New South Wales Premier Minns is introducing measures to regulate and tax the rapid acquisition of land for artificial intelligence data centers.

Aug 18, 2026 | 6 min read

NSW Premier Chris Minns. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

The Minns government has rolled the dice on a sweeping overhaul of data centre development controls, hoping to attract tens of billions of dollars from major tech platforms. Issued Monday, the new NSW Data Centre Guidelines will allow industry to submit data centre construction proposals that, if compliant, would get “a commitment to have their proposed developments assessed within 75 days, while still meeting all planning, environmental, and community consultation standards.”

The plan would also make new data centres test cases for a heavily reworked electricity grid designed to accelerate the rollout and use of renewable energy. Yet the framework introduces a bring-your-own regime for rapacious electricity and water consumption. But no mention of water recycling or desalination opportunities.