A Minister Said No to a Big Data Centre Next to Homes
Victoria's jobs minister Melissa Horne said no to backing a large data centre expansion in Footscray and accused company boss Craig Scroggie of using AI to write his request email. The Guardian
NextDC wants faster approval from the Victorian government to expand its M3 data centre to 10 hectares. Think of it as a giant warehouse full of computers that must stay on all the time. The bigger site would use 225 megawatts of power and run 24 hours a day. Some homes are within 15 metres of the edge of the site.
In early September 2026, Scroggie emailed Horne personally. He asked her to support the M3 expansion while the planning minister was still assessing it.
Horne wrote back to say no. She said it would not be appropriate to lend support and she did not wish to. She said the letter had basic factual errors and looked like it was written by AI. "I suggest that you review content produced by artificial intelligence more closely in the future," she wrote.
NextDC hired Ken McAlpine, a former adviser to the Brumby and Bracks Labor governments, to lobby the state government. Horne's letter was published by Labor MP Katie Hall, whose electorate includes the Footscray data centre. The Guardian
Hall wrote that the M3 site is within 500 metres of over 800 homes, a kindergarten, maternal and child health services, and Stony Creek.
The broader context here is simple. A faster planning process still leaves ministers answerable to the public. Asking a minister to back a live bid invites a public no. Horne gave one.
In my view, the AI claim does two jobs. It questions how careful the letter was. It also lets Horne say no without debating power use and land size.
Looking at what this means for location, distance matters most. A very large site that uses a lot of power and never switches off is hard to place next to homes. Hall's numbers show what that means for local people.
In practical terms, this kind of lobbying has risks. An email from a boss creates a record that can be shared. The application is still being assessed on size, power use and round-the-clock operation.
