Donations to major parties and an ex-premier as a lobbyist: how datacentres play the political game in Australia
Source: The Guardian ·
As governments face community backlash for fast-tracking developments, big tech’s financial contributions face renewed scrutinyGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcastOn 14 June 2025, Anthony Albanese stood inside an enormous sphere of glass and steel, surrounded by 40,000 plants from around the world. His mind was firmly fixed on datacentres. The prime minister was in the…
From the source
On 14 June 2025, Anthony Albanese stood inside an enormous sphere of glass and steel, surrounded by 40,000 plants from around the world. His mind was firmly fixed on datacentres. The prime minister was in the Seattle headquarters of Amazon Web Services. He stood alongside the company’s chief executive, Matt Garman, who outlined a $20bn plan to build datacentres in Melbourne and Sydney. Speaking to a travelling press pack, Garman was emphatic that Australia was “incredibly important and a great market” for the world’s biggest datacentre company. Within days of Albanese returning home, Amazon reported its largest payment to an Australian political party on record. The company’s federal disclosures show a $46,500 payment to the Labor party’s federal branch on 28 June. This was one of 34 payments – totalling $538,000 – that Amazon made to Labor and Liberal branches over a six-year period. While the money did not influence the government’s decision making, it continued a trend of Amazon…