The Victorian jobs minister, Melissa Horne, has accused datacentre giant NextDC of using artificial intelligence to draft a letter lobbying her to support the expansion of its Footscray facility, alleging the correspondence contained basic factual errors. The exchange highlights growing political sensitivity around datacentre expansion in Victoria ahead of the state election, as local residents raise concerns about the scale, power use and proximity of such facilities to homes.

NextDC has applied for fast-tracked approval to expand its M3 datacentre in Footscray to 10 hectares, drawing 225MW of power around the clock; some nearby homes sit within 15 metres of the site's boundary, which is zoned industrial. NextDC's chief executive, Craig Scroggie, personally emailed Horne urging her to back the project with the planning minister, but she rebuffed the request and criticised his apparent use of AI in the letter. Local MP Katie Hall, a long-standing opponent of the expansion, published the correspondence and has separately raised concerns about the datacentre's proximity to homes, a kindergarten and health services, as well as reliance on diesel generators. NextDC has since hired a former Labor government adviser to lead its lobbying efforts, while decisions by Victoria's planning minister on such fast-tracked projects cannot be appealed.