I spent my morning off bushwalking near Gregadoo, but the peace was overshadowed by the looming $15 billion CDC data centre proposal. As a GP here in Wagga, I look at a 1.4-gigawatt project and see a massive clinical disconnect.

We are being told this 'hyperscale' facility is a generational win, yet our local primary care infrastructure is on life support. We have a chronic shortage of rural practitioners and a public health system that recently saw a family at Tamworth Hospital wait 15 hours to be told a loved one had passed. If the NSW Government can facilitate a $15 billion private enterprise by bypassing local council via State Significant Development status, why can’t we see similar urgency for regional healthcare funding?

Proponents promise jobs, but data centres are notoriously low-employment once built. Meanwhile, the strain on our power grid and water—despite 'closed-loop' claims—is immense. We are sacrificing prime agricultural land for digital infrastructure while the human infrastructure—our clinics and emergency departments—remains critically underfunded. It’s a matter of misplaced priorities. We need doctors and sustainable utility management, not just more servers in a paddock.