Politics with Michelle Grattan: Ed Husic urges brakes on data centres ‘swamping’ Australia
The former industry minister said Australia is ‘going too fast’ and ‘been swamped by US tech’ building data centres here to dodge growing US community opposition.
Former Australian industry minister Ed Husic has warned that the country is "going too fast" in building data centres, which are being "swamped" by US tech expanding here to avoid growing American community opposition. Husic, who was responsible for the federal government's artificial intelligence (AI) policy until May last year, expressed concerns that the government's planned national data centre standards on energy and water may not apply to centers being built currently.
He also emphasized the need for substantially higher wages for Australians and a tougher stance against Israel's actions in Gaza. Husic criticized the Labor party for learning "the wrong lessons" from the Rudd-Gillard years and urged for more local investment in Australian AI firms to avoid reliance on global companies.
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