Socialist Alliance NSW said it wholeheartedly supports community calls for a moratorium on the construction of artificial intelligence mega data centres.
“The expansion of mega data centres in Australia is mostly unregulated,” Isaac Nellist, who is standing for Socialist Alliance in Balmain, told Green Left. “Many of the industrial sites slated for mega data centres are right next to residential areas.”
There are 47 artificial intelligence (AI) mega data centres being planned in NSW, including 20 State Significant Developments and 15 key projects.
“These mega data centres mostly use excessive water and energy and are likely to destabilise local supplies,” Nellist said. “We note that the Victorian government has moved to quell legitimate community anxiety about the rapid construction of these mega data centres.
“It says it will ‘set the rules’, including that they must use their own renewable energy supply and storage, meet connection costs and network upgrades and use recycled or non-drinking water for cooling.
“But another key issue is where these constructions are sited: Victorian Labor has promised a ‘buffer’ between homes and data centres — but of only 150 metres. This will not allay community concerns about noise and other pollution.”
Socialist Alliance also shares community concerns about what these centres are being used for.
Steve O’Brien, who is running for Socialist Alliance in Newcastle, told Green Left that “the new mega AI data centres are predominantly used to serve corporate and possibly military interests and are not necessary for the internet services we use daily”.
Socialist Alliance is campaigning for a moratorium on new approvals and the construction of new data centres, until enforceable community and environmental safeguards and regulations are legislated.
It wants a public inquiry to inform the sorts of safeguards and regulations that need to be set up to protect the community and the environment.
Rachel Evans, who is running in Heffron for Socialist Alliance, said that “the use of AI must also be regulated to protect workers, artists and our data”.
“AI, like data centres, is also being pushed onto workplaces without a nationwide discussion about regulations or protections to safeguard jobs for workers and community services. That is why Socialist Alliance is campaigning for a shorter working week, with no loss in pay, to stop AI being used to eliminate jobs.”
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