A $31.9 billion data centre has been proposed for regional Queensland, and the scale of the project makes the power relations plain: a Singapore-based developer wants a 725.5-hectare site near Dalby, about 250 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, while governments argue over rules for the energy and water the project will consume.
The Western Downs Digital Park would sit 37km north-west of Dalby on land that is now home to a 24,000-head feedlot owned by Wambo Cattle Company. The company behind the proposal is Zerra DC, a Singapore-based developer that operates hyper-scale data centres across the Asia Pacific. The development application says the project would become the largest facility of its kind in Australia. Big money. Bigger appetite.
Who Pays for the Machine
The federal government is refining proposed new national rules for how data centres consume energy, including a requirement that they purchase power from renewable energy sources. It is expected to lay out the rules at National Cabinet this week. Queensland opposes the suggested laws. That leaves the public stuck in the middle of a fight between governments and developers over who gets to set the terms for a massive infrastructure buildout that serves the demands of artificial intelligence and the rapid expansion of data centre infrastructure.
The development application says the project would prioritise air-cooled technology and avoid reliance on town water infrastructure. But the numbers tell a harsher story. During construction, the site would require about 522 kilolitres of water a day. After that, each building would need 26.9 megalitres for a one-time flush-and-fill process, equivalent to the average annual water use of 155 Australian households. Under regular operation, the centre would use about 16.5kL of water each day. The machine may be dressed up as efficient. The bill still lands somewhere.
Water, Land, and the People Below
The project would source water from coal seam gas water, rainwater harvesting, water delivery, recycled wastewater and on-site surface water, according to the development application. In southern Queensland, the Toowoomba Regional Council has pushed to ensure data centres do not encroach on drinking-water sources in the region. Councillor Rebecca Vonhoff said the council took a national lead in passing a motion. She said, "We have this prime industrial land, we own our water infrastructure, we provide drinking water to our residents and, most importantly, we have a personal and very deeply felt connection to water, having lived through some devastating droughts."
That quote cuts through the polished language of investment and planning. The people who live with drought, water infrastructure, and the consequences of industrial expansion are the ones being asked to absorb the risk while the project’s backers and regulators sort out the details above them.
Western Downs mayor Andrew Smith said the region, as the "energy capital of Queensland", was uniquely positioned to handle the load. "We've built a lot of energy infrastructure in our region that has benefited our region," he said. "So, if there needs to be more built, well, bring it on." He said there would be a rollout of community consultation about the proposal. "Questions around water, questions around power, around geography — they're the main questions that we're hearing out of our community," Cr Smith said. "But certainly, those questions around water are very real and the applicant will need to deal with those."
Consultation, Then What
Community consultation gets promised. The applicant still gets to advance the proposal. Queensland Minister for Water Ann Leahy said the community should have a voice in the proposal, just like any other major project. That’s the familiar script: public input on a project already framed by corporate ambition, state planning, and national energy rules. The language of participation arrives after the scale of the project has already been set.
The federal government’s proposed rules, Queensland’s opposition, the council’s motion, and the mayor’s welcome all circle the same question: who controls the resources, and who carries the cost when a $31.9 billion project lands on regional land and water systems? The development application says the centre will avoid town water infrastructure, but it still needs water. It says it will use air cooling, but it still draws heavily. It says consultation is coming. The machinery of approval keeps moving.