For months, I’ve been looking at the rapid rise of data centres in Australia. While we all love the online convenience these monoliths make possible, the physical reality for those living near them is very different.
These facilities consume vast amounts of energy, can have serious water issues, and are often approved with minimal community consultation. The industry argues they’re far more efficient than thousands of individual servers doing this work, that there are many thousands of good jobs to come from them, and that ultimately Australia will get left behind if we don’t go down this path.
As part of a story with Daniella White that The Age ran on Sunday, I spoke with residents living near one data centre in West Footscray, on the site of old warehouses and abandoned factories. Some felt sidelined by a global gold rush where billions are being spent.
Others were just pissed off their street is being closed every other day and dug up, then dug up again, to build what will likely be one of the biggest data centres in Australia.
