Opinion: AI is our way back and investment's our future
Time and distance can bring renewed clarity. Having worked abroad for much of the past decade, former prime minister Kevin Rudd sees dangerous complacency in Australia’s mindset.
In his recent National Press Club address, he pointed to industrial decline as symptomatic of our unreadiness for global “mega changes”. Restarting automotive manufacturing, enhanced by AI, was one of seven industry strategies Rudd proposed.
If applied strategically and at scale, AI could supercharge advanced manufacturing in Australia. But we must own a stake in the technologies shaping our future and wind the clock back, just a little.
At its peak in 2005, Holden’s South Australian factory produced more than 153,000 vehicles, almost 40 per cent for export. Its Elizabeth plant employed about 5,800 people, supported supply chains and generated engineering innovation.
However, Holden’s US owner, General Motors, began winding down production soon after its peak. Australia’s domestic market limited scale and competitiveness, while manufacturing shifted to countries with lower overheads, stronger incentives and larger markets.
The company I co-founded, Seeing Machines, developed revolutionary driver-safety technology but could not secure support from Australia’s automotive industry. Sweden’s Volvo backed the company instead and the company is now a world leader, with systems installed in more than 8 million vehicles.
I later joined CSIRO and watched colleagues in Newcastle develop an electric test vehicle for Holden using CSIRO’s UltraBattery. It completed over 150,000 kilometres in trials, a remarkable achievement.
The Rudd government established the $500 million Green Car Innovation Fund to support initiatives including battery manufacturing for electric vehicles. Industry co-investment was required, but Holden did not coinvest. CSIRO’s vehicle was recalled and crushed. Petrol and diesel continued to dominate, while China invested heavily in electric vehicles. We see the results on our roads today.
Fortunately, Holden is not the final chapter in Australian vehicle manufacturing. At Wacol in Queensland, about 3,000 Volvo and Mack trucks are produced annually, including battery-electric models. And in Bayswater, Victoria, workers build about 3,500 Kenworth trucks each year.
These heavy-vehicle production hubs are green shoots from which Australia can regrow a critical industry. By combining AI-enabled design, advanced manufacturing and research, Australia could become a global leader. We must have global aspirations and not repeat the Holden-Ford story of building only for domestic demand.
Automotive, energy, defence and critical minerals are among the sovereign capabilities Australia needs amid global instability. Fuel-supply shocks have proven how vulnerable a transport-dependent nation like ours is on diesel. We need to develop domestic supply while innovating in green fuel trucking and lead in these future facing industries.
AI is Australia’s chance to again go global in industries critical for our prosperity and security, with an investment pipeline estimated at more than $155 billion. But there’s a catch. We can’t just ride the AI wave, by simply hosting data centres. We need to own a stake in this transformative technology.
Australian clean energy and water consortiums are mounting a significant case for consideration in data centre investment. The federal government is alert to another opportunity, which is the focus of Expectation 5 of its AI and data centre regulatory framework. This expectation lists compute access for Australian startups and not-for-profits such as universities to develop AI tools. We need to develop local talent, supply chains and industry partnerships, not just host big IT boxes for foreign companies.
The leap from bespoke truck manufacturing to an export-ready, AI-enabled vehicle industry will not happen without sustained research investment. Without it, Australia risks becoming a passenger, vulnerable to foreign companies that exit when local operations no longer suit their priorities.
Our universities are undertaking pivotal work. UTS is advancing real-time object detection, energy autonomy and remote sensing systems. RMIT is developing autonomous systems for industrial automation, smart bionics and environmental cleanup. The University of Newcastle is researching next-generation battery technologies to succeed lithium-ion.
Australia must translate this capability into commercial and national advantage. The federal government’s Trailblazer program has proven how targeted public funding can attract substantial private investment. ARENA is a strong investment vehicle for energy technologies, while defence is served by sound strategy, but wider industry would welcome a modern successor to Trailblazer.
Australia has the research strength and industry appetite. As Kevin Rudd says, the productivity opportunity is urgent. To control our destiny, we must be more than users of technology. We need to own new technology. We need to be an investor, creating global businesses like Seeing Machines.
We need to back ourselves and put future generations in the driver’s seat.
Published in The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday 30 September 2026
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