Federal Government to Legislate National Datacentre Rules Day After Tasmanian Council Approves 288MW Facility

On 26 August, PM Albanese announced the federal government will legislate nationally consistent standards on energy, water, and land use for large datacentres from early next year. This follows George Town Council's 6-1 approval of Firmus's 288MW AI datacentre at Long Reach, Tasmania, where councillors said concerns about energy use and AI were "outside the scope" of their planning role.