Save Tassie from Marinus and AI Data Centres

Many Tasmanians are now waking up to the threat of AI data centres and asking: “How can we stop these projects from going ahead?”

AI data centres consume enormous amounts of energy and water while creating relatively few permanent jobs. They also threaten to place heavy pressure on Tasmania’s farmland, communities and natural environment.

There is one key piece of infrastructure that helps make this grim future possible: Marinus Link.

Although often described as merely an undersea energy cable between Tasmania and Victoria, Marinus is more than just an energy project. It also includes fibre optic data cables — the kind of digital infrastructure a large new Artificial Intelligence industry would need. Marinus would also help unlock a mass rollout of wind farms and other energy projects across Tasmania, providing exactly the kind of abundant power and connectivity AI developers look for.

In other words, when Tasmanians ask, “How are these AI data centres going to be powered and connected?”, the answer leads directly to Project Marinus.

That is why AI data centres and Marinus Link should not be treated as separate issues. They are part of the same larger story.

If Marinus goes ahead, Tasmania risks being locked into a future where energy-intensive AI data centres, new wind farms, major transmission lines and powerful off-island corporate interests place ever-greater demands on our island state. Ordinary Tasmanians could be left paying the price through higher energy costs, while multi-billion-dollar Marinus-related debt puts pressure on essential services such as healthcare and education.

This GoFundMe has been created to help fund legal challenges against Project Marinus, which includes both the Marinus Link undersea cable and the North West Transmission Developments — the transmission infrastructure needed to support Marinus.

These cases are being fought by ordinary Tasmanians with very limited resources, against government-backed entities and major corporate interests.

Legal challenges are expensive. Funds are needed for lawyers’ fees, expert reports, hearing costs, appeal-related expenses and other urgent legal work. Without public support, these cases cannot continue properly.

At present, these legal challenges may be among the last real obstacles standing between Tasmania and the full rollout of Project Marinus.

Please donate if you can. Even a small contribution helps. If you cannot donate, please share this campaign widely.

Tasmania does not have to become a dumping ground for energy-intensive AI data centres and the infrastructure built to serve them.

Together, we can stop Marinus and save our beautiful island state.