Stop the Data Drain - Senate Submission
Australia's data centres are booming, and Big Tech is writing the rules.
Global tech giants are racing to lock in Australian land, power and water, with no binding rules on how much they can use, no requirement to bring their own clean energy, and almost no tax paid on the profits they take offshore.
The Government's response is a set of voluntary expectations that companies can simply ignore.
There are 90 new data centres in the pipeline. Wholesale electricity prices are already being pushed up. And communities near proposed sites have no genuine right to have a say.
GetUp has prepared a submission to the Senate's inquiry into AI and data centres, but its impact depends on how many of us stand behind it.
That's why we're calling on Labor to pause new approvals until there are binding national rules, require companies to bring their own renewable energy, cap water usage, give communities a genuine say, and make Big Tech pay their fair share,.
Add your name to back in GetUp's submission and add your own comments to the official record: Australia's land, power and water belong to all of us. It's time we set the terms.
Our submission urges the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee to recommend pausing new data centre approvals until enforceable national standards are in place, backed by a binding framework that ensures the boom is built on Australia's terms and for Australia's benefit.
The scale is unprecedented and the rules don't exist. Australia is the world's second most sought-after destination for data centre investment: 162 are operating and 90 more are in the pipeline, including some of the largest in the world. Approvals are being locked in now, before any national standards exist to shape them.
The costs land on Australians while the benefits flow offshore. If met with gas, data centre demand could push NSW wholesale electricity prices up by as much as 26% by 2035. Sydney Water projects data centres are on track to draw up to a quarter of the city's available supply by 2035. Profits flow to multinational shareholders, while the public infrastructure upgrades that service these facilities are paid for by all of us.
There are no binding rules and no national framework. The federal response is a set of voluntary expectations operators can ignore.
Communities have no genuine say. Fast-track state planning routinely shuts out councils and residents. There is no guaranteed right to consultation.
A better approach is possible, but the window is closing. International experience shows clear conditions need not deter investment: other jurisdictions have paused or conditioned approvals and still attracted capital under binding sustainability rules. Every approval rubber-stamped under the current voluntary settings narrows Australia's leverage.
The submission calls on the committee to recommend five things:
- pause new approvals until national standards are in place;
- require data centres to bring 100% new renewable energy to the grid;
- cap water use and impose binding efficiency standards;
- guarantee community consultation and restore council powers;
- introduce a binding minimum tax on data centre revenue.
Global tech corporations are already in the room. Microsoft, Google and Amazon have the lobbyists, the lawyers and the political connections to shape this inquiry's recommendations in their favour. The one force that can counter that power is a mass movement of ordinary Australians making clear the public is watching.
The committee is accepting submissions now, with a final report due in November, just as the Government decides whether to act or let the boom continue on Big Tech's terms. GetUp's submission carries far more weight if we can show tens of thousands of members stand behind it.
Over 13,000 GetUp members have already signed our petition. Communities near proposed data centre sites are organising. This is one of those rare issues where the concern runs from inner-city renters to regional towns: anyone who pays a power bill or relies on local water.
Adding your name takes less than a minute, and it sends the committee a clear message. Australians expect their land, energy and water to be used on the public's terms, not handed to multinationals for free.
ADD YOUR NAME
I call on the Albanese Government to pause new data centre approvals and introduce a binding national framework – so that Australia's land, energy and water are used on our terms, not handed over to global tech corporations for free.
By signing this submission, you accept that your name will appear as a signatory on a publicly visible Senate submission.