As the Highlands community grows increasingly alarmed and concerned of the proposal to expand the Data Centre in Moss Vale powered by gas fired turbines, the NSW Labor Government remains stubbornly agnostic to the growing concerns of the lack of a proper statewide data centre strategy.
This centre would be best served to be connected to the electricity grid, however the lack of planning around the network to upgrade and facilitate this is the very reasons proponents look to other power alternatives.
New South Wales needs a proper statewide data centre strategy. It needs to identify where these facilities should be located, what infrastructure they require, how they connect to power and water networks, how they affect roads and local services, and what buffers should exist between major data centre operations and homes, schools, parks and sensitive environmental land. That is the responsible way to plan for critical infrastructure.
Instead, communities are being asked to absorb the burden first and wait for the strategy later. My constituents understand that the digital economy has physical foundations, and that cloud computing, artificial intelligence and business productivity all require real infrastructure somewhere on the ground.
The Government should pause, listen to the community, and accept that data centre capacity is too important to be dealt with through piecemeal assessments and isolated applications. No community in New South Wales should be forced to carry a disproportionate burden because the State has failed to plan properly .
The people of this community are asking for fairness, common sense and proper planning. The State need to develop a proper statewide strategy for data centre infrastructure and ensure that the digital economy grows in a way that is planned, responsible and fair.
The Prime Ministers address on AI stated they will legislate Australian standards and are asking the States to embed his expectations across planning and approval systems.
Previous expectations announced that Data Centres will put in as much energy as they take out. That expectation is not what is proposed for Moss Vale and the State needs to address what their strategy will be going forward, you can be almost certain data centre proposals across the State will proceed with gas turbines as their energy source unless the parameters are changed.
Last month I called on the Government to set a clear framework and strategy for this growing concern please see my speech to the Assembly below.
