Australia mines the minerals that power batteries but captures little of their value. A targeted push into processing, specialised manufacturing and recycling can change that.

Australia’s move away from a standalone AI Act is not a missed opportunity but rather a context-driven governance approach leveraging existing laws to address algorithmic harms. However, the success of such an approach hinges on the government's capacity to remain accountable to the standards it sets and to maintain responsive sectoral responses amid a changing landscape.

Industrial policy in Australia could be strategically leveraged to address food system challenges by promoting health, sustainability, social equity and economic resilience through coordinated innovation and exnovation, infrastructure support for local small producers, improved labour conditions and coherent cross-sectoral policies.