Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Abetz for his question and his interest in these issues. An open, free and secure cyberspace is essential to driving economic growth, to protecting national security and to promoting international stability, but it isn't something that we can take for granted. Ours is a whole-of-government approach. The Minister for Home Affairs is leading the development of Australia's next cybersecurity strategy, and internationally we're focusing on maximising opportunity and minimising risk.

The boundaries of acceptable behaviour in cyberspace are being challenged, whether by states or by cybercriminals. The damage, the disruption, the disinformation caused by malicious cyberactivity is significant and growing. In New York, in September, I co-sponsored the Joint Statement on Advancing Responsible State Behavior in Cyberspace with the United States and the Netherlands. That statement has so far been affirmed by 28 countries. Led by our Ambassador for Cyber Affairs, Toby Feakin, Australia is helping to build the technical, policy, legislative and enforcement capacities of our regional partners as well.

We also have to make every effort to deter those who would seek to misuse cyberspace as a vehicle for repression and control and instability. Our rapidly developing critical technologies, such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, are already having profound strategic and foreign policy impacts. Other technologies, such as deepfakes, have the potential to disrupt relations and to undermine public trust and confidence. The government is taking a coordinated strategic approach to ensure Australia continues to benefit from technological advancements. The work we are doing is widely regarded and highly respected around the world. It is something of which we can be very proud and on which the government is very focused.