A better policy for Australia: stop taking, start giving back

Australia should use its data centres, uranium, energy resources and strategic infrastructure to ease the burden on households, not simply ask middle Australians to pay more.

Labor’s latest Budget confirms the problem facing middle Australia. The people who work, save, pay tax, run businesses and carry mortgages are again being asked to fund an expanding national project, while the relief offered to them is modest, delayed and conditional.

The Government has announced a $250 Working Australians Tax Offset from 2027–28, on top of other legislated tax changes.[1] But $250 a year will not change the lived reality for many households facing higher energy bills, insurance premiums, rents, mortgages, groceries and compliance costs. The Budget also forecasts a $31.5 billion underlying cash deficit for 2026–27.[2]

The alternative parties, particularly the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation, should therefore avoid simply arguing that Labor has spent too much or taxed too much. That may be true, but it is not enough. They need a broader and more positive compact with middle Australia: stop taking, start giving back.

That means asking a different question. Not merely, “How much more can government collect?” but: how can Australia’s strategic advantages be used to return value to Australians?

Australia has several enormous advantages. It has land. It has energy resources. It has uranium. It has strategic geography. It has political stability. It has a developed legal system. It has proximity to Asia. It has the capacity to host large-scale digital infrastructure. These are not minor assets. They are national advantages, and they should produce a national return.

The data centre boom is the clearest example. Artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital infrastructure require enormous quantities of electricity, water, land, fibre connectivity and grid capacity. These facilities do not exist in a vacuum. They rely on infrastructure ultimately paid for, planned around and tolerated by Australian communities.

AEMO’s recent data shows how quickly this issue is becoming real. In Victoria, data centre demand increased from 96 MW in Q1 2025 to an average of 187 MW in Q1 2026, a rise of 94 per cent.[3] AEMO has also identified 11 large-scale data-centre projects, each greater than 5 MW, representing 5.4 GW of maximum demand progressing through the National Electricity Market connection process.[4]

That should change the policy conversation. If global technology companies want Australian land, water, planning priority and grid capacity, they should make a direct and transparent contribution to the infrastructure burden they create. This should not be framed as hostility to investment. It should be framed as basic fairness.

A Data Centre Infrastructure Contribution could be imposed where major facilities place substantial demand on electricity networks, water systems, land-use planning or transmission infrastructure. Properly designed, it could fund regional power upgrades, household energy relief, training, local infrastructure and digital sovereignty capability. The point is simple: if Australia is valuable enough to host the world’s digital infrastructure, then Australians should receive a return.

The same principle applies to uranium and nuclear energy. Australia contains the world’s largest uranium resources and is a major uranium producer, yet it has no domestic nuclear power industry.[5] Australian uranium is exported under peaceful-use safeguards, but Australia remains largely absent from the higher-value parts of the nuclear supply chain.[6]

That position deserves serious reconsideration. If nuclear energy is being reconsidered globally because of energy security, emissions reduction, industrial demand and the electricity needs of artificial intelligence, Australia should not confine itself to being a quarry. It should examine uranium processing, nuclear fuel-cycle services, advanced nuclear regulation, research capability and, ultimately, domestic nuclear power.

There are legal barriers. Federal law currently contains prohibitions affecting the construction or operation of certain nuclear installations, although repeal proposals have been introduced.[7] But the larger issue is political imagination. Australia cannot aspire to be an advanced economy while refusing to debate the most energy-dense technology available.

This matters because data centres, defence, advanced manufacturing, mineral processing and modern hospitals all require reliable power. An economy cannot run on slogans. It runs on energy. If Australia wants digital sovereignty, industrial resilience and lower household bills, it must be willing to discuss firm, reliable, long-term power generation including nuclear.

This is where the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation have an opportunity. The Coalition has already proposed a Tax Back Guarantee aimed at addressing bracket creep through inflation-linked tax thresholds. It has also raised small business write-offs, migration-linked housing supply and a Future Generations Fund for resource windfalls.[8] Those are useful policies. But they should be placed inside a larger national framework: Australia should stop treating taxpayers as the first resort and start treating national assets as a source of public return.

For the Liberals, the argument is productivity, competitiveness and tax reform. For the Nationals, it is regional infrastructure, energy security and value-adding resources.

For One Nation, it is the direct proposition that Australians should come first when national resources, land, infrastructure and public systems are being allocated.

This should not be reduced to anti-foreign-investment rhetoric. Australia needs investment. But investment should be on terms that benefit Australians. A government that charges households more while giving global capital cheap access to strategic infrastructure has its priorities wrong.

A better policy for Australia would have five elements.

• First, stop bracket creep from quietly taking more of every pay rise.

• Second, make large infrastructure users, including data centres, contribute properly to the systems they rely on.

• Third, reconsider nuclear power and uranium processing as part of a serious energy and industrial strategy.

• Fourth, return part of the proceeds from strategic national assets to households through lower energy costs, tax relief and regional infrastructure.

• Fifth, make the test of every major policy simple: does it give back to Australians who pay for the country, or does it merely ask them to pay more?

Middle Australia does not need another lecture about sacrifice. It needs a government that recognises the burden already being carried by workers, families, retirees, small businesses and mortgage holders.

The next election should not only be about who can spend more. It should be about who is prepared to return more.

Australia’s land, energy, minerals and infrastructure should serve Australians first.

It is time for a better policy: stop taking, start giving back.

Footnotes

[1] Australian Government, Budget Paper No 2: Budget Measures 2026–27, Treasury, noting the introduction of a $250 Working Australians Tax Offset from the 2027–28 income year.

[2] Australian Government, Budget Paper No 1: Budget Strategy and Outlook 2026–27, Treasury, forecasting an underlying cash deficit of $31.5 billion for 2026–27.

[3] Australian Energy Market Operator, Quarterly Energy Dynamics Q1 2026, noting Victorian data-centre demand increased from 96 MW in Q1 2025 to an average of 187 MW in Q1 2026.

[4] Australian Energy Market Operator, Quarterly Energy Dynamics Q1 2026: Media Release, noting 11 large-scale data-centre projects representing 5.4 GW of maximum demand progressing through the NEM connection process.

[5] Geoscience Australia, Australia’s Identified Mineral Resources 2025: Uranium and Thorium, noting Australia contains the world’s largest uranium resources and is the fourth-largest producer.

[6] Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia’s Uranium Export Policy, describing Australia’s peaceful-use safeguards and bilateral nuclear cooperation framework for uranium exports.

[7] Parliament of Australia, Environment and Other Legislation Amendment (Removing Nuclear Energy Prohibitions) Bill 2026, Bill summary, noting proposed amendments to remove prohibitions on certain nuclear installations.

[8] Liberal Party of Australia, Coalition Plan to Restore Living Standards and Protect Australians’ Way of Life, 14 May 2026, outlining the Tax Back Guarantee, migration and housing pledge, small business write-off proposal and Future Generations Fund