Wednesday, 3 June 2026

 David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (12:24): (1337) My question is to the Minister for Environment. The Australian Energy Market Operator predicts that the growth in data centres across Victoria and New South Wales will require an extra 4 gigawatts of gas-powered generation annually to manage increased demand, and a Greenpeace Australia Pacific report confirms that if a quarter of the new data centres were powered by gas, it would almost triple the amount of carbon emissions compared to grid power. With news of a 350-hectare megahub planned for the west ‘so big it will need its own gas turbines to avoid tripping the power grid’ and needing more power than the total capacity of Loy Yang A, I ask: how does the government intend to reconcile Victoria’s carbon emission reduction targets with this explosion of data centres?

 Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Environment, Minister for Outdoor Recreation) (12:25): I thank Mr Ettershank for his question, but I think the question is better directed to the minister for energy and climate action under the standing orders. The minister could refer it on, but I think that is the appropriate minister. He asked a question about energy. If it was about the environment, I would be happy to answer it.

The PRESIDENT: As I have said a number of times in this chamber, members have the right to ask any minister a question. The minister has the right to say that that does not fall within their portfolio and suggest it could be directed to another portfolio. It is either the minister’s answer, or Mr Ettershank can refer it to the minister for energy and climate change, to be passed on, if he wants.

David ETTERSHANK: I think that was ‘sting like a butterfly, dodge like a bee’. I am happy just to leave the question on the record and move to my supplementary, if I may.

The PRESIDENT: You would like to do a supplementary? I would say it would be very difficult. The supplementary has to be relevant to the answer, and it is going to be very difficult to do a supplementary when the minister says it is not within his remit.

David ETTERSHANK: Thank you, President; I am happy to be guided by your wisdom on the appropriateness or otherwise.

Beyond exorbitant carbon emissions and water consumption, another environmental impact of data centres is the vast amount of e-waste they generate. GPUs and servers used in data centres are replaced on average every two to five years. Infrastructure Victoria has noted that the state’s e-waste recycling capacity is already under pressure and e-waste is growing at a rate three times faster than that of the general waste stream, putting the state on track to generate more than 250,000 tonnes of e-waste by 2030. Can the minister explain how the data centre sustainability action plan addresses the mountain of e-waste generated by the state’s data centres and how it fits with the government’s circular economy goals? Or, in the absence of such a plan, what is the government doing?

The PRESIDENT: The issue is that I do not think it was relevant to the substantive, to which the minister’s answer was that it was better directed to another minister.

Ingrid Stitt: On a point of order, President, the supplementary question was actually a matter that sits within Minister Dimopoulos’s responsibilities as the minister responsible for that strategy.

 David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (12:28): I move:

That the minister’s response be taken into consideration on the next day of meeting.

Motion agreed to.