Chris Bowen vows to override Queensland and NT to force renewables-powered AI datacentres

Published August 5, 2026 · Category: News

Overview

Energy minister says Australian households and energy reliability will be protected by new federal legislation

Energy minister Chris Bowen says the federal government will override state governments that oppose new national rules on datacentres, with commonwealth legislation forcing new AI datacentres to be powered by renewable energy and banning those fuelled by gas.

Details

Bowen said he expected his counterparts in Queensland and the Northern Territory – who had protested the new federal rules at a meeting last week – to be unhappy with the move, but said the Albanese government was committed to powering the AI revolution with renewable energy.

Source

Originally published at www.theguardian.com.

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