Thank you,
I’d like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today, the Ngunnawal people.
I pay my respects to elders past and present, and extend this respect to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with us today.
I'd like to say a big thank you to Bridi Rice and the Development Intelligence Lab, colleagues from DFAT, our partners and collaborators from across the region, and everyone who has contributed to situation 2026.
An event which brings together a remarkable group of people united by a common question:
What Indo-Pacific development challenge could ai solve by 2031?
It's an important question.
Because when we talk about artificial intelligence in development, our starting point is not the technology.
It is people.
Their dignity. Their safety. Their agency. And the communities we are working alongside.
Because in a development context, the value of emerging technologies lies in the ways people’s lives are improved.
Ai can help us respond faster, understand needs better and make scarce resources go further, but it must always be used responsibly, ethically and in service of people.
That is the principle that should guide us; technology serving humanity, not the other way around.
It has been just over three years since Australia launched our international development policy.
The first in more than a decade.
At its heart was a simple proposition: development works best when it is built on genuine partnership.
When priorities are identified by partner governments, communities and institutions.
When solutions are locally led.
And when countries have agency over their own futures.
Three years on, and conflict and instability persist in many parts of the world.
Humanitarian needs continue to outstrip available resources.
Communities across our region, particularly in the pacific, continue to grapple with the existential threat of climate change.
At the same time, the global development landscape is undergoing seismic shifts.
Strategic competition is intensifying.
Supply chain disruptions are affecting food and energy security.
Hard-won progress on fundamental freedoms and human rights is being reversed.
The international rules and norms are under immense strain.
Technological change is occurring at an extraordinary pace.
And major donors are choosing to reduce their aid budgets.
It is in this volatile context that Australia has made our own choice.
A choice to stay the course, and to remain a trusted, reliable partner for our region.
I am proud that the Albanese Labor government has maintained our investment in official development assistance.
This year, 75 cents of every development dollar will benefit the Indo-Pacific – where Australia has the most at stake and where we can make the biggest difference.
Because while circumstances change, our geography does not.
Our future is tied to the future of the Indo-Pacific.
Our prosperity is connected to the prosperity of the entire pacific family.
And Australians are more secure when our region is stable, resilient and inclusive.
So, our purpose remains constant. But the way we pursue it must continue to evolve.
Staying the course does not mean standing still.
It means adapting to a changing world, responding to new pressures and being willing to use new tools where they can make a real difference.
And it means embracing innovation where it can help us solve enduring development and humanitarian challenges more effectively.
Around the world, development and humanitarian organisations are being asked to respond to more complex crises, more frequent shocks and growing need, often with increasingly constrained resources.
That means we have to make every development dollar work harder, reach further and deliver the greatest possible impact for the people and communities we support.
It also means looking seriously at the opportunities presented by emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.
Not because technology is a substitute for partnership, local leadership, human judgement or expertise.
And not because innovation is an end in itself.
But because, used well, these tools have the potential to help us identify needs earlier, understand emerging risks faster, target assistance more accurately and deliver services at greater scale.
They can help humanitarian and development organisations make better use of limited resources, strengthen decision making and respond more quickly when communities are facing crisis.
The challenge for us is to harness that potential in a way that is responsible, practical and always grounded in the needs of the people we are there to serve.
We are already seeing examples of that promise emerge across our region – backed by Australian Government investment.
Through KONEKSI, one of the projects being showcased here today, Australia and Indonesia are partnering to harness ai and digital innovation across the public health system.
Together, universities, government agencies, health providers and technology developers are turning research into more sophisticated data systems.
Importantly, these are solutions which are being developed in Indonesia, adapted to Indonesian contexts, and helping build the local capabilities needed for long-term success.
That is what partnership looks like.
Not importing solutions.
But empowering countries to solve their own development challenges.
We see something similar in Papua New Guinea, where catalpa received joint funding from governments in Australia and PNG to develop Bilum – a platform named after the woven bags made and carried by local women.
Bilum helps government officials monitor development investments in roads, schools and health facilities.
It is helping to transform complex information into practical insights that support planning and infrastructure.
Again, the technology matters.
But what matters more is the outcome.
More effective government and better services for communities.
Another ai-enabled tool being showcased today, Heidi, is improving efficiencies across the healthcare sectors of 190 countries.
For frontline health workers using ai to generate consultation notes, that is not simply a productivity gain.
It means more time with patients.
More reliable information.
And better healthcare outcomes.
These examples remind us that some of the most powerful applications of ai are not necessarily the most glamorous.
Often, they involve improving existing systems.
Removing bottlenecks.
Making information more accessible.
And helping people do their jobs more effectively.
We can also see ai contributing significantly to crisis situations.
When a disaster strikes, the speed and quality of information can determine the effectiveness of a humanitarian response.
The humanitarian OpenStreetMap, together with Nepalese technology company NAXA and EPFL, are developing ai tools that rapidly assess damage using drone imagery and community-generated data.
This type of technology changes lives.
The result is better information for local responders.
Faster decision-making when every minute counts.
And stronger local capacity to prepare for future disasters.
It is a powerful example of what locally led ai can look like: global technology and expertise, put in the hands of people who understand the local context – and need the information most.
It is a reminder that agency does not stop when we enter the digital age.
Countries should have agency over their digital futures just as they should have agency over their development futures.
Back home in Australia, the question is not whether ai will transform our economies and societies.
It already is.
The question is how we ensure that transformation reflects our values and serves the public good.
How we ensure it expands opportunity rather than concentrates it.
How it supports human capability rather than diminishing it.
And how it fosters social inclusion by empowering women, people living with disability and other marginalised communities – rather than excluding them.
That is why our Labor government is pursuing an approach that embraces the opportunities of ai while carefully managing its risks.
That approach is set out in our national ai plan, which is about capturing the opportunities of ai, spreading the benefits and keeping Australians safe.
In July, prime minister Albanese announced that we will legislate mandatory standards for large ai data centres, to ensure ai works in Australia’s interests.
We’ve also established an office for ai to accelerate implementation of the Australian AI standards and bring together the work ministers are undertaking across government.
For Australian entrepreneurs, researchers and small businesses, we know that emerging technologies offer boundless opportunities.
For many small and medium-sized enterprises, ai is lowering the barriers to innovation.
Tools that once required significant capital, specialised infrastructure or large teams are becoming more accessible.
In that sense, development and innovation increasingly reinforce one another.
And it means a small technology company in Canberra, cairns or Adelaide can partner with communities across the Indo-Pacific to have a meaningful impact, while also creating jobs, capability and opportunity in Australia.
We have domestic expertise across digital technology, health, agriculture, resources, climate resilience and ai governance.
The opportunity is to connect that capability with the priorities and expertise of our region.
We see powerful examples of what Australia can offer the world here today: in Australian-owned businesses dragonfly thinking, the development intelligence lab and folktale.
All three are female-founded and led, ai-enabled, powered by multicultural teams, and connected to Canberra’s innovation ecosystem.
Folktale and the lab have DFAT innovation and policy entrepreneurship in their founding stories, while the lab and dragonfly are now globally recognised leaders.
Together, they are active across 15 countries, while folktale’s technology alone has been adopted in more than 45.
These Australian SME’s are making sure local knowledge reaches decision-makers – and giving communities greater control over their development futures.
Not by arriving with ready-made answers, but by working alongside governments and local organisations to solve problems together.
And I welcome so many other innovators here today from across southeast Asia, the pacific and further afield who are doing exactly this.
Not only are you contributing to stronger communities and stronger institutions overseas.
You are building expertise, and developing technologies with global potential.
You are creating opportunities for growth and investment at home.
And paving the way for the next generation of innovators.
This brings me back to a principle that i mentioned earlier – and which must guide all of our approaches to ai and development.
That local ownership matters.
For years, Australia and our partners have invested in the foundations that make digital transformation possible.
Connectivity.
Infrastructure.
Skills.
Institutions.
Governance.
Just weeks ago, the pacific family marked a significant milestone.
Every member of the pacific islands forum is now connected to the global undersea cable network.
This represents years of partnership and investment.
But infrastructure alone does not determine outcomes.
What matters is what people choose to build upon it.
And countries across the Indo-Pacific are already defining their own digital ambitions.
Pacific leaders have articulated their vision through the Lagatoi declaration.
Asean has developed its own approach to responsible ai.
Regional conversations about digital governance continue to grow in sophistication and ambition.
These frameworks matter because they ensure technological progress reflects local priorities and local values.
Looking around this room today, I am optimistic about what comes next.
Because the ideas emerging from situation 2026 show that innovation is thriving across our region.
I look forward to engaging with your showcases this morning, and to learning the outcomes of the groundbreaking pitch competition which will be held later today.
Whether you’re helping to preserve Papua New Guinea's extraordinary linguistic heritage.
Detecting disease outbreaks earlier.
Strengthening safeguarding and governance systems for local organisations.
Or empowering communities to prepare for climate and disaster risks.
Each solution you’re working towards comes from people willing to test ideas, challenge assumptions and try something new.
Of course, we should also be clear-eyed about the risks of artificial intelligence.
It is not inherently good.
Nor is it inherently bad.
Like any powerful technology, its impact depends on how it is designed, governed and used.
Bias in systems can reinforce inequalities.
Poor governance can undermine trust.
Weak safeguards can expose communities to harm.
And technology developed without local input can create dependency rather than empower people.
So as we explore ai's potential, we must do so responsibly.
We must work with partners to strengthen digital governance.
Protect privacy.
Support transparency.
Ensure the benefits of emerging technologies are shared broadly.
And are used to narrow inequality – not widen it.
Because innovation without inclusion is not progress.
And technology without trust will never achieve its full potential.
So if we are serious about ai for development, i think every initiative should be able to answer three simple questions.
Does it work for the communities it is intended to serve?
Does it preserve local agency over data, decisions and outcomes?
And does it build capability that lasts?
The challenge before everyone here today – whether you’re from government, civil society, research or business – is to keep the people we are ultimately trying to serve at the centre of your ideas.
And it is to deliver solutions that endure.
Solutions that people trust.
And solutions that improve lives.
The choices we make now will shape those outcomes.
They will determine whether emerging technologies help us respond more effectively to growing humanitarian need.
Whether they help us stretch scarce resources further and deliver greater impact for communities.
Whether they create new opportunities for Australian innovators and entrepreneurs.
And whether the benefits of technological progress can be accessed widely and inclusively across our region.
That is why today matters.
Not simply because we are talking about artificial intelligence.
But because we are bringing together the people capable of turning innovation into impact.
People who understand that technology is most powerful when it serves human needs.
People who believe in partnership.
And people who are committed to building a more connected, resilient, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific together.