Gee's bill would make big AI firms keep an off switch
A bill from Andrew Gee MP would make the biggest AI services keep an off switch. They would have to report serious failures fast. It would also stop new AI data centres until Parliament passes new protections.
Official name: AI Kill Switch and Data Centre Control Bill 2026
- Firms running the most powerful AI systems would have to keep a working way to switch them off.
- They would have to tell the Minister about a serious AI incident within 24 hours.
- The Minister could order a firm to shut down or limit its AI in an emergency.
- No firm could build or upgrade an AI data centre until Parliament passes laws on farmland, water, power bills and safety.
- Fines go up to $30 million. Each day of breaking the rules counts as a new breach.
Who it affects
- Firms that offer powerful AI to the public: They would need a tested off switch, would have to report serious incidents fast, and could be ordered to shut down.
- Firms planning AI data centres in Australia: They could not build a new one or upgrade an old one until Parliament lifts the pause.
- Farmers and country towns: The pause can only end once laws protect farmland and local water from data centres.
- Households: The pause can only end once laws make sure data centres do not push up power or water bills.
- People using AI for study or hobbies: Personal, study and non-business use is left out of the off switch rules.
Runaway AI, hungry data centres
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is computer software that learns from data. It can then make guesses, write text or make choices. The biggest AI systems are trained in huge buildings full of computers. These are called data centres.
Andrew Gee is a member of the House of Representatives. He brought this bill on 7 September 2026. It is a private bill. That means a single MP wrote it. It is not a government plan.
His notes say powerful AI could bring big gains. They say it also brings risks. People could lose control of it. It could be misused. It could cause harm nobody planned. The notes also say AI data centres need a lot of power, water and land.
Mr Gee says these centres need so much power that clean energy projects will be pushed onto good farmland. He says that could hurt Australia's ability to grow its own food. The bill has two main parts to deal with these worries.
AI companies covered
The off switch rules only apply to some AI systems. They must have cost more than a set amount of computer power to build. This is measured at Australian prices for renting computer power online. The Minister would set that dollar figure later in rules.
A firm is covered if it runs one of these systems and lets other people use it. An app or an online service are examples. Someone running a big AI only for personal, study or non-business reasons is left out.
So a small business using a chatbot would not be caught. The firm that built the chatbot and sells access to it could be.
The off switch
A covered firm would have to be able to do several things at all times. It must be able to stop the AI from working. It must be able to cut off all users, or block one account.
It must also be able to stop a pattern of use that risks a serious incident. The same goes for use that breaks the law or badly breaks the service's terms. It must be able to shut the whole system down.
If a firm cannot do these things, it faces a fine of up to $3 million. Each day it stays unable counts as a new breach.
When the Minister writes extra rules, they must think about step-by-step options. These include slowing the AI down or switching off one feature. They include moving work to a backup or older version. The Minister must also think about whether switching an AI off could disrupt key services, such as power or hospitals.
Within 12 months of the law starting, the Minister must publish technical guides on how to shut down these systems. Firms would not be forced to follow them.
Serious incidents
The bill calls these "critical incidents". One is someone sabotaging an attempt to shut down an AI after a lawful order. Another is an AI acting in a way nobody meant, and killing or hurting someone. Causing large money losses also counts.
An AI hiding what it can do, or what it is doing, also counts. So does a "loss of control". That is where the AI chases a goal its makers never gave it.
Some examples of loss of control are given. An AI might ignore orders or change its own safety limits. It might get at its own model weights. Model weights are the numbers inside an AI that make it behave the way it does.
Problems found during "red teaming" do not count. Red teaming is when testers attack an AI on purpose, in a safe setting, to find its weak spots.
Reports and emergency orders
If a firm learns of a critical incident, it must tell the Minister within 24 hours. It must then send a written report within 2 days, unless the Minister allows longer.
The Minister could give an emergency order in writing. It would tell the firm what to do. This is only allowed if a critical incident has happened, is happening or is about to happen. The risk of harm must be serious. The order must be needed and must fit the size of the risk.
An order could make the firm shut down the AI or cut off users. It could make the firm keep records and model weights as evidence. The Minister should check with the Attorney-General first if there is time. The Attorney-General is the minister in charge of the law. The Minister must give written reasons within 24 hours.
Breaking an emergency order can bring a fine of up to $30 million, counted again for each day. The firm must also tell its users that it got an order and how it affects them.
A firm can ask the Minister to think again within 48 hours. The Minister has 5 days to confirm, change or cancel the order. If the Minister does nothing, the order stays. The order still applies while the firm waits.
The Minister must report each emergency order to both houses of Parliament within 15 days that Parliament sits. Some details can be left out. This is to protect national security, public safety, police work or business secrets. Only the Minister in person can give these orders.
Pause on AI data centres
Part 3 of the bill is a moratorium. That means a ban that lasts for a time. From the day the law starts, no firm could build a new AI data centre. No firm could upgrade an old one either. The fine for breaking this is up to $30 million.
An AI data centre is a site used to build or run AI on a large scale. One firm, or a group of linked firms, runs it. A site also counts if it uses more than 20 megawatts of power and is built for heavy computer loads. Heavy loads means 20 kilowatts or more to one rack, a tall shelf of computers. It also means cooling the computer parts with liquid.
The pause has no end date. It ends only when Parliament has passed laws that cover seven things. Parliament must also pass a law saying Part 3 no longer applies.
Those laws would have to make sure the energy for data centres does not put farmland at risk. They would have to protect water supplies, mostly in country towns. Data centres could not raise anyone's power or water bills. They could not harm the natural world.
Local communities would need the power to say yes or no to a new or bigger centre. That includes its energy source. Data centres could not harm people's health.
Last, the federal government would have to check and approve AI systems before they first come out in Australia. The check would make sure they are safe. They must not harm people's health, privacy, civil rights or "the future of humankind".
How rules are enforced
The bill uses the usual federal law for making people follow rules. It is called the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014. The head of the government department can make public servants into inspectors.
Inspectors could enter and look at places with a warrant from a magistrate. A magistrate is a judge in a local court. Inspectors could also gather evidence and give on-the-spot fines. They could accept written promises from firms to fix problems. Courts could order firms to stop.
The Minister can write extra rules. But those rules cannot create new fines. They cannot give powers to arrest or search, or set a tax.
Start date
The whole law would start the day after it became law. That means the data centre pause would begin straight away.
Andrew Gee brought the bill into the House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament, on 7 September 2026. The debate on its main idea began the same day.
The bill is still before the House. It would need to pass a vote there, then pass the Senate, to become law. Private bills like this one often do not come to a vote.
Its journey through Parliament
| 07 Sep 2026 | House of Representatives: Introduced and read a first time |
| 07 Sep 2026 | House of Representatives: Second reading moved |