On a Saturday afternoon, around thirty-five diverse members of the community, mainly from the northern and western suburbs of Melbourne, gathered in a room to discuss the dire issue of Data Centres. It should be not at all surprising that these areas are inundated with these monstruous, with many more to come. Many members in this meeting are in the unfortunate position of living near one of these data centres, retelling their lived experiences, with others telling of the harms that come with these data centres. Some were explaining what they have been doing or are going to do to address the data centres. Everyone wanted a moratorium to stop the construction of these data centres that were forced upon them through a process underhanded process that ignore the concerns and consent of the people that will be impacted.

Here in Clyde North, the local, state and federal governments have planned to build a now 488 MW data centre. Like those in the North and West, members of the community only found through independent articles that relied on leaked information. These governments only provided the bare minimum only when it could no longer be denied. The experiences that were shared in the meeting were all too common and it should not be surprising as we are all fighting the same group. However, many within the group had another form experience, that with organising and advocating, something that was fully displayed. There were people with contacts with unions, politicians and political groups, environmental groups, and professionals who have experience with the industry, all willing to share with each other to fight these data centres.

A common theme that was discussed was the apathy of members of the community who saw themselves as far removed from the issue of Data Centres due to where they live. It does not matter where we are as these data centres will impact us in one way or another, either directly through our damaging our homes, our health, increasing our electricity bills, and indirectly through the forcing of mass surveillance and AI onto everyone without their consent just to name a few. And so, it is important to understand how to communicate with others who are unaware and that we be able to talk in a way that ensures that they know how they will be negatively impacted if these Data Centres are built.