Overview
- Premier Jacinta Allan announced formal approval for an antimony exploration tunnel at Sunday Creek, enabling Southern Cross Gold to drill underground and assess gold and antimony viability.
- The government will allocate $5.5 million to a sustainable data‑centre action plan to guide siting near power, water and transport, with the state estimating a project pipeline worth up to $25 billion.
- An $8.1 million AI “career conversion” program will retrain more than 1,300 at‑risk workers for specialist roles, with delivery linked to the TAFE sector.
- State projections suggest the critical‑minerals sector could support more than 7,000 jobs and deliver about $1 billion in royalties, highlighting Victoria’s significant antimony deposits.
- Allan flagged energy and water constraints for new data centres and cited ABS figures showing a 2025 surge in media and telecommunications infrastructure spending tied to global data‑centre growth.