On 14 June 2025, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stood beside AWS chief executive Matt Garman in Seattle, where Garman outlined a $20 billion plan to build data centres in Melbourne and Sydney. Within days, Amazon made its largest recorded payment to an Australian political party: a $46,500 contribution to Labor's federal branch on 28 June. That payment was one of 34 made to Labor and Liberal branches over six years, totalling $538,000, according to federal disclosures.
Payments have often coincided with major government announcements. In 2024, the Albanese government unveiled a $2 billion deal with AWS to build three top-secret data centres for intelligence agencies. Eight days earlier, Amazon disclosed a $33,000 payment to Labor, followed by another $33,000 less than six weeks later. The payments were membership fees for the Labor Business Forum, a fundraising vehicle that grants access to ministers and MPs. Under electoral law, such fees are listed as "other receipts" rather than donations, but the money flows to the party.
Transparency International Australia's chief executive, Clancy Moore, described the practice as "cash for access." "Data centres are the new extractive industries but are using the old techniques of cash for access payments and full scale lobbying to influence our political system," he said.
The article also notes that data centre companies have hired well-connected lobbyists, including at least one former premier, to represent their interests before governments facing community backlash over fast-tracked developments.