Today's briefing

Tuesday 27 October 2026

Data centre power and approvals dominate the edition.
A Smart Energy Council analysis says 5 GW of new load joining the east coast grid without new generation would add $40 billion to wholesale costs between 2029 and 2035, and Tim Ayres told Senate Estimates that federal legislation will arrive "shortly".
Planning papers point to Princeton Digital Group's first Australian facility, a 100MW Campbelltown project above A$1 billion, while Adelaide Hills farmers oppose a 1200MW proposal at Tungkillo.
NextDC is replacing its chair after the M3 delay.

Data centres

Smart Energy Council puts $40 billion price tag on data centres connecting without new supply

A Smart Energy Council analysis says 5 GW of data centre load joining the east coast grid without new generation would lift wholesale power costs by $40 billion between 2029 and 2035. Industry minister Tim Ayres told Senate Estimates on Monday that federal legislation will arrive "shortly".

Best Effort desk
2 sources · 2 min read

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Data centres

PDG linked to A$1b, 100MW Campbelltown data centre in Sydney's southwest

Singapore-based Princeton Digital Group appears to be the client for a proposed 100MW data centre in Campbelltown, where NSW planning papers describe investment above A$1 billion. It would be PDG's first facility in Australia.

1 source · 3 min read

Data centres

Adelaide Hills farmers oppose 1200MW Quantum DC data centre at Tungkillo

Quantum DC is proposing a 1200-megawatt data centre at Tungkillo, east of Adelaide, and local farmers object to both the scale and the 15-day public comment window under the state's Essential Infrastructure process.

1 source · 1 min read

Data centres

NextDC to replace chair and cut board fees after M3 delay and guidance downgrade

NextDC chairman Douglas Flynn will leave once a successor is in place and CEO Craig Scroggie will give up his FY27 incentives, as the operator answers investor anger over the M3 Melbourne delay and lower FY27 guidance.

1 source · 1 min read

AI infrastructure

Megaport weighs A$827 million raising to fund Nvidia GPU pool

Megaport is reportedly considering a fully underwritten A$827 million entitlement offer, with about A$350 million earmarked for a distributed Nvidia GPU pool. It has reportedly secured four AI-infrastructure contracts worth A$458.9 million.

1 source · 2 min read

Policy & regulation

3 stories

ASD warns of more unplanned outages as AI-enabled cyber threats rise

The Australian Signals Directorate says incidents it responded to rose 20 per cent in 2025-26 and tells organisations to put system security ahead of availability while adopting AI defences.

1 source · 2 min read

PHP2Shell flaws force cyber.gov.au and other government sites offline

Two critical PHP bugs prompted Australia's cyber security agency and several overseas government bodies to pull websites after patches were released on 21 October 2026. The disclosure was disrupted by a leak and an early release by Chainguard.

1 source · 2 min read

Simba faces fines or licence loss over alleged intentional spectrum misuse

Singapore's IMDA has issued Simba a show cause notice alleging unauthorised spectrum use that was intentional and approved by senior management, Simba's ASX-listed parent Tuas disclosed on 26 October 2026. Simba has until 16 November to respond.

4 sources · 2 min read

Also today

1 story

Satellite & space

Telstra adds select apps to its Starlink-backed Satellite to Mobile service

Telstra has widened its Satellite to Mobile service beyond text messaging, letting eligible customers use selected messaging, navigation, weather and fitness apps outside mobile coverage. The feature was developed with Starlink and works on a limited list of devices.

1 source · 1 min read