MATTERS OF URGENCY

Senator ANANDA-RAJAH (Victoria) (17:25): The ownership of water assets and water infrastructure is a matter for the states and territories. They own them, they run them and they are accountable for them. This is a feature of our federation.

There is a constitutional firewall here. So I'm deeply suspicious when a senator from Tasmania raises questions about Victorian matters. The Carroll government has been explicit.

There is no intention, none whatsoever, by the Carroll government to sell off Melbourne Water. However, the issue of water usage is highly topical right now. It is highly topical within the context of data centres.

As you know, data centres are surging; interest in them is surging. Australia is in the midst of a data centre gold rush. We have about 165 data centres.

We are projected to have 225 in the near future. Indeed, this is how many are in the pipeline right now. That equates to about $150 billion in investment by 2030.

While interest in data centres is increasing from industry, this has also been associated with rising community backlash. Australians are deeply sceptical of data centres despite using this enabling infrastructure. They use too much power and too much water, and there's not enough community benefit.

In terms of usage, you might have looked at your online statement this morning. You might have looked up your medical results. You might have purchased something online.

You might have done a bit of research. All those daily activities that we take for granted require the enabling infrastructure that's provided by data centres. In fact, the closer they are to cities, where large populations live, the faster you get your results.

The latency is smaller. One in five Australians now pay for an AI subscription. We are amongst the highest users of AI in the world.

One in three Australian businesses also pay for some type of AI. This technology, this capability, is now embedded within Australian society. We are using AI all the time, and that AI is supported by the foundational infrastructure that is data centres.

However, the Albanese government is well aware that data centres must earn and maintain their social licence. In March of this year we released a statement of expectations which clearly lays out what we believe are the rules of the road. If you want to come and build a data centre in Australia, then you need to play by the rules, and they're very clear.

There are five expectations. The first expectation is that we want to ensure that Australia's national interest is prioritised. The second expectation is that we want to ensure that data centres support Australia's energy transition.

They need to bring in their own energy rather than drain our energy and push up power prices. They must also provide for grid stability. The third expectation is that we want to see sustainable and efficient water usage.

I'll come back to that. The fourth expectation is that we want to see a pull-through of investment in Australian jobs and skills. The final expectation, which is probably one of the most important expectations, is that we want to see data centres support our R&D, innovation, entrepreneurship and small businesses in this country.

That is how we then grow a secondary and tertiary capability in this country. On the topic of water usage—because that's salient to this discussion—right now in New South Wales data centres use around one per cent of water. In the next 10 years, this is projected to increase to 25 per cent of Sydney's water.

That's a huge uptick, but we have said that we want to see water being used responsibly. We need data centre operators to work proactively with local communities and with water utility companies to use efficient cooling techniques and to use, where possible, recycled water rather than drinking water. This is not science fiction.

It has actually been played out. AWS is currently building a data centre in Melbourne's west, and this data centre will be supplied by recycled water provided by Melton recycled water. So it can be done—we know it can be done and there is a proof of concept right here in Melbourne.

In addition to that, we want to ensure that capabilities pull through by hiring and training up our own people in business, in entrepreneurship and in research and amongst our start-ups.