Wednesday, 29 July 2026

 David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (12:00): (1381) My question is to the Minister for Planning. Yesterday Hobsons Bay council voiced its opposition to the proposed Stockland data centre in Brooklyn. In a letter to the Department of Transport and Planning, it stated that the 14-day notice period was insufficient to undertake a comprehensive and coordinated assessment on the impacts of a billion-dollar hyperscale data centre. Concerns centred around substations, generators, fuel and battery storage and fire equipment, and the proposed site proximity to residential areas, including a childcare centre which is literally situated across the road. No sustainability management plan was provided to council, and requests for further justification and mitigation measures were not responded to within the timeframe given by DTP to the council. My question to the minister is: how can the government claim it has consulted properly on this matter given it allowed only 14 days and did not provide the necessary information to council?

 Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Health, Minister for Water) (12:01): Thank you, Mr Ettershank. I am very happy to provide this question to the Minister for Planning in the other place and to seek an answer in accordance with the standing orders.

 David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (12:01): Thank you, Minister; I appreciate that. We have consulted across western and north-western councils, who have all shared concerns about the referral process being imposed upon them. These reduce council and community involvement to a procedural tick-a-box exercise rather than being a meaningful mechanism through which advice from council or input from the community can be properly considered and concerns adequately addressed. There is no social licence for these facilities, which are being fast-tracked with no rigour and no regard to the complexities of the project. The workings of the development facilitation program of the DTP to expedite these projects are completely opaque and operate in an apparent regulatory vacuum. So I ask: what is the framework for approvals of this scale, and will the government release full details of timeframes and evaluative criteria to be applied to these projects?

 Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Health, Minister for Water) (12:02): Thanks, Mr Ettershank. As stated in response to your substantive question, the matter will be referred to the Minister for Planning for an answer in accordance with the standing orders.