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The biggest economic story in Australia is data centres.
Only a couple of years ago, energy demand in Australia was falling as large industrial energy users closed. However, today, data centres have completely flipped the script, threatening to massively increase energy demand.
The 2026 Intergenerational Report, released on Monday, pinned Australia’s future productivity growth on the rollout of AI and data centres.
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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
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