Greens Senator Calls for Safeguards Against Tech Billionaires in Australian Politics
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young is urging for safeguards to prevent tech billionaires from gaining excessive influence in Australian politics. She expressed concerns about the "control" individuals like Elon Musk hold over the Trump administration, describing it as "scary".
Donald Trump previously enlisted Mr Musk, the world's richest person, to reduce government expenditure following a charm offensive in the lead-up to last year's election.
Since Mr Trump re-entered the White House last month, several of Mr Musk's proposals have begun to be implemented.
Meta's chief, Mark Zuckerberg, has ended fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram after Mr Trump's election, a move perceived as favouring the new administration.
Senator Hanson-Young, who serves as her party’s communications spokeswoman, has consistently advocated for stricter regulations on large tech corporations.
She has endorsed Labor's suggestions for a digital duty of care and a levy imposed on social media companies to help fund news viewed on their platforms.
However, she cautioned on Wednesday that Labor and the opposition seemed to be "starting to crab-walk away from stronger regulations".
She also noted that the Albanese government appears to be "following tune with the billionaires, eager to appease Donald Trump rather than confronting the issue".
"I am concerned that Australia is trying to hide behind the couch, hoping that Donald Trump, Musk, Zuckerberg, and his billionaire associates don’t notice us," she remarked on ABC.
"This is not the kind of politics we need here in Australia."
"The emergence of Trumpian policies in Australia and the extent of billionaire influence on politics in the US is alarming and must not be permitted here."
Among Mr Musk's initial actions has been the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which has caused chaos in global aid efforts and diminished a significant soft power resource for Washington.
The Trump administration has also targeted property ownership laws in Mr Musk's home country, South Africa, which he has condemned for allowing the government to expropriate land without compensation under certain circumstances.
