Can AI data centers save Australia’s fading exceptionalism?

Can AI data centers save Australia’s fading exceptionalism?

By The AFR View
Publication Date: 2026-01-30 06:43:00

Quite rightly, the country’s miserable economic situation has taken up more airtime in recent weeks.

The year 2026 has begun with a series of disappointing economic indicators. These include the $57 billion deficit explosion, the OECD’s damning report on wasteful government spending and the IMF’s warning about Australia’s “prolonged inflation” – a harbinger of the higher-than-expected rise in headline inflation in the December quarter to 3.8 percent this week.

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