Premier concedes SA planning laws too weak for data centre boom

Premier Peter Malinauskas has conceded South Australia’s planning rules for data centres need greater scrutiny, 7NEWS reported this week, as community opposition builds against a wave of AI-driven proposals across the state. He said legislation is being drafted so the industry does not grow unchecked.

Why it matters

The admission comes as developers chase AI infrastructure demand with projects well beyond the 120-hectare Tungkillo site in the Adelaide Hills, where a cross-party rally at Mannum has already drawn organised protest over Quantum DC’s proposal. Opposition there has intensified further since: 7NEWS reported two community consultation sessions on the Tungkillo project were cancelled after a bomb threat, though concerned locals still turned up seeking answers. Elsewhere, Firmus Technologies has AI factory projects in train near Tailem Bend and Stirling North, while IREN has put forward an 800-megawatt campus at Bundey in the state’s Mid North. Malinauskas has ruled out folding data centres into his proposed AI royal commission, but told 7NEWS tighter oversight of where they are sited is still needed: “They shouldn’t be built in places that are not immediately adjacent to communities where they live, where they can affect their lives.” For developers and agents, that signals the state’s planning settings for this asset class are now officially under review, not settled.

Backers say the projects bring jobs, investment and stronger national digital infrastructure. Adelaide University computer science professor Stewart von Itzstein told 7NEWS locally based AI infrastructure could matter increasingly as reliance on artificial intelligence grows, warning that dependence on offshore data centres leaves the state exposed if a hostile foreign government cut off access to those services.

The numbers

Data centres already operate in five metropolitan Adelaide locations, in the CBD, Kidman Park, Hawthorn, Mawson Lakes and Pooraka, mostly without local awareness, according to 7NEWS. The pipeline now includes the 120-hectare Tungkillo proposal in the Adelaide Hills and IREN’s 800-megawatt Bundey campus, alongside Firmus Technologies’ Tailem Bend and Stirling North projects, which 7NEWS described as proposed or planned, not approved.

What’s next

Malinauskas told 7NEWS the legislation is being drafted while live proposals move through planning, and that he wants it in place as quickly as possible. No date was reported. He ruled out folding the issue into his proposed AI royal commission, keeping siting policy a separate track. That leaves land near existing or proposed data centre precincts, including farmland adjoining projects like Tungkillo, as the area to watch once the government’s next move is public.