500 signatures reached
To: NSW Labor Government
Stop the expansion of data centres in NSW
We demand an urgent halt to the expansion of data centres in NSW. Data centres pollute the environment, use huge amounts of electricity and threaten to drain the supply of drinking water.
Their 24/7 operation comes with persistent noise that has an impact on surrounding communities. These data centres are being rushed through into neighbourhoods such as Marsden Park, Erskine Park, Blacktown and Fairfield with no consultation with local residents. We have seen the detrimental impacts of data centre sites across the US and Europe, and they have spurred mass protests against them.
We demand that the Chris Minns government place an immediate moratorium on the further construction and approvals of data centres in NSW, especially those being built close to residential areas. We demand thorough regulation of the industry and enforceable rules for water and energy usage, as well as noise and other emissions.
Their 24/7 operation comes with persistent noise that has an impact on surrounding communities. These data centres are being rushed through into neighbourhoods such as Marsden Park, Erskine Park, Blacktown and Fairfield with no consultation with local residents. We have seen the detrimental impacts of data centre sites across the US and Europe, and they have spurred mass protests against them.
We demand that the Chris Minns government place an immediate moratorium on the further construction and approvals of data centres in NSW, especially those being built close to residential areas. We demand thorough regulation of the industry and enforceable rules for water and energy usage, as well as noise and other emissions.
Why is this important?
The NSW government has quietly approved the southern hemisphere's largest data centre at Marsden Park, less than 100 metres from homes in Hassall Grove, near schools, a mosque, and local amenities. Construction is already underway.
It will consume energy equivalent to 140,000 homes. Data centres already consume 100 billion litres of water annually in Australia, a figure projected to triple by 2030. Without intervention, the Climate Council warns electricity prices could rise by up to 26% by 2035.
Western Sydney is already the hottest part of the city. Research shows hyperscale data centres can raise surrounding land temperatures by up to 2°C.
Chris Minns has created the ‘Investment Delivery Authority’, a four-person committee that’s essentially designed to fast-track the approval of data centres in New South Wales. These massive data centres have also been deemed as ‘State Significant Developments’ and can therefore bypass council approval and input from residents. For such consequential infrastructure projects, that will impact water, energy, peoples health, there should have been much more widespread consultation.
AI, like any technology, could be used for good, but thanks to political parties that serve capitalist interests, it is being used to line the pockets of private equity firms, help corporations replace human workers, and help the likes of Palantir build a dystopian surveillance state that would make even Orwell weep.
It will consume energy equivalent to 140,000 homes. Data centres already consume 100 billion litres of water annually in Australia, a figure projected to triple by 2030. Without intervention, the Climate Council warns electricity prices could rise by up to 26% by 2035.
Western Sydney is already the hottest part of the city. Research shows hyperscale data centres can raise surrounding land temperatures by up to 2°C.
Chris Minns has created the ‘Investment Delivery Authority’, a four-person committee that’s essentially designed to fast-track the approval of data centres in New South Wales. These massive data centres have also been deemed as ‘State Significant Developments’ and can therefore bypass council approval and input from residents. For such consequential infrastructure projects, that will impact water, energy, peoples health, there should have been much more widespread consultation.
AI, like any technology, could be used for good, but thanks to political parties that serve capitalist interests, it is being used to line the pockets of private equity firms, help corporations replace human workers, and help the likes of Palantir build a dystopian surveillance state that would make even Orwell weep.
The best that the federal government has done to regulate this race to build data centres has been to release a set of in-principal guidelines which have no way of being enforced. It’s a classic way the government can tick a box to look like they’re doing something.
Working-class communities in Western Sydney will pay the price for these data centres in increased heat, noise, water scarcity, and power bills, while private equity firms pocket the profits.