Near the end of October, a company most people have never heard of, Firmus, is expected to float on the ASX for about A$43 billion, bigger than Coles. It rents out AI computing power, and it's listing while the rules for data centres are still being written: proposed federal rules, Victoria's own requirements on top, and a state election on 28 November. Victoria has been here before, with the railway boom of the 1880s, and the question is the same: who carries the cost if the bet is wrong?
Have your say on the federal rules (closes 5pm AEDT Fri 9 Oct): https://www.pmc.gov.au/news/have-your-say-future-ai-training-and-infrastructure-australia
The article: https://www.aitransition.com.au
Chapters
00:00 The company you've never heard of
00:59 The federal rules
02:32 Victoria's rules
03:36 November could change it
05:00 Victoria has been here before
06:38 Who carries the can?
Sources
The Nightly, 6 Oct (Firmus valuation, FY2026 results): https://thenightly.com.au/business/firmus-431b-asx-listing-fund-managers-warn-over-ai-data-centre-giants-valuation-ahead-of-october-ipo-c-22975665
Sydney Morning Herald, 7 Oct (government's early look for Anthropic): https://www.smh.com.au/technology/sneak-peek-government-gave-ai-giant-early-look-at-data-centre-rules-20261007-p612xp.html
ABC, 11 Sep (the 27 approved projects): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-11/the-ai-data-centres-set-to-escape-planned-restrictions/107097556
ABC, 22 Sep (Victoria's plan): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-22/victorian-data-centres-policy-renewable-energy-mandates/107178138
Mirage News, 11 Sep (Spotswood): https://www.miragenews.com/greens-demand-moratorium-on-spotswood-data-1742597/
ABC, 3 Oct (polling): https://abc.net.au/news/2026-10-03/victorian-state-election-unpredictable-casey-briggs-analysis/107216078
ABC, 17 Sep (Hanson; Coalition and transmission): https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-17/datacentre-boom-revives-vic-transmission-fight/107155564
RenewEconomy (Coalition's energy position): https://reneweconomy.com.au/victorian-labor-toes-federal-line-on-byo-renewables-for-data-centres-coalition-still-pushing-gas/
PM&C consultation: https://www.pmc.gov.au/news/have-your-say-future-ai-training-and-infrastructure-australia