NO DATA CENTRES IN IPSWICH.

OUR WATER. OUR WILDLIFE. OUR POWER. OUR COMMUNITY.

Ipswich has carried Queensland's industrial, pollution and waste burden for decades.

WE REFUSE TO BECOME BIG TECH'S NEXT SACRIFICE ZONE.

A 10-storey, approximately 72-metre data centre is proposed for Swanbank, affecting land mapped as core koala habitat, with approximately 3,190 native trees reportedly facing removal.

And because the application is CODE ASSESSABLE, there is NO mandatory public notification, NO formal public submission period and NO ordinary third-party merits appeal rights for residents.

How can a development of this magnitude, with potentially irreversible environmental consequences, be assessed without meaningful public participation?

This is not just another warehouse.

- KOALA HABITAT: Native vegetation, wildlife habitat and ecological connections face destruction. Mature ecosystems cannot simply be replaced.
- DRINKING WATER: The proposal identifies the public drinking-water network as a primary supply. Large data centres can consume hundreds of millions to billions of litres annually, depending on their size and cooling systems.
- ELECTRICITY: Enormous power demand could strain infrastructure, increase emissions and shift costs onto households.
- COMMUNITY HEALTH: Round-the-clock cooling equipment, transformers and generators raise legitimate concerns about noise and residential amenity.
- ENVIRONMENT: Artificial intelligence is not environmentally weightless. Its infrastructure consumes land, energy, water and materials.

WE HAVE FOUGHT THIS BATTLE BEFORE.

In 2022, community opposition and planning protections helped stop a proposed $400 million Swanbank waste incinerator, which was ultimately withdrawn.

In 2025, a Queensland Government public health inquiry examined the harmful impacts of industrial odours from Swanbank and New Chum on surrounding communities.

Our community has already paid an enormous environmental price. Why are we being asked to pay more?

The incinerator and data centre are different developments, but the principle is the same:

Ipswich is not disposable. Neither is its wildlife.

WE DEMAND:

1. STOP THE SWANBANK DATA CENTRE. Use every lawful planning and environmental mechanism to prevent approval of a development that threatens core koala habitat.

2. NO NEW DATA-CENTRE APPROVALS IN IPSWICH until comprehensive environmental protections and planning safeguards are established.

3. MANDATORY PUBLIC CONSULTATION. Residents deserve public notification, access to independent evidence, a public hearing and meaningful opportunities to challenge decisions.

4. AN INDEPENDENT PUBLIC INQUIRY into the cumulative environmental, health, habitat, water and electricity impacts of industrial development in Swanbank, including this proposal.

5. PROTECT OUR KOALAS, DRINKING WATER AND COMMUNITY. Require independent environmental assessments, transparent resource-use projections and enforceable protections.

NO APPROVAL BEFORE THE COMMUNITY IS HEARD AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES ARE FULLY EXAMINED.

Our koalas cannot object. Our waterways cannot appeal. Our wildlife cannot vote.

BUT WE CAN. AND WE WILL.

There is nothing intelligent about destroying irreplaceable habitat to expand artificial intelligence.

Technology should serve communities. Communities and ecosystems should not be sacrificed to serve technology.

IPSWICH IS OUR HOME... NOT BIG TECH'S RESOURCE COLONY! 

NO DATA CENTRES IN IPSWICH! 

NO DESTRUCTION OF KOALA HABITAT FOR AI! 

NO MORE DECISIONS ABOUT OUR FUTURE WITHOUT US! 

IPSWICH SAYS FUCK NO!