Albanese to stare down national cabinet data centre stoush

A stoush over energy rules for data centres will dominate national cabinet as leaders confront a crowded agenda where progress on guns, GST and other contentious issues is unlikely.Premiers and chief ministers will meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Sydney today to discuss AI data centres, bird flu, domestic violence, fuel security and the national gun buyback. The federal government's plan to impose national standards for data centres, which would require developers to bring their own renewable energy and set other parameters around water usage and community contributions, is expected to be the biggest source of disagreement.The Queensland and Northern Territory governments are opposed to the renewables-focused standards and have been scathing of threats the Commonwealth would force their will on states if necessary.Despite a long running public stoush about GST the tax issue is not on the agenda, with multiple state sources telling the ABC their respective views on the current deal were already no secret.Agreement around progressing the next five-year national plan to end violence against women and children is likely, but Mr Albanese is facing calls from the federal crossbench to use the meeting to progress more reforms to help tackle the scourge.The leaders are not due to discuss federal Labor's plan to standardise the private health rebate for all ages, effectively reducing the benefit for older Australians, which the South Australian government this week became the latest jurisdiction to oppose.Premiers and chief ministers will get a briefing from Australia's chief veterinary officer on the outbreak of H5N1 bird flu, which has now been detected in all six states.Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen will provide an update on the latest moves to ensure Australia's fuel security amid ongoing disruptions caused by the US war with Iran.Bowen dismisses nuclear reactors powering data centresThe Australian Energy Market Operator has estimated data centres would grow from currently consuming 3 per cent of the nation's electricity supply to 13 per cent in a decade.Mr Bowen said yesterday if the government got the policy settings "right" he was confident Australia could handle the electricity demands of data centres."That's why we're requiring new data centres to bring their own renewable energy, backed by gas firming," he said.Mr Bowen has maintained the Commonwealth is prepared to legislate over the top of states, if necessary, though he has not outlined specifics."The constitution is pretty clear about, if there's a dispute between Commonwealth legislation and state legislation, which legislation prevails," he said.He also rubbished the suggestion of data centres running on nuclear small modular reactors, which he described as the "most expensive form of energy and the longest to deploy".Bowen's data centre energy threat dismissed as foolishQueensland Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie told ABC his government would not be "forced" into a particular energy pathway by the Commonwealth."We're our own state and we're pushing back," he said."We believe that there are potential investment opportunities in Queensland for data centres, but it's going to be all forms of electricity and we're not going to force renewable energy on regional communities."Mr Bleijie said Mr Bowen was a "fool" for threatening to override states and suggested the federal minister "doesn't understand the constitution"."Chris Bowen should be trying to work with state and territories government, not be a big brother bully as he's trying to do in this case," he said.Asked if Queensland would mount a challenge to any Commonwealth attempt to override the state, Mr Bleijie said he did not believe it would be necessary."No-one's going to have to challenge anything because the type of investment won't come because businesses will not invest it if there's only one form of electricity on the table," he said.Crossbench calls for audit of dollars spent tackling DVAlso at national cabinet, Mr Albanese will raise domestic and sexual violence against women, with states and territories expected to agree to accelerate efforts to respond to the epidemic.They will also discuss priorities areas for the next five-year national action plan to end violence against women and children, which is due to be released early next year. Yesterday, more than a dozen crossbenchers signed a letter to Mr Albanese asking him to use the national cabinet meeting to prioritise their calls to beef up the powers of the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission.The MPs and senators, including Allegra Spender, Andrew Wilkie, Helen Haines, Dai Le, Lidia Thorpe, Jacqui Lambie and Fatima Payman, have asked that the commission be made a statutory authority and given the ability to compel data, audit spending and track whether measures governments have funded are "actually working"."A decade of reviews and inquiries into domestic, family and sexual violence has produced more than 1,000 recommendations, yet women and children continue to die, and too many systemic failures remain," the letter said."Billions of dollars flow to states and territories every year for these programs, but there is no equivalent oversight of where that money goes or whether it is reducing harm."Gun buyback far from nationalMr Albanese's attempt to establish a national gun buyback in the wake of the Bondi terror attack will be discussed at the meeting though developments are unlikely.Only NSW and the ACT have signed up to the proposal so far, while Western Australia recently completed its own voluntary program.Anthony Albanese is yet convince remaining states to adopt the gun buyback scheme. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)But no further jurisdictions are likely to join the scheme.Cooperation is far more likely in the ongoing response to the deadly outbreak of H5N1 bird flu, which has reached all the major states and recently been detected in a mammal.