By Andrew Klein

Dedicated to the future—may the communities swallowed by data one day be seen again.

I. Introduction: A Silent Invasion

In July 2026, as a planning application quietly made its way to Victoria’s Department of Transport and Planning, residents of Plumpton received a letter. It was a “friendly introduction” from the “Victorian AI Hub team.” It assured them that construction would not begin for at least two years, as “planning and environmental approvals” needed to be completed. For many residents, this was the first they had heard of a 350-hectare data centre—a facility so large its power demand would exceed the entire output of Loy Yang A power station—being built in their backyard.

This is not an isolated case. Victoria is in the grip of a data centre construction boom—over 30 projects are planned or under construction; nationally, 282 data centres are built or in development. Meanwhile, approval times have been compressed—a $911 million project approved in 75 days, an $85 million project in 28 days—while the average industrial approval takes 173 days.

This paper systematically traces the timeline, geography, key actors, and approval patterns of Victoria’s data centre expansion, and analyses its systemic consequences.

II. Timeline: From First Application to National Boom

Date                                           Event

September 2021                  Edge Centres submits development application for Bendigo EC3 facility, claiming “100% solar powered“

May 2022                                 Leading Edge Data Centres receives $30 million equity investment from DigitalBridge Group (US)

2024                                            NextDC acquires 169 hectares in Geelong—land originally designated for over 2,000 homes

October 2025                          NextDC submits $911 million Port Melbourne data centre application

November 2025                    Premier Jacinta Allan declares Victoria will be “relentless” in competing for data centre investment

January 2026                           Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny approves Port Melbourne project—75 days

January 2026                            Keppel Ltd announces $10 billion, 720MW Hazelwood data centre plan

April 2026                                    AirTrunk Tullamarine $973 million project approved—44 days

April 2026                                   NextDC Geelong $85 million project approved—28 days

June 2026                                   Over 30 data centre projects planned or under construction statewide

July 2026                                      Plumpton 350-hectare mega-data centre proposal revealed—2.4GW capacity

July 2026                                       Planning applications submitted for seven data centre buildings in Mickleham

July 2026                                        Federal government announces new rules requiring data    centres to generate

their own power

III. Geography: The Data Centre Map

A. Confirmed Projects

Location            Developer                                              Size / Investment Status

Bendigo              Edge Centres / Leading Edge EC3 facility, “100% solar” claimed Approved

Geelong               NextDC                                                      169ha, originally zoned for 2,000+ homes Approved (28 days)

Port Melbourne   NextDC                                                   $911 million Approved (75 days)

Tullamarine           AirTrunk                                                           $973 million Approved (44 days)

Hazelwood            Keppel Ltd (Singapore)                             $10 billion, 720MW Planning

Plumpton                   Syncline Energy                                 350ha, 2.4GW Planning

Mickleham                Not disclosed                                  Seven data centre buildings Planning

West Footscray        NextDC                                       Expansion, community opposition Under construction

Campbellfield               Zerra DC                                       Six-building campus Planning

Truganina                    Goodman Group                                 Three buildings Planning

B. Statewide Scale

· Victoria: 30+ data centre projects planned or under construction

· Nationally: 282 data centres built or in development

· Total power demand: Estimated 9GW

· National data centre investment projected to exceed $26 billion by 2030

IV. Key Actors

A. Government Figures

Name                                                      Position                           Role

Jacinta Allan                         Premier of Victoria                         Declared “relentless” competition for data centre investment

Sonya Kilkenny Planning Minister         Approved $911M project in 75 days; did not meet with NextDC

Danny Pearson Former Jobs Minister                                       Met with tech executives 16 times in one year

Anthony Albanese Prime Minister          Pushing for centralised AI control; acknowledged community concerns

B. Developers and Operators

Company                    Key Projects                                                          Funding Source

NextDC                       Port Melbourne ($911M), Geelong (169ha),      West Footscray Australian-listed

Leading Edge           Data Centres 26 regional facilities DigitalBridge     (US) $30M

Edge Centres         Bendigo EC3 (“100% solar“)                                    Not disclosed

Keppel Ltd               Hazelwood                                                            ($10B, 720MW) Singapore

AirTrunk                   Tullamarine ($973M), Mickleham Investment pipeline over $7B

Syncline Energy   Plumpton (350ha, 2.4GW)                                          Australian

Zerra DC                 Campbellfield (six-building campus)            Singapore-backed

Goodman Group      Truganina (three buildings)                              Australian

V. Approval Patterns: Systematic Acceleration

A. Approval Time Comparison

Project                                                            Approval Time                           Comparison

NextDC Port Melbourne ($911M)          75 days                              Less than half the average

AirTrunk Tullamarine ($973M)                 44 days                              Just 25% of the average

NextDC Geelong ($85M)                             28 days                              Just 16% of the average

Average Melbourne industrial approval 173 days —

B. The Approval Path

All major projects are channelled through state-level “Major Development Zones,” bypassing local councils. Port Melbourne was fast-tracked because its investment exceeded the $20 million threshold. Planning Minister Kilkenny did not meet with NextDC before approving.

Community exclusion: Plumpton residents learned of the project via a letter in their letterboxes. West Footscray residents learned of it after approval.

VI. Environmental and Community Impacts

A. Water

· Bendigo is one of Victoria’s most water-deprived regional cities. A single hyperscale data centre can use as much water annually as an entire regional city.

· Keppel Hazelwood claims it can use “non-drinking water for cooling.”

· National data centre water consumption projected to reach 220 billion litres by 2030.

B. Noise and Health (West Footscray Case)

· Residents have raised concerns about “constant construction noise, the sheer scale of the building, and the low-frequency humming from the facility.”

· Plumpton developers acknowledge data centres “present unique planning challenges due to their sheer size and the hum of cooling systems.”

C. Housing Displacement (Geelong Case)

· NextDC acquired 169 hectares of land originally designated for over 2,000 homes.

D. Community Resistance

· Plumpton petition has gathered over 3,600 signatures.

· The petition was started by a resident who lives 250 kilometres away and learned of the project via TikTok.

VII. Power: The Hidden Truth

A. Scale

· Plumpton 2.4GW project: Power demand exceeds Loy Yang A’s total output.

· Keppel Hazelwood 720MW: Located within Gippsland’s Renewable Energy Zone.

· Statewide data centre power demand: Estimated 9GW.

B. Gas Dependency

The Plumpton project will require localised gas turbines to avoid destabilising the grid. Developers acknowledge that AI training models cause sudden swings in energy demand that require gas backup.

C. Federal Government New Rules

In July 2026, Albanese announced new rules requiring data centres to generate their own power. But projects like Plumpton were already in the pipeline before these rules were introduced.

VIII. Systemic Analysis: The Pattern We Are Seeing

A. Fast-Track Approvals, No Community Consultation

Approval times have been compressed from 173 days to 28–75 days. Planning Ministers approve without meeting developers. Communities learn of projects via letterbox drops or social media.

B. Foreign Capital Influx, Local Interests Displaced

US-based DigitalBridge invested in Leading Edge; Singapore’s Keppel is planning a $10 billion project; Singapore-backed Zerra DC is planning a Campbellfield campus. Meanwhile, 2,000+ homes in Geelong have been displaced by a data centre.

C. Environmental Impact Assessments Missing

Bendigo’s EIS has never been made public. Plumpton’s land was acquired before “planning and environmental approvals” were completed.

D. Political Donations and the Revolving Door

CDC Data Centres donated $4,430 to Victorian Labor after attending the Australian Open and meeting with Pearson.

IX. Conclusion

Victoria’s data centre boom is not an isolated infrastructure project. It is a systematic extraction:

· Water — consumed in drought-prone regions

· Land — acquired without community consultation

· Power — drawn from an already-strained grid, reliant on gas

· Political capital — used for fast-track approvals

· Jobs — promised but not costed

· Transparency — completely absent

They are trading water for bits, land for bits, the future for the present. They call it progress. We call it theft.

Andrew Klein

Dedicated to the future—may the communities swallowed by data one day be seen again.