Marinus Update, Firmus AI Factory Meetings, and More....
- 9 hours ago
- 7 min read
In today's email news update, we'll start with a look at what's happening with our Project Marinus legal challenges. We also have details of two upcoming Firmus AI factory community information meetings happening very soon, as well as a great new documentary about AI data centres. Finally, to finish off, we have a few other pieces of news, including some concerning comments made by Burnie Mayor Teeny Brumby about Projet Marinus, and some very inspiring victories of local communities over proposed AI data centre projects. Let's begin!
Marinus Legal Challenges Update
In June, we had a five-day hearing in our Marinus TASCAT case against the proposed energy infrastructure at Heybridge. Several weeks have passed since then, and the Tribunal's decision is expected any day now. A huge thank you to everyone who donated to our 'Save Tasmania from Marinus Link' GoFundMe and other fundraising efforts. Your contributions made it possible for us to engage an expert, Dr Julia Jasonsmith of Murrang Earthsciences, to assess the contaminated soil at the Marinus Heybridge site. The money raised also went towards legal fees and hearing-related costs.
No matter what the Tribunal decides in the end, this Marinus TASCAT appeal was an incredibly important part of our overall battle, and that battle will continue with our second TASCAT case against the Northwest Transmission Developments (NWTD). As mentioned in previous email news updates, the NWTD transmission line and the Marinus Link undersea cable are essentially two halves of the same project – collectively referred to as 'Project Marinus' by the government. The Marinus cable cannot fulfil its intended purpose without the supporting on-land transmission infrastructure.
A hearing date has been set in our NWTD TASCAT appeal. It will be a two-day hearing starting on 10 August. We were incredibly lucky to find an excellent expert witness, Aquatic and Groundwater Ecologist Dr Peter Serov, who has agreed to write an expert report for us! Dr Serov has a PhD and has authored a number of peer-reviewed research papers, and we expect that his report will be very useful in the TASCAT case.
Expert reports for legal proceedings are unfortunately very expensive, typically costing thousands of dollars. We received a good rate from Dr Serov, and thanks to your contributions to our fundraisers, we will be able to cover the cost of his report. However, we will still need to pay the cost of having Dr Serov give evidence at our hearing, which will also be quite expensive. We are therefore urgently raising money to pay for this additional expense. If you are able to contribute, please see the details of our fundraiser below:
'Save Tasmania from Marinus Link' GoFundMe
Another option is to make a direct deposit into our Tas Power Democracy Inc. bank account:
Tas Power Democracy Inc.
BSB: 632001
ACC: 100249932
Those who prefer to make a cash donation can do so at the Window on the World book store located at 21 Reibey Street, Ulverstone.
Firmus Community Information Meetings
Those who missed out on the Firmus information meetings the last time around will soon have another chance. Here are the details of two upcoming meetings happening very soon:
Latrobe Meeting
Date/Time: Wed, 29 Jul, 4:00pm-7:00pm (split into three x 45-minute sessions)
Location: Latrobe Memorial Hall, 170 Gilbert St, Latrobe TAS 7307
Book a ticket: https://events.humanitix.com/firmus-ai-factory-wesley-vale-information-session-latrobe
Moriarty Meeting
Date/Time: Saturday 1 August, 9:00am-12:00pm (split into three x 45-minute sessions)
Location: Moriarty Hall, 1 Bonneys Ln, Moriarty TAS 7307
Book a ticket: https://events.humanitix.com/firmus-ai-factory-wesley-vale-information-session-moriarty
Sorry about the short notice on the Firmus meetings, but if you have the opportunity to attend, please do so if you possibly can, and bring others with you! These public meetings are a really important chance not just to learn more information and be heard, but also to connect with other Tasmanians who are concerned about the issue of AI data centres. It's through those connections and uniting in opposition that we will be able to protect our communities and our state from inappropriate AI data centre development in Tasmania. There are communities both in Australia and overseas that have prevailed against AI developers (more on that further down below), and what they all had in common is that they united in strong opposition to proposed projects. We need to do the same!
George Town Council Meeting
**Please note that Firmus Bell Bay Development Application will not be presented to the 28th July 2026 George Town Council meeting, as was previously announced. The Council will instead consider the Firmus application at a future meeting, the date of which is yet to be determined.
AI Data Centre Documentary and Noise, Water Use Issues
What does living next to an AI data centre feel like? A new 7Spotlight documentary tells the story of communities and farmers who have had to put up with these new noisy, polluting neighbours. Some people are choosing to stay and fight the data centres, while others are making the hard choice to move away for the health and wellbeing of their families. Many report that they were never consulted before the data centres unexpectedly showed up in their neighbourhoods. Here's a link to the video:
'I live 25 metres from a huge data centre': What is Australia sacrificing for the global AI boom?
In an ABC radio interview, Firmus CEOs Oliver Curtis and Tim Rosenfield compared the noise level of their proposed data centres to being inside a library... Can we believe them? What about the emergency generators?
The Firmus development application for the Bell Bay wind farm specified that there would be 276 diesel generators on-site (for use during power outages), but that "only 206 units will operate simultaneously" at any given time. Only 206 generators! Well! – just like being inside a library.
In that same ABC interview, the Firmus CEOs claimed that the water usage of their AI factories will be comparable to that of a restaurant. In fact, their website states that the proposed Wesley Vale "facility will use around the same water as one Australian restaurant uses each year". Imagine that! Why then, with such modest water usage, does Firmus want to use farm irrigation water from Tasmania's state-owned irrigation scheme? (According to an ABC article, Firmus "inadvertently published" this information on its FAQ page, but then deleted it when questioned by the ABC.)
If you're wondering what sort of people are making these soothing claims of noiseless, water-saving data centres, you might be interested to know that Firmus CEO Oliver Curtis spent time in prison for insider trading, while his co-CEO Tim Rosenfield ran a loss-making French lingerie business before making a name for himself with Firmus.
Burnie Mayor Teeny Brumby's Concerning Comments regarding Project Marinus
Earlier this month, Burnie Mayor Teeny Brumby made some public comments that raised eyebrows and sparked strong concerns. After announcing in a Facebook post that Marinus Link is "edging closer to construction", she then said in a comment reply that "subject to the Tribunal's decision", Project Marinus works could be "potentially commencing in the next 2 weeks".
Mayor Brumby was referring, of course, to the Tribunal's decision in our Marinus Link TASCAST case, and if the timing she suggested is correct, that would mean that the government plans to start major project construction works on Marinus right away, without even waiting for any appeal period to expire in the event that the Tribunal should decide to uphold the project permit. That would be a serious affront to due process. It would also be financially reckless, because the government would basically start building one half of 'Project Marinus' while the other essential half – the NWTD transmission line needed to support the Marinus Link cable – would still be under an active legal challenge.
Perhaps the government thought that no one would notice or care what they are planning, but we caught it straight away. Carol-Ann Fletcher (the appellant in the NWTD TASCAT case) subsequently wrote urgent letters to the Premier, Energy Minister and Treasurer, as well as to the Joint Select Committee on Energy Matters, the Australian Energy Regulator, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and Commonwealth and Victorian shareholder Ministers. We also brought the issue out into the open with a press release. You can read more in the Tasmanian Times article below:
Is Marinus Racing Ahead of Legal Process?
For those of you who are tired of hearing Teeny Brumby sing the praises of Project Marinus and agitate for it to be built with indecent haste, the good news is that Council elections are coming up fairly soon, in October. This year's elections will be especially important because of the big changes being planned for Tasmania. When election time comes, our best protection against being railroaded by bad planning decisions is to vote for good, capable people with integrity, who care about ordinary Tasmanians rather than the interests of big corporations.
Successes in the Fight against Data Centres
Yes, AI data centre developers may be big and powerful opponents, but they are not invincible. Data centre proposals can be defeated, especially when people band together. For an encouraging example of what is possible, have a look at what happened in Katoomba, NSW. An AI company submitted a data centre development application proposing to build a facility near a local primary school, in a town famously surrounded by a World Heritage-listed national park. According to locals, this "was very quietly done". However, once word got out – through a combination of flyers, door-knocking, a petition, and other campaigning efforts – there was intense community opposition. In the end, the data centre developer had to withdraw the application. Likewise, a developer near Perth withdrew its application for a data centre near schools and residential areas after the local community fought against the project.
There is also good news from overseas. In the US, New York became the first state to impose a one-year moratorium on AI data centres when Governor Kathy Hochul issued an executive order imposing a statewide pause on hyperscale facilities. The executive order also directed state regulators to create standards for the AI industry on environmental impacts, energy demands, and water usage, among other things. Unfortunately, the moratorium only applies to large data centres having a capacity of at least 50 megawatts per year. Still, it's a start, and can be replicated elsewhere.
Here in Tasmania, Councillor Josh Manticas of the West Tamar Council moved a Motion Without Notice, which was supported unanimously by all councillors that the Council:
"Write to the Ministers for Planning and Environment to ask whether Tasmania's current planning and environmental laws are fully equipped to assess modern, high-tech, emerging industries and whether in their view introducing clearer statewide standards would provide greater certainty for communities, councils, and developers."
This is a good step in the right direction, and the more all of us help spread the word about the proposed AI data centres, Project Marinus, and all the harm that goes with them, the faster we will build the kind of public opposition that's needed to stop these projects from going ahead. Small, daily efforts can make a big difference over time. Every opportunity you get, talk to people you meet and tell them about what is happening and what is being planned. Also, if you have not yet done so, please sign the Parliamentary petition calling for a moratorium on data centres in Tasmania, and encourage others to do so as well. Together, we can save our beautiful state.
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