Data centre construction and AI development is fuelling the global economy. In Australia, there are more than 200 data centres at various stages of development or construction. The tech industry’s restructuring of our lives, neighbourhoods and environment can feel like an unstoppable force, pushing aside anything standing in the way of huge profits and industry dominance.
This is not happening without resistance though, and sometimes, despite the odds, this resistance has an impact.
The residents of West Footscray are one such example. The enemy they were up against was NextDC, a multi-billion dollar company and the largest developer and operator of data centres in Australia.
In 2021, NextDC built its M3 data centre with approval from the state government. Local residents complained about disruptive construction, diesel fuel pollution, noise from the centre’s operation and interference with their energy supply. One woman, speaking to a Victorian Socialists campaigner, described losing power to her house—an annoyance for most people but potentially catastrophic for her family, as one member requires constant access to a dialysis machine.
NextDC applied to the state government in February to expand its M3 data centre, with a decision expected next year. To achieve the requested upgrades, the centre needs significantly more power than it currently has access to. The old wooden power poles and existing power lines in the surrounding area, designed for residential homes, aren’t going to cut it. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, these only carry 400 volts, whereas 66,000 volts are needed to power the proposed expanded data centre.
Without warning or consultation, and without the expansion even being approved, huge 22-metre high power poles nevertheless started going up in West Footscray in September, replacing the modest wooden poles people are used to. Residents were rightly outraged. Many of them had previously been involved in campaigning against NextDC and the M3 data centre. They were already connected via social media, had been in contact with the mainstream media and had organised protests and community outreach events. A protest against the centre’s expansion in early August, called by a community meeting organised by Victorian Socialists’ Jorge Jorquera (a former Maribynong councillor), attracted more than 150 people in the pouring rain. When construction began then, residents were in a position to take action quickly.
Coordinating with their neighbours, the guerrilla rebels of West Footscray parked their cars over construction work, filled holes with rubbish and green waste, and collectively refused to answer their doors to construction workers.
Their actions caused such a stir, as well as delays to the poles going up, that the council brokered an end to the work with Jemena, the company responsible for the power poles and lines. On 31 August Jemena stopped works and on 24 September the Maribyrnong council put out a statement saying that works to the power supply for the data centre would remain paused.
Those of us watching along speculated about what would happen next. We heard whispers that they might continue work to boost the centre’s power supply, possibly using underground power cables, a much more costly option.
What we didn’t expect was the announcement from NextDC a month later that it was pausing trading of its stocks, due to “construction delays”. When trading resumed, the stock plunged by 40 percent in one day, cutting $3 billion off the company’s market valuation. NextDC bosses had planned to go to their next board meeting to request an increase to their pay, but since the West Footscray debacle they are now proposing a 10 percent pay cut for directors, the board chairman is standing down and NextDC CEO Craig Scroggie is losing several million dollars’ worth of bonuses. The company is also likely to face a class action on behalf of shareholders because of this mismanagement.
The residents of West Footscray are not outliers. Local communities have successfully campaigned against the building of data centres in Katoomba and Lane Cove in New South Wales and Greensquare in Western Australia. Politicians had previously declared Australia open for business for data centre companies. But in late October, the Municipal Association of Victoria, the peak body for councils in Victoria, passed a motion at its state council meeting demanding the state government impose an immediate moratorium on the construction of new data centres, and the federal Labor government has announced it intends to introduce restrictions on where data centres can be built.
The backlash is significant enough that it is causing companies to consider relocating their operations. According to the Australian Financial Review, Microsoft and NextDC representatives told the New South Wales government that “projects would move to Malaysia or Indonesia—where there are also substantial tax incentives and financial support—if they were unable to lock in power agreements or navigate a complex planning system”.
The Australian Financial Review is not happy about the potential for hippies and homeowners acting together to stop these evil tech companies. An opinion piece in October declared that “[b]locking progress because of power poles or even copyright concerns is a mismeasure of the moment we are in. There are ways of solving the problems before us, but they shouldn’t stall our ability to be world-leading. The challenge is more than seeing off data centre activists, we can’t just run on a defensive footing. We need to play offence too.”
Its author, Lidija Ivanovski, argues that data centres are central to “Australian industry, defence and the economy”. Unfortunately for her and her tech bro buddies, regular people care more about the environment, cost of living and quality of life than the power and sophistication of the Australian military. Nor does the West Footscray community care about mollifying big data construction companies—they saw something they didn’t like and decided to act, and in so doing demonstrated the power ordinary people can have against these behemoths.
There are still dozens of data centres being built or seeking approval across the country. Hopefully more community resistance erupts in response, and reminds us of the power we have when we act together.
