The Greens have renewed their call for a moratorium on new datacentres until the Australian government enacts legislated standards, criticizing Labor for failing to deliver any enforceable protections on artificial intelligence.
Greens Demand Moratorium on Datacentres
Senator David Shoebridge voiced strong criticism of the government's delay in addressing AI regulation. "A coordination office in Canberra doesn’t stop a single kid getting harmed tonight, and no amount of branding changes the fact that this government still hasn’t legislated a single enforceable protection," he said in a statement.
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young also called for a pause on new datacentre builds, emphasizing the need for proper regulation before Labor's proposed laws come into effect. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has indicated these laws will not be introduced to parliament until "early next year."
Impact on Energy, Water, and Environment
Hanson-Young stated: "We need a moratorium on the building of datacentres until there are laws in place to properly regulate their impact in Australia including energy, water use, environment and communities. It is essential that we get the rules right. To do that we need a pause on the approval and construction of new hyperscale datacentres while we do this important policy work. Just because big tech companies want to move at hyperspeed, doesn’t mean that we need to fast-track and roll out the red carpet for them. We need to take the time to get this right, if we don’t there will be serious consequences for our energy grid, water, environment and climate."
Concerns Over Privacy and Surveillance
Shoebridge raised concerns about "consent, privacy and surveillance risk." He added: "Australians need an independent AI regulator with real powers, mandatory guardrails, and legislated protections for kids, workers and creators."
