SENATOR TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE: Well, I’m very pleased to be here with my colleague, Andrew Charlton, who is the Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy, to announce Australia's Data Centre Expectations. Late last year, the Government launched Australia's National Artificial Intelligence Plan. The objective of the plan was to make sure that Australia captured the economic opportunity of artificial intelligence investment, that we spread the benefits of artificial intelligence through the community, and thirdly, that we act to protect the safety of Australians when it comes to artificial intelligence.

We said at the time that we would take a little more time to develop these Data Centre Expectations. We are announcing those today. The five expectations are that we prioritise Australia's national interest, that data centre investments contribute to Australian resilience and Australian economic growth, that investments support Australia's energy transition, use water sustainably and responsibly, invest in Australian skills and jobs, and strengthen our research innovation and local capability.

There is a very strong pipeline of investment propositions for digital infrastructure in Australia, particularly for data centres and those investors are looking for certainty and the approval of the Commonwealth Government. What this does is send a very clear signal to the investment community and data centre proponents about what the characteristics need to be of data centre investments in order to secure Commonwealth Government support.

Andrew will speak to these issues in a moment, but he has been engaged on behalf of the Commonwealth Government with the states and territories as well. And, of course, many of the leaders in terms of approvals and facilitation of these kind of projects are our colleagues in state and territory governments. They enthusiastically support a level playing field, national coordination and national expectations in this area because it means that we're not going to have a race to the bottom, in particular on electricity and water use.

We'll continue to work those issues through with our colleagues at the state and territory level, led by Minister Bowen with the energy ministers. This is an enormous opportunity for Australia in economic growth terms, in employment terms, in competitiveness terms and in terms of our future economic resilience. The Data Centre Expectations are an important overlay over that work. We are going to continue to do that work over the coming months to deliver and make sure that that we have as much of the technology stack here in Australia as can be secured in a way that contributes to Australian economic resilience, from digital infrastructure all the way through to the tech jobs to the future. Andrew.

DR ANDREW CHARLTON, CABINET SECRETARY AND ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND THE DIGITAL ECONOMY: Thanks Tim, thanks everybody. Global data centre investment is increasing, and Australia is well placed to capture our share of that investment, but Labor Governments always make sure that new technologies benefit our people and our environment. We don't want data centres to push up power prices. That's why these expectations will make sure that data centres make a positive contribution to our economy, our skills and our energy system.

These expectations set the social licence for new data centres in Australia. Under these expectations, data centre operators must put the Australian people first. As Tim said, we've had good engagement from industry, from states, from the union movement and employers, and these Data Centre Expectations will be implemented in partnership with the states. State energy ministers are meeting in May, and these will be on the agenda. Water ministers are meeting in the middle of the year, and these expectations will simply be on the agenda.

We want to do what is necessary to make sure that data centres and AI is sustainable, supports our national interest and is underpinned by strong social licence. This is an important step in the delivery of our National AI Plan.

The elements of that plan were to make sure that Australia captures the benefits of AI and that those benefits are shared widely. And through this plan, we make sure that the benefits of significant digital infrastructure investment are shared widely across Australia and don't bring harm to Australians. Those five expectations are, first of all, around national social licence, making sure that data centres work with communities to make a positive contribution in those communities. Secondly, to make sure that data centres make a positive contribution to our energy system. Third, that the water use from those data centres is sustainable and efficient. Fourth, that data centres make a positive contribution to national employment. And fifth, that this new digital infrastructure makes a contribution to our national capability in the digital economy, increasing national compute, providing support for research and our startup ecosystem in each of these areas. Through these expectations, we are doing what is necessary to ensure that the growth of AI is sustainable and underpinned by a strong social licence. Thanks.

AYRES: Okay, we’ll take a few questions.

JOURNALIST: There’s been no ask about the fuel crisis in your portfolio and the impact on supply chains. We've seen trucking companies now having to pay significantly higher prices. There are reports of trucks being parked, potential delays to deliveries of groceries, maybe, and other things. Are you open to more assistance of those companies, to help them with that price impact, or is there maybe more the Government could do to make sure those deliveries go well?

AYRES: Well, you will have seen the announcement the Prime Minister made last week, the Coordinator-General role in this area, working with the states and territories to make sure there is alignment between what the Commonwealth is doing in terms of fuel supply nationally, and working with the industry and the states to deliver right through the supply chain.

Of course, we saw some evidence, particularly in regional communities, where communities were being served by independent retailers who are seeking supply on the spot market, that some of those communities struggled. That is the work of the Coordinator-General: to wrestle with the practical implications of what's going on in fuel. We've enabled the ACCC to take a firmer role, both on the price monitoring side and providing stiffer penalties and also making sure that the ACCC role isn't getting in the way of cooperation between the fuel companies to support, in particular, regional communities. We are not complacent about what this war in the Middle East means for Australia and Australian industry. We're watching it very closely. We are taking the steps that Australians would expect us to take, and we're going to continue to do that.

JOURNALIST: If trucks are being held back, as some of the reports are, because of those prices, what would you say to those companies? Do they have an obligation to get those trucks moving, even if prices are high?

AYRES: Well, this is not an opportunity for profiteering. This is an opportunity for Australians to work together in the industrial interest, both in logistics terms and fuel supply terms.

JOURNALIST: Charlton, could you just give us an overview of why the framework has pursued, I guess, clear targets for recycled water, for renewables. You kind of left it relatively vague about percentages. Is there a particular reason for that? And, then, Minister Ayres, can I just ask you, industry policy has been a very big part of Labor's agenda now for four years. You're, you know, almost a year into your second term, a lot is announced but not happening or is delayed or undelivered. Like quantum, battery, you know, hasn't broken ground. Battery, that precinct in Queensland hasn't broken ground. Hydrogen pathways have been delayed, or some of the programs have been abandoned. Are you moving fast enough on industry policy, particularly in light of what we're seeing in the world happening?

AYRES: Always upbeat, Ron. I'll go to Andrew first and then I’ll respond.

CHARLTON: Thanks, Ron. In terms of specific targets, the challenge here is that different data centres in different locations with different requirements and specifications will have very different needs. So, a single metric across the breadth of data centres wouldn't be appropriate to get the outcomes that we want. Instead, we're working with the states to make sure that we have the highest possible standards in different situations, whether that be in energy or in water, and making sure that those standards become the highest possible level, rather than some minimum level that every single data centre can meet independent of its circumstances.

AYRES: And, Ron, you've seen this Government with the biggest pro-manufacturing package in Australian history, advance very firmly into industrial policy in a way that no Australian Government has since the Second World War. Our strategic circumstances demand it in order to lift productivity and economic growth and to spread economic growth in our outer suburbs and our regions. There is already – I might have a few things to say about this through the course of Wednesday – already significant work and delivery that has been undertaken in my portfolio areas, all of those smelters in regional Australia that currently operate, that employ thousands of people, tens of thousands of people in a broader industrial ecosystem.

We can't have a Future Made in Australia if we don't act to secure what are challenging industrial and economic circumstances, including market concentration overseas and a volatile trade environment, securing those industrial capabilities. We have moved decisively and in a smart way to work with industry to secure that capacity. We will continue to do that work.

Those investments that you referred to, the investments that are underpinned by the production credits and the production tax credits, for example, in the Future Made in Australia framework – of course they take time. Of course they take time.

Investments from the National Reconstruction Fund, [$1.5] billion out the door in investments and loans for circa 25 significant projects for Australia. All of those projects take time to move from final investment decision to practical blue-collar jobs and technology jobs in our outer suburbs and our regions, but we are doing that work. We are a government that's committed to action here.

I might just make the point finally, that the Liberals and Nationals are pretending now to have discovered economic and sovereign capability questions and industrial policy. They didn't lift a finger for a decade. Tens of thousands of good blue-collar jobs went offshore. Our foundational industrial manufacturing facilities went offshore. Four out of our 6 fuel refineries closed down and went offshore when Angus Taylor was the Energy Minister. We are turning that ship around. We are working with Australians. We are not pretending it is just about what government does. It is about what we all do as Australians, and I think we see over the course of the weekend in the South Australian election, that the evidence of where it is or what it is that Australians are demanding from their State and Commonwealth Government, and that is action on economic resilience, action on industrial policy and, in a state where the effort between Anthony Albanese and Peter Malinauskas to deliver strategic intervention in Whyalla and in Port Pirie, is emblematic of our Future Made in Australia.

JOURNALIST: Another one for Minister Charlton. You mentioned that you don't want data centres to put pressure on power prices. Data centres are big new load for the grid. Just the basic maths of it, right, is that new load equals, like, more demand for the same amount of supply. So, is there a kind of, I know you don't want to put a number on it, but like, is there a kind of basic expectation? Is it like half new power or green power? Is it 75%? Like, how are you going to kind of stop that new load pushing up power prices? And just a second question on taxation, we saw last week Google kind of asked if there’s some kind of final changes to tax law so it doesn't affect kind of other parts of their business. Is that something that you're considering?

CHARLTON: Yeah, so on the second part, no, we're not contemplating tax breaks for data centres. On the first part, you identified that new load makes new demand. Well, these expectations require that data centre providers meet all of their new power demand from incremental renewable sources. But on that one other point, and that is, if we want to bring down power prices in Australia, you know, think of the power system as a fixed cost system with the poles and the wires. So, it's not new demand through the system increases costs. The way to get prices down is to put new demand through that system that fractionalises that cost that all of us pay. More volume through a fixed cost system can help us put downward pressure on costs over time. That's the opportunity of data centres. If we get data centres supporting grid stability, if we get data centres supporting load management, and then we get more demand through a fixed cost system, that ultimately has the potential to put downward pressure on prices.

JOURNALIST: So, do you want to see them acting flexibly in the way that, say, a smelter would?

CHARLTON: Well, we are working with the data centre providers to talk about different aspects of load management, and those regimes exist around the world, and we're exploring the possibility of them.

AYRES: Last question for Ron.

JOURNALIST: Could I just have another go at Ryan's question. So, Google's not necessarily asking for tax breaks. They're asking to basically ensure that they don't become a primary entity, or whatever the particular definition is, that ensures that they have a whole new tax setting in Australia. Is the Government considering that request and how they might be able to avoid that outcome? And, then, just an expansion of this, I think Anthropic have made very clear that one of the hurdles for them in Australia is copyright law. I know that is not the domain of either of you, it's the Attorney-General, but you would be concerned about all the elements that would stop people from coming and investing in Australia. Do you know when we might see an outcome, whether it's a status quo or whether it's something new, but an actual outcome on the copyright question?

CHARLTON: Well, it’s the same answer to both of those questions: the Australian Government is not considering weakening either our tax regime or our copyright laws. In terms of copyright, the status quo is not working. The reality is that we have a system where every day, at the moment, our Australian copyrighted material is being ripped off by foreign players.

But we want to make sure that we protect Australian rights holders. We think that Australian stories and publications and media and data has never been more valuable than it is today. Australian data is the juice in the machine of AI. It’s the shovels in the gold rush. And we want to make sure that Australian creatives get their value for their copyrighted material.

The Attorney-General is working through this. We support the process that she’s undertaking. And I think the outcome that we’re looking for is the outcome that we’ve said consistently – that we’ll make sure that Australian rights holders are protected.

AYRES: Thanks team.

CHARLTON: Thank you.

ENDS.