Queensland farming town fights for its future against a $32b data centre

You might not have heard of the small Queensland town of Dalby, but locals there give a lot to our country – supplying us with meat, cotton, wheat, grains, and fuelling the nation with gas and power.

Now a new industry wants to move in and build Australia’s largest data centre. The question is: has Dalby already sacrificed enough, or is this an opportunity too good to give up?

The $32 billion Digital Park would sit on a property that currently houses a cattle feedlot, 35 minutes west of town. 

Four data centres would be built – each building 500 metres long by 84 metres.

Together, they'd take up enough land to cover around 20 rugby league football fields filled with computers. 

Bev and Wayne Newton live next door on a wheat farm.

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Over the years, they've battled drought, floods and gas giants drilling wells.

They worry the data centres will be another industry that takes more from the region than it gives back.

“This is just going to impact Australians overall through their power, through their water – increased costs – and there’ll be no taxes to benefit Australians, so we can’t really see why this data centre is so essential for our district,” Bev told A Current Affair.

The development promises around 1500 jobs during construction and again once finished, but Dalby also faces a shortage of workers and housing.

"I feel there's a totally obscene rush to develop this project," Wayne said.

"They're not taking the time at all levels of government to actually explore all the positives and negatives."

The developer is Singaporean company Zerra DC.

“I can remember 30 or 40 years ago, a lot of people in my generation, whinging and bitching about everything going to the southeast corner – well, it’s our time now,” Western Downs Regional Council Mayor Andrew Smith said.

"We have beef. We have manufacturing. It's happening in our part of the world, and we need to take that, take the opportunity, and run with it. It's our time," he said.

Property owner, businessman and head of the Chamber of Commerce Adrian Story agrees.

"I think a lot of businesses are looking at it as an opportunity ... opportunities for upgrading our local hospitals, upgrading our local TAFE and the opportunities for drought resistance in the community."

Retiree Bevis Furner was one of those locals who saw the opportunity.

"I thought it was going to be fantastic, good for the region, good for kids coming along, learning, staying in the region," Bevis said.

But after doing thorough research, he’s changed his mind – worried there’s too much uncertainty around everything from power and water use to job creation.

"If it's too good to be true, it's too good to be true," he said.

At full capacity, the development could consume more than a quarter of Queensland's current daily electricity use.

There are gas-fired power stations, a major substation, and a solar farm nearby – but the project would place enormous new demand on the grid.

The developer promises to secure additional power from the National Electricity Market – but how, and when, remains unclear.

Water is also a concern. Dalby is often in drought, and many farmers rely on underground bores.

Zerra DC told A Current Affair it won't connect to the town's water supplies and bores.

"There is pressure on the proponent to make sure that they have good and fair solutions for their water use," Smith said.

When asked if he was prepared to vote against the project, the mayor's answer was simple.

"If the boxes aren't ticked, absolutely," he said.

Many locals told A Current Affair that one of the biggest issues was getting clear information about the proposal.

"I'm confused, ok," Dalby Antiques dealer Ross Thorton told A Current Affair.

"What's happened is I've heard conflicting stories."

He's calling on local and state government to hold a public meeting, saying the lack of information is making people sceptical.

"You're hearing different numbers about water usage, different numbers about employment during construction and operational phase," he said.

Local community groups have taken it upon themselves to hold information sessions for residents – and they’re proving popular.

One session in the region that A Current Affair attended had more than 100 people in the audience.

The independent speakers ranged from mathematicians to psychologists, as well as local academics like Shay Dougall.

"These decisions keep getting made far, far away from here ... and to the economic benefit of people far, far away from here. But the burden of those industries has fallen to us," she said.

Chatting to those in the audience – everyone had a different reason for attending. 

"I'm a landholder in the area," one woman said.

Most admitted they're not against the development, but they were worried it was moving faster than the government policies and regulations being put in place to control this new industry.

"All we need is a couple of months of no water, and this project could actually affect landholders," one man said.

“I’m quite concerned about the way it’s being rolled out – sort of with the cart before the horse,” another added.

"When it comes to security for this country, what happens if there are accidents there or if there are terrorists?" another questioned.

Zerra DC needs a number of approvals before it can proceed.

Its 870-page planning application is currently before council, flagging a potential koala habitat and rare wildflowers growing nearby. The report says the data centre is unlikely to impact those endangered species.

And yet, even without a green light, they’ve started pegging out the site, and they have a tenant – American heavyweight Anthropic, the company behind the AI chatbot Claude.

It’s a tough ask for any government to assess an application involving trillion-dollar international companies, wanting to bring a new industry to town – but Smith says he’s not daunted.

"We have to assess that application as we assess any application, noting that there are quite a few community concerns regarding this application, but it's eyes down and looking straight ahead," he said.

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Others like the Newtons worry we're going in blind.

"We only have a little bit over two per cent of the state that is prime agricultural land ... we've got to look after it because it grows us all of these crops, which feeds Australia and feeds a lot of the world," Wayne said.

“People in the city will often hear our stories, and go, ‘Oh, that’s terrible.  They can’t do that.’ But it’s not in their backyard – it is in our backyard,” Bev added.

A Current Affair put a number of questions to Zerra DC.

Its full statement is below.

The state government has stipulated that any data centre development must first outline its plans for power sources first - but those plans are not in your submission to council. Do you have those plans in place?

WDDP's energy procurement utilises existing generation while facilitating new private-sector investment in renewable energy, in alignment with the Queensland Government's Energy Roadmap. We are working with the Queensland Government to demonstrate how we achieve their objectives in this regard while maximising economic benefit from Queensland’s strong and unique electricity supply arrangements.

Can you clarify where the power will be generated for not only the first phase of the WDDP but the additional Data Centres as they're built on site?

Electricity supply for WDDP will be sourced from the National Electricity Market, which enables new generation to come online in a manner that aligns with Queensland and Australian government policy, and where local communities are supportive of renewable energy generation. Queensland is uniquely placed to bring new generation online quickly, reflected by the large pipeline of generation development projects. Building in stages allows time for new generation assets and firming capacity to be developed to support electricity requirements as data centre customer demand comes online.

How can so much power be generated without an impact on other energy consumers on the grid?

Customers benefit when more electricity generation comes into the grid because it increases supply. WDDP is located in the Western Downs power generation and transmission region, enabling access to significant existing power generation and transmission corridors that can support energy-intensive industries such as data centres and a large skilled workforce to operate electricity infrastructure.

WDDP’s electricity will come from the National Electricity Market, delivered over Queensland's transmission grid, which also supplies mining, gas, mineral processing and other large industry. WDDP will not draw power through the local distribution network that supplies surrounding homes and businesses.

What work will be done on local roads and infrastructure ahead of construction?

WDDP has adopted a local-first approach, and we intend to prioritise local businesses, trades and materials where possible. Project proposals currently awaiting approval include road and access improvements.

What assurances can you give that the region won't feel the effects of the WDDP on its water supply/resources? 

WDDP won’t connect to town water and won’t draw on local water supplies, bores or the region’s resources. The facility is air-cooled, so the only water needed in operation is for basic amenities for the staff, and that’s met from captured rainwater and on-site recycling. Water use in construction will be met by treated wastewater from nearby gas operations, a by-product that would otherwise go unused, with the balance coming from carted water from outside the region.

We've been told work has started already. What is currently happening on site?

Construction has not started. On-site activities are limited to the usual pre-construction investigations, things like surveys, soil testing and environmental monitoring, that help inform the design and the assessment.

Why this site? Why use farming land when food sovereignty is already under pressure in Australia?

This isn’t quality farmland. The site is within the Kogan East Special Industry Area, land set aside for exactly this kind of industrial use, and the Council itself has assessed it as poor-quality agricultural land. We’re also working with the agricultural sector, so the project supports local production, rather than competing with it.

How will Dalby benefit from this project? Locals are cynical about there being any real benefit to the region.

The benefits we care most about are local. Construction supports around 1500 on-site jobs. Once running, around 1400 ongoing skilled roles, real long-term careers, plus around 180 local apprenticeships. We’ve committed to a local-first approach: local businesses, trades and suppliers prioritised, so the work and the spend stay in the region. We’re committing to a community benefit framework, developed with the community and the Council, so locals have a real say in what it funds and how it’s governed. The focus is lasting value: housing, education, civic infrastructure. The project also delivers around $760 million a year to the wider Queensland economy. 

Most people we’ve spoken to aren’t against the proposal, but they’re insulted, confused and sceptical about the lack of information, facts and figures about the project. Is that something the company plans to remedy with the community?

Every week we spend more time and more resources on the ground in the region, and are always looking for new ways to share information and engage with the community. We have undertaken over 60 hours of community drop-in sessions across October in Dalby, Chinchilla and Kogan. We have also been engaging frequently with local media across radio, online and print news to deliver information and progress updates transparently, and educate the community on the development. Our WDDP website is updated weekly with as much publicly available information as possible about the project, to ensure there is a one-stop-shop for locals and other stakeholders.”

Across the globe, DCs are struggling to be welcomed anywhere; from Scotland to Minnesota, residents are loudly saying no. But they feel like a necessity for modern life, so what's the answer to the world's DC needs?

AI is changing how businesses, governments, and communities operate. Hosting the infrastructure supporting this tech gives the Western Downs an opportunity to play a role in one of the world’s fastest-developing industries, rather than watching that growth happen elsewhere.

A project of this scale has the potential to support local jobs, create opportunities for regional businesses, develop new technical skills and attract further investment into the area. From construction and electrical services to ongoing maintenance, logistics and facilities management, the opportunity extends well beyond the data centre and will most effectively be driven by a community-first approach that is supported by local and state government policy and initiatives.

A site like this one for WDDP is uniquely placed to deliver the infrastructure Australians need to be able to enjoy the benefits of AI, with the best risk mitigation for the location of the site and the impact of the development.