in not being enthusiastic about not going to the office and getting to work.”
When asked on exactly how Australia could safeguard jobs, Joyce took a defeatist tone.
“I don’t know whether you can, that’s the problem,” he said.
“What you have to do is broaden the base of the economy, so there are alternate jobs to go to. But in our genius, we have decided to go to net zero and intermittent power, so we don’t have an industrial base to absorb those jobs and that is one of the big problems we’ve got.”
Barr then questioned minister for Social Services Tanya Plibersek about claims that AI could generate a net increase in jobs.
“I think there will be different types of jobs. A lot of the repetitive work will be done by AI in the future and what we need to do is make sure there are good jobs available for Australians in new and emerging industries as well,” she said.
“We’ve got real capacity to develop some of those AI tools right here.
“The big data centres we’re going to need to run some of these programs can be based right here and they can be powered by renewable energy. We have the cheapest form of energy available to us here in Australia. Solar, wind, we know it’s the cheapest form of new energy.”
Barr then pointed out that AI cannot readily replicate skilled trades and asked if Australians should learn trades instead.
“You are dead right,” Joyce responded.
They should because I can assure to my accountancy days, electricians overwhelmingly earn more money than people who have graduated with arts degrees. Doctors can go and make good money, no doubt about that. But AI won’t be able to turn itself into a plumber or itself into an electrician or a chippy, so trades are a place where you can sustain a good level of employment. But if you are just in clerical work ... that’s what its genius does, (it) replaces people but it doesn’t have hands and it doesn’t have feet.”
Jobs and Skills Australia forecasts that routine clerical roles (receptionists, general and accounting clerks) are most vulnerable to automation, while most occupations (79 per cent) face low automation exposure and high augmentation potential.
AI is already being used in place of customer service and administration roles, with real-life examples already emerging in Sydney, such as the sacking of medical receptionists after their employer found AI systems could complete their job.
The Social Policy Group estimates up to one-third of the Australian workforce could face temporary unemployment by 2030 at current AI adoption levels.
Meanwhile, some CEOs are warning the public that those who don’t get in line will fall behind, with Airwallex CEO Jack Zhang warning that employees must use AI daily, or risk losing their jobs.
A recent report into the Australian government’s AI ecosystem shows rapid growth in AI businesses, research output, and AI-based hiring, particularly across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth.
But sentiments are mixed on the revolutionary and potentially dangerous technology. A recent Ipsos survey showed that while 40 per cent of workers believe AI makes jobs easier, roughly the same proportion (39 per cent ) worry about security.
Academic analysis reveals that AI is increasing demand for complementary human skills, including digital literacy, teamwork, and resilience, but is quickly diminishing roles tied to repetitive skills. Net demand for human skills is rising, especially where AI augments rather than replaces.
