Tuesday, 22 September 2026

 Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) presented a petition bearing 2090 signatures:

The Petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Council the total absence of state laws to protect communities from hyper-scale data centres, highlighted by the Clyde North application PA26-0190. Your petitioners therefore state that:

1)   Victoria completely lacks dedicated state-level legislation to protect residential communities and state assets from the detrimental impact of hyper-scale data centres. The site’s location within the Urban Growth Zone exempts it from standard public notice, completely shutting the local community out of the process and blocking a VCAT appeal. While subjected to standard localized environmental tests like noise and stormwater, these narrow reviews completely fail to assess the massive macro-level impacts on Victoria’s electricity grid and municipal drinking water security.

2)   Allowing the Clyde North development to proceed sets a dangerous statewide precedent that prioritizes corporate development over community concerns and state resource preservation.

The Petitioners therefore request that the Legislative Council call on the Victorian Government to:

1)   Institute an immediate statewide moratorium on all new large-scale data centre approvals, including Clyde North.

2)   Maintain this moratorium until specific state legislation is enacted that mandates strict caps on power and water usage, guarantees independent macro-impact assessments and protects neighbouring residents’ health and wellbeing.

Katherine COPSEY: As this is a petition qualifying for debate under standing order 11.03(10), I give notice that I intend to move ‘That the petition be taken into consideration’ on on Wednesday of next sitting week.