Datacentre giant accused of using AI while lobbying for Victorian minister’s support for hyperscale factory
Guardian AU
•Tue, 15 Sep 2026 15:00:54 GMT
📰 What Happened
Guardian Australia reported on 16 September 2026 that Victorian jobs minister Melissa Horne accused one of Australia's largest datacentre companies, ASX-listed NextDC, of using artificial intelligence while lobbying her to back a hyperscale expansion. Correspondence shows NextDC chief executive Craig Scroggie personally emailed Horne on 3 September asking her to intercede with the planning minister over the company's application for fast-tracked approval to expand its M3 datacentre in Footscray to 10 hectares, drawing 225MW of power and running 24 hours a day. Horne replied on Monday refusing to support the application, writing that she did not believe it appropriate to lend her support and nor did she wish to, and suggesting Scroggie review AI-produced content more closely in future after citing alleged basic factual errors. Her letter was published by local Labor MP Katie Hall, whose electorate includes the site; Hall has previously warned that the expansion sits within 500 metres of more than 800 homes, a kindergarten, maternal and child health services and Stony Creek. Some homes are within 15 metres of the datacentre boundary, and NextDC has since engaged former Brumby and Bracks government adviser Ken McAlpine to lobby the state government.
🔍 The Backstory
Victoria allows large datacentres to seek fast-tracked planning approval, and decisions made by the planning minister cannot be appealed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which is why the politics of the application carries unusual weight. The state government has spent years courting datacentre investment as part of its pitch for digital and AI-related industry, and the minister who will decide the M3 expansion is a colleague of Horne's, creating the internal tension the correspondence exposes. Residents near the Footscray site have complained the government has moved too quickly on approvals without weighing long-term community impacts, and Scroggie publicly described the site in 2025 as Australia's largest hyperscale AI factory purpose-built for accelerated computing. The spat is playing out before a state election, sharpening sensitivity to datacentre siting, power demand and neighbourhood disruption.
🎯 Why It Matters
Hyperscale AI infrastructure is becoming a live local political issue, because these facilities are large, power-hungry, often sited near existing industry and homes, and their approvals are hard for residents to challenge. The exchange also raises questions about how lobbying is conducted with ministers, about planning transparency for fast-tracked projects, and about the state's ability to meet the electricity demand the facilities create. Constituents in Melbourne's inner west are directly affected by noise, diesel back-up generators and construction, while the wider Victorian public is being asked to weigh investment and jobs against amenity. With an election approaching and NextDC having hired an experienced Labor-linked lobbyist, the decision will be watched as a test of how the government balances both.
Guardian Australia reported on 16 September 2026 that Victorian jobs minister Melissa Horne accused one of Australia's largest datacentre companies, ASX-listed NextDC, of using artificial intelligence while lobbying her to back a hyperscale expansion. Correspondence shows NextDC chief executive Craig Scroggie personally emailed Horne on 3 September asking her to intercede with the planning minister over the company's application for fast-tracked approval to expand its M3 datacentre in Footscray to 10 hectares, drawing 225MW of power and running 24 hours a day. Horne replied on Monday refusing to support the application, writing that she did not believe it appropriate to lend her support and nor did she wish to, and suggesting Scroggie review AI-produced content more closely in future after citing alleged basic factual errors. Her letter was published by local Labor MP Katie Hall, whose electorate includes the site; Hall has previously warned that the expansion sits within 500 metres of more than 800 homes, a kindergarten, maternal and child health services and Stony Creek. Some homes are within 15 metres of the datacentre boundary, and NextDC has since engaged former Brumby and Bracks government adviser Ken McAlpine to lobby the state government.
Victoria allows large datacentres to seek fast-tracked planning approval, and decisions made by the planning minister cannot be appealed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which is why the politics of the application carries unusual weight. The state government has spent years courting datacentre investment as part of its pitch for digital and AI-related industry, and the minister who will decide the M3 expansion is a colleague of Horne's, creating the internal tension the correspondence exposes. Residents near the Footscray site have complained the government has moved too quickly on approvals without weighing long-term community impacts, and Scroggie publicly described the site in 2025 as Australia's largest hyperscale AI factory purpose-built for accelerated computing. The spat is playing out before a state election, sharpening sensitivity to datacentre siting, power demand and neighbourhood disruption.
Hyperscale AI infrastructure is becoming a live local political issue, because these facilities are large, power-hungry, often sited near existing industry and homes, and their approvals are hard for residents to challenge. The exchange also raises questions about how lobbying is conducted with ministers, about planning transparency for fast-tracked projects, and about the state's ability to meet the electricity demand the facilities create. Constituents in Melbourne's inner west are directly affected by noise, diesel back-up generators and construction, while the wider Victorian public is being asked to weigh investment and jobs against amenity. With an election approaching and NextDC having hired an experienced Labor-linked lobbyist, the decision will be watched as a test of how the government balances both.