Parliament of Victoria | Legislative Council | Notice of Motion 1659
23 September 2026
David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan Region):
— To move — That this House —
- notes that —
(a) despite the 22 September 2026 announcement, 19 data centres will continue to be fast-tracked through the planning approval process;
(b) data centre proponents have communicated that the Development Facilitation Program unit views community consultation as largely optional;
(c) all bar one northern and western council support a moratorium until a proper regulatory and sustainable data centre framework has been developed;
(d) the Government’s Sustainable Data Centre Action Plan (SDCAP) acknowledges issues but gives too much leeway to data centre developers;
(e) Victorians have unanswered questions about potential water and power restrictions and what additional offset costs will be passed on to consumers due to data centre infrastructure deficits; - further notes that —
(a) earlier this year, The Age reported that former Minister for Economic Growth and Jobs, and Minister for Finance, the Hon. Danny Pearson MP, duchessed a dozen data centre executives at the Australian Open, followed by a private industry dinner at Government House;
(b) recently the Victorian Government, through Invest Victoria, was the key funder of the Data Centres Australia Excellence Awards Gala Dinner, where companies like GreenSquare DC won the community and stakeholder engagement award for their Spotswood project, despite huge community opposition; and - calls on the Government to release all documents and costings relating to the taxpayer funded courting of data centres, including Invest Victoria’s platinum sponsorship of the Data Centre awards, and all communications with data centre proponents related to the development of the SDCAP.
[Notice given on 23 September 2026 — Listed for 2 days]
