REGULATION OF AUSTRALIAN DATA CENTRES

Concern about data centres continues to grow around the nation.  A recent report by the independent Climate Council, states Australia currently has at least 162 operational data centres and another 90 proposed.  While these centres have been supporting existing digital services in Australia for many years, cloud computing and the growing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) require much more computing power and the need for more data centres.  And international players regard Australia as an ideal location for data centres.

There are major community concerns about the impact the surge in data centre developments will have on the cost to our climate and water and power bills. 

Data centres require a huge, uninterrupted supply of electricity and water to keep them operating and cooled as well as backups for both essentials in case of breakdowns in regular sources.  The Climate Council is concerned that without additional renewable energy generation and system flexibility, the industry’s power demand risks extending reliance on coal and gas, pushing up power prices and harming national and state climate targets.  And water demand for data centres is likely to at least triple by 2030.

The Federal Government, having welcomed investment in data centres, has been on notice for some time about addressing community concerns about the growth of the Australian data centre industry.  Last month the Prime Minister pledged to ensure that data centres bring on new renewable energy.  This was followed up with a meeting of Energy Ministers on July 28 where most states and territories agreed to regulate to ensure that data centres match their electricity demand with new renewables and that this renewable power is additional to what already exists or is being built.

While the Climate Council sees this as positive there are questions about timeframes and how it will be implemented.  Hopefully the both the Federal and State Governments will act decisively and quickly on their commitments.  Concerned community members will certainly be watching.

The Senate is conducting an Inquiry on Artificial Intelligence and Data Centres with submissions due by September 1.

-        Leonie Blain

Published in the Voices for the Earth column in The Clarence Valley Independent   7th August,  2026. 

PROGRESS ON CLIMATE IN AUSTRALIA

Renewable energy adoption around the world is playing an important part in the struggle to reduce the carbon emissions which are driving increasingly frequent disasters like weather extremes and bushfires.

Progress on renewable energy in Australia has been significant. More than one in three Australian households (around four million) have rooftop solar and thousands of households have bought home batteries.  Renewables now power over 44% of the electricity grid.  As the independent Climate Council has pointed out, clean energy is outperforming coal, electric vehicles are on the rise and the economics of renewables stack up and are what most Australians want.

While more can be done to extend our use of renewables and household and industrial-scale batteries, there are other steps that must be taken.  The most difficult thing – and something that is essential – is the phasing out of fossil fuels.  As the Climate Council points out, if the phasing out of coal, oil and gas was simple, it would have already been done.

Fossil fuels, it says, are held in place by a web of influence which includes existing contracts locking in decades of fossil fuel production, laws that were not designed to consider climate change, the economic benefit gained from exporting fossil fuels and Australia’s trading partners (many of whom have long-term contracts) relying on those exports.  While these web strands are certainly very powerful, there are individuals and groups working for change.

This has been an uphill battle where those benefitting from fossil fuel extraction and its enormous profits are experts at pushing back and influencing governments.  In a recent example of this, gas proponents called for more exploration following the Iran War fuel shock.  And that convinced the gullible NSW Premier to open up exploration for gas in the far west of the state.

Important in combatting these fossil fuel proponents is providing information to the community about what needs to be done and urging for the tightening of development laws.  Increasing pressure on governments to make the necessary changes will ensure they cannot ignore the climate issues.

-        Leonie Blain

Published in the Voices for the Earth column in The Clarence Valley Independent   10th July, 2026 under the title: "Progress on Climate". 

 

 

 

TAXING GAS EXPORTS FROM AUSTRALIA FAIRLY

The recent Senate inquiry into the taxation of gas resources  attracted considerable interest in the leadup to May’s federal budget. A strong case had been made for improving the tax revenue the government receives from the export of gas - a non-renewable resource owned by Australian citizens. 

The independent NGO, the Climate Council, is among the critics of the current taxation system which lets the gas companies off very lightly.  It claims that Australia is missing out on the level of revenue that many other nations derive from the export of their gas resources.  For example, Qatar and Australia export similar amounts of gas each year with Qatar collecting five times as much government revenue from its gas exports.

Tax revenue on gas exports is derived from royalties for onshore gas extraction or from a Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) for gas sourced from Commonwealth waters.  While there are problems with royalties charged for onshore gas, the situation is even worse with the PRRT.  The NGO the Australia Institute claims it has been an abject failure because while LNG exports surged by $47.7 billion from 2014 to 2025, PRRT revenue was $450 million lower in 2024-25 than in 2014-15.

The Australia Institute, along with the ACTU, the Australian Council of Social Services, the Commonwealth Bank CEO, the Australian Greens and several independent cross-benchers support the introduction of a 25% tax on the value of gas exports.  It is estimated that this tax could raise up to $17 billion per year.

Unsurprisingly the gas industry is mounting a well-financed campaign against any changes to taxation which curtail their enormous profits.

Co-CEO of the Australia Institute, Dr Richard Denniss said, “If this parliament chooses to leave things largely unchanged, then it is choosing to put foreign-owned gas companies ahead of deficit repair and properly funding things like the NDIS, hospitals, schools and roads.”

“A 25% gas export tax would transform the Commonwealth budget, push down domestic gas and electricity prices and show Australians that their politicians are willing to put them first.”

            Leonie Blain

The Federal Government ruled out any changes to taxes on gas exports prior to the handing down of the Federal Budget on May 13. 

  Published in the Voices for the Earth column in The Clarence Valley Independent , 1 May, 2026.  Updated  for publication on this blog.

WHAT IS THE DOMINANT ISSUE IN THE AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL ELECTION

 The Climate Council, an independent, community-funded organisation campaigning for effective action on climate change in Australia, released a report recently on how the various political parties and some independents are shaping up on climate action.  The report “The Climate Crossroads: Progress, Politics and a Pivotal Election” is available on their website -  www.climatecouncil.org.au

Energy expert and Climate Councillor Greg Bourne said, “The shift to renewable power is well underway and is accelerating.  Solar and wind power backed by storage like big batteries is the lowest-cost, fastest and cleanest way to power our homes and businesses.

“This election political players need to commit to accelerating the clean energy transformation that is already delivering for millions of Australians.  This is the only way to reduce bills and pollution.”

The report also highlighted the important role of the crossbench in the last parliament where pro-climate Independents and the Greens helped strengthen climate laws, protect clean energy investment and block public funding for fossil fuels.

Reports such as this highlight issues that many politicians would prefer did not receive any comprehensive scrutiny.

While many people understandably have major concerns about the cost of living, this federal election is about a range of issues about our future – over the course of the next three years of the new parliament and beyond. 

Cost of living is what both the major parties – Coalition  (Liberal and National) and Labor - are claiming as the dominant issue in the election.  This is what it suits them to discuss.  It’s almost as if they are saying, “Now is the time to address cost of living.  When we have done that, we can look at other less urgent matters.”

Politicians should not be the arbiters on what is an issue – major or otherwise – in this or any other election.

There are many other important issues which should be considered by electors and raised by them with election candidates. These include improving action on climate change and protection of the natural world – our biodiversity.  These should receive urgent attention in our next parliament.

-        Leonie Blain

 Originally published under the title "What is the Dominant Election Issue?" in the Voices for the Earth column in The Clarence Valley Independent ,9 April, 2025.