Anasina GRAY-BARBERIO (Northern Metropolitan) (09:53): ‘We need data centres but we set the rules’ – that was the headline for the Premier’s big announcement yesterday on data centres in Victoria. Apparently, if his government gets the rules right, data centres will mean more jobs and investment. But the truth is the jobs only come during the construction phase. Once these hyperscale monsters are built, due to the nature of their highly automated facilities, these jobs will diminish. The Premier claims that data centres must protect homes, indicating that under these new rules data centres will be prohibited in residential zones, with a 150-metre buffer zone between a data centre building and homes. This rule, however, will not be retrospective, meaning for hyperscale data centres already in the pipeline or approved it will not apply. This just shows how scared this Labor government is of billionaire tech bros. This Labor government is relying on the goodwill of these tech companies to do what is right. Have they not learned that these tech bros only have one agenda: making money? At a time when Victorians are looking for courageous leadership when it comes to communities, the environment and the cost of living, the only thing this government is doing is incrementalism. These rules have gaping holes and raise more questions than answers. Moratorium now.