Mr. Jerry MacEvilly:

I thank the Senator for the question. I would love an extensive meeting all on the role of large energy users like data centres.

The short answer to the Senator's question is, "Yes". There is need for much greater regulation and transparency. Where this issue comes up initially is in this notion, which has to be pushed back on very strongly, that all data is necessary, and particularly this argument, which drives me and colleagues crazy, that you use your phone or you have a computer and, therefore, you cannot comment on, critique and point out the need for further regulation on data centres, which is a completely ridiculous argument. The Senator's point is fundamentally right that we have to much better interrogate what are data centres used for and what type of data is necessary. Of course, the concern here is that much of the data is simply around tracking or, to bring it back to the consumption, around selling us things.