Political ads made with artificial intelligence would be banned under a pledge to help restore trust in politics, as a Labor government defends its use of "deepfakes" in its campaign material.
Victorian Greens leader Ellen Sandell is calling for the ban after Labor posted an AI-generated video - or a "deepfake" - depicting Opposition Leader Jess Wilson and One Nation leader Warren Pickering.
The video of an AI-generated Ms Wilson trick-or-treating with an AI-generated Mr Pickering has faced backlash since it was posted on Victorian Labor's Instagram page five days ago.
"Under our new plan for Americanised healthcare, if you had a heart attack you would have to pay $150,000 for care," the video, using Ms Wilson's face and voice, falsely claims.
An AI video posted to the Victorian Liberal Party's Instagram page on Melbourne Cup Day shows Premier Ben Carroll in a jockey outfit sleeping on a horse, referring to claims in a Herald Sun report he had formed a habit of taking naps on the job.
One Nation's Victoria deputy leader Colleen Harkin last month denied an AI -generated official campaign video was racist after it portrayed a young man of African appearance wielding a machete and a suicide bomber who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent.
"At a time when public trust in politicians is at an all time low and there’s an increased risk of political violence, the last thing we need is political parties stoking the flames of misinformation or muddying the waters about what’s real and what’s not," Ms Sandell said.
Strong penalties should apply to parties that deliberately mislead voters through political deepfakes, The Greens contended in demanding for truth in political advertising laws.
Labor Treasurer Colin Brooks argued Labor's deepfake video was a "real representation of those people".
"I don't think anyone would really look at that video and think that we were trying to fool anyone," Mr Brooks told reporters on Thursday.
"There have been a number of fake videos from other parties, Liberals and One Nation, for a couple of weeks now, and I don't think Labor should be held to a different standard."
"We'll play by the same rules as everybody else."
Ms Sandell's federal counterpart, Australian Greens Leader David Shoebridge raised the alarm about AI deepfakes ahead of the 2025 federal election.
"Under current laws it would be legal to have a deepfake video pretending to be the prime minister or opposition leader saying something they never in fact said, as long as this is properly authorised under the Electoral Act," Dr Shoebridge submitted to a parliamentary committee on adopting artificial intelligence.
"That falls well below community expectations of our electoral regulation."
South Australia already has laws banning misleading political advertising and deceptive AI-generated election material, while NSW has also introduced restrictions on political deepfakes, according to The Greens.
