Senator David Pocock questions ‘long-term benefit’ of power-hungry data centres

Independent senator David Pocock has questioned what “long-term benefit” Australians will reap from power-hungry data centres, ahead of the federal government’s formal discussions with its state and territory counterparts on guardrails for the sector.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to outline the government’s new national standards for AI, including minimum obligations around water and energy usage for data centres, at a national cabinet meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

The framework is expected to mandate developers to power the centres using renewables, a push vehemently opposed by the Queensland and Northern Territory governments.

Speaking to Channel 9, Senator Pocock described data centres as an “opportunity” but warned there were “clearly issues around energy, water and social licence”.

“One of the big things that I haven’t heard any leaders talking about is what is the long-term benefit? Where is the data centre tax or the return to the Australian people?” he said.

“Because we’ve seen this play out before, we have big industries investing a huge amount of money.

“And then over the long term, these multinationals are very good at profit shifting and not paying tax here in Australia.”

Building AI centres would also place pressure on the construction workforce, Senator Pocock warned, and likely set up a competition for labour with housing amid an already-sluggish rate of delivery.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor conceded “extra electricity” would be required to support any data centres built in Australia, but criticised what he described as the government’s mistaken approach to the problem.

“We need to have an electricity market that requires that, that demands the extra energy and capacity into the system,” Mr Taylor told the ABC.

“But it should be technology neutral. This idea that you pick one technology and that’s the answer to everything … If it’s not technology-neutral, it will raise the cost of energy for all Australians.

“That’s why the government is making a mistake in what it’s proposing here.”

Originally published as Senator David Pocock questions ‘long-term benefit’ of power-hungry data centres