James Griffin
Shadow Minister for Digital, Artificial Intelligence and Investment
Shadow Minister for Digital, Artificial Intelligence and Investment, James Griffin, has today warned that NSW is losing ground in the global race for data centres and artificial intelligence infrastructure because the Minns Labor Government has no coordinated strategy across energy, planning or investment.
"This is not about one Minister or one department getting it wrong," Mr Griffin said.
"This is about three critical failures, in energy, in planning, and in strategic coordination, that are feeding off each other and creating a toxic environment for investment."
"Individually, each failure is a serious problem, but collectively they are handing NSW's economic opportunity to Victoria on a silver platter," Mr Griffin said.
Failure 1: An energy system that cannot guarantee scale or certainty
The energy transition in NSW is failing, with energy prices remaining high, significant transmission delays, and the government failing to listen to concerns about renewable energy projects.
At this rate, households will have to turn off their air-conditioning in summer, and that's before having the state ready to power data centres.
Data centre demand is growing.
Transgrid reports more than 10GW of data centre connection enquiries, with electricity demand projected to grow from 307 GWh to 6,723 GWh by 2035, representing more than a twenty-fold increase.
Without firm, reliable and timely grid capacity, data centre projects will go elsewhere.
"Right now, NSW cannot guarantee the scale, speed or certainty that global and domestic investors require, and because of that, we are losing out to Victoria," Mr Griffin said.
Failure 2: No critical digital infrastructure planning strategy
NSW still lacks a coherent planning and precinct strategy for digital infrastructure
There is:
No statewide data centre action plan
No identified digital infrastructure precinct strategy
No integrated land-use and energy coordination model
Industry feedback highlights inconsistent agency advice and uncertainty around zoning, grid access and water allocation.
In contrast, Victoria has funded a dedicated Sustainable Data Centre Action Plan and released a 2026 Artificial Intelligence Mission Statement, sending a clear signal it intends to lead.
"In NSW, there is no coordinated approach to zoning land, aligning utilities, or fast-tracking strategic AI infrastructure; we risk repeating mistakes of the past by not coordinating the placement of data centres." Mr Griffin said.
Failure 3: No whole-of-government AI strategy
Most concerning is the absence of strategic coordination.
NSW has:
No AI mission statement with funding attached
No AI infrastructure roadmap
No cross-portfolio coordination linking Energy, Planning, Treasury and Investment NSW
"No one in the Minns Government is clearly responsible for ensuring NSW wins the AI and data centre investment race," Mr Griffin said.
"Like in many other areas, the Minns Labor Government has packed up and gone home."
The global data centre market is projected to reach US$4 trillion by 2030.
NSW should be the natural home for Asia-Pacific AI and data centre investment.
But without reliable energy delivery, coordinated planning and a clear AI strategy, capital will lock in elsewhere
"These three failures are not separate problems; they are one problem with one cause: a complacent government in the face of a global AI economy scaling at speed," Mr Griffin said.
The upcoming Parliamentary Inquiry into data centres will test whether the Minns Labor Government intends to lead, or continue to drift while other states secure the jobs, investment and productivity gains of the AI era.
