Politicians Back Data Centres as Voters Resist

An NBC News exit poll found that three-quarters of voters opposed data centres in their communities. Australia’s two major parties, though, still back them. That divide—local resistance against political support—sits at the heart of a fight over who decides what gets built.

The ABC article pictured the Raging Grannies protesting data centres and power hikes in North Carolina. It included no words from the protesters. Still, their action came alongside election results showing about 41 proposals across 10 US states were on track to lose, all but one, according to ABC News national AI reporter Cam Wilson.

Voters push back

Data centres appeared in five per cent of political television ads, most of them negative. In Wisconsin, the figure reached as high as 14 per cent. More than half of voters called the issue crucial or a major factor in their vote. Corruption, cost of living, immigration and the Iran War ranked higher overall, the analysis said, but data centres weren’t a political issue two years earlier.

Texas Democrat Gina Hinojosa won the state’s gubernatorial election after calling for a ban on data centre construction. Texas has the country’s biggest pipeline of proposed data centre construction. ABC’s analysis said a ban would likely cause a large reduction in national construction. By election day, candidates from both major parties opposed building data centres. US President Donald Trump continued to support them and his rebranded “super intelligence.”

The ABC analysis cautioned that US results don’t translate directly to Australia. Data Centres Australia says the country has 163 data centres with combined capacity of about 1.6 gigawatts. The United States has about 30 times that capacity, or around 50 gigawatts, by one estimate. Recent polling found 44 per cent of Australians would oppose a data centre built near them, compared with 76 per cent of Americans in exit polls.

A bipartisan pipeline

Australia’s two major parties support data centres even as local opposition grows. Last month, Labor’s Jo Briskey and Liberal Party deputy chair Jonathon Duniam, chairs of parliament’s joint inquiry into AI, sent a letter midway through the inquiry. They described it as an “early indicator” of their findings.

The letter set requirements for attracting leading AI companies to conduct their “training” in Australia. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had explicitly said his government wanted that outcome. The ABC analysis interpreted the aim as bringing large data centres to Australia. The article also featured a proposed data centre near Wagga Wagga, New South Wales.

The scale of the infrastructure comes into view in a comparison between AirTrunk’s MEL1 in western Melbourne, Australia’s largest data centre, and Elon Musk’s Colossus 2. MEL1 is ten times smaller than Colossus 2’s known capacity. The analysis said Colossus 2 was reportedly powered for a time by gas turbines without environmental permits, partly because US rules are less strict.

Investment on whose terms?

Politicians, staffers and industry members expected the US result to embolden anti-data-centre organisers after several wins in recent weeks. They also believed Australia might attract investment on “our terms.” Proposed government rules for data centres were expected by the end of 2026.

The ABC analysis said a US industry slowdown could intensify competition among major AI companies for computing resources and push them to seek capacity outside the United States. Australia was among a small group of preferred destinations. That competition, the analysis said, could give Australia more negotiating leverage over investment, rules and how companies operate. The political question remains: will that leverage answer local opposition, or simply help governments and companies bargain over expansion? Proposed government rules were expected by the end of 2026.