Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #ashleighbarraclough, aggregated by home.social.
Death puts spotlight on 'promise' to ban ambulance ramping
By Ashleigh Barraclough
A man's death following a lack of available ambulances has put the spotlight on a Tasmanian Liberal's election promise.
#AmbulanceService #PublicHealth #Health #StateandTerritoryGovernment #HealthAdministration #HealthPolicy #Unions #AshleighBarraclough
Tasmanians expressed doubts about AI firm Firmus, now so have investors
By Ashleigh Barraclough
Firmus's failure to list on the ASX comes after months of fighting to get approval for its Tasmanian projects and win over a sceptical community.
#DataCentres #AI #Businesses #UrbanDevelopmentandPlanning #AshleighBarraclough
Get rules in place to hold data centres to account, experts tell Tasmania
By Ashleigh Barraclough
An artificial intelligence institute warns there may not be much economic benefit from data centre developments if public authorities don't put binding conditions on proponents.
#AI #EnergyPolicy #WaterResources #UrbanDevelopmentandPlanning #StateandTerritoryGovernment #AshleighBarraclough
Ambulance service only fully meets 17 per cent of safety and quality standards
By Ashleigh Barraclough
An ambulance service wanted to see if it could meet national safety and quality standards, but in a mock assessment, only fully met 17 per cent of actions — a result described as "diabolical" by a paramedics' union.
AI data centre company starts development work without a permit
By Ashleigh Barraclough
The Latrobe Council says it's concerned Firmus Technologies appears to have conducted illegal works on the site of its yet-to-be-approved project in Tasmania.
AI data centre provider could become one of Australia's biggest stock floats
By Paddy Manning and Ashleigh Barraclough
AI data centre developer Firmus Technologies is seeking financial backers ahead of a multi-billion-dollar share market float next month, with one expert saying "mum and dad investors" are likely targets.
#DataCentres #AI #BusinessandIndustryRegulation #PaddyManning #AshleighBarraclough
Six new AI data centres proposed for Tasmania, but who by is being kept secret
By Ashleigh Barraclough
Unnamed companies are looking at setting up six data centres in Tasmania, a parliamentary document reveals.
#DataCentres #AI #StateandTerritoryGovernment #AshleighBarraclough
Ex-chief psychiatrist 'rendered unemployable' gets licence conditions removed
By Ashleigh Barraclough
Tasmania's former chief psychiatrist has had conditions on his medical registration removed, after earlier admitting to professional misconduct by prescribing medication to his partner.
Hydro outlines how it will assess AI company's enormous energy request
By Ashleigh Barraclough
Hydro Tasmania expects to decide whether to approve an AI data centre company's request for 450 megawatts of power by the end of the year, with new generation needed to support the increased demand.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-04/hydro-tasmania-assess-firmus-450-mw-energy-request/107116852
Not yet safe to access Hydro Tasmania power station destroyed by fire
By Ashleigh Barraclough
Investigations are continuing into the cause of a fire that gutted the Tungatinah Power Station. Authorities say it is not yet safe to enter the building, which supplies 5 per cent of the state's energy, in the Central Highlands.
Water bottle, plastic bag 'poncho' may not have been Celine's, coroner finds
By Ashleigh Barraclough
A coroner recommends Tasmania Police look into formalising the use of private search groups in missing person investigations as she releases her findings into Celine Cremer's death.
Delivery company restarts services to regional Tasmania after resident complaints
By Ashleigh Barraclough
Despite paying for deliveries to be sent to their homes, residents in parts of regional Tasmania were told they had seven days to pick up their packages hours away at the company's depot in Hobart. After the ABC aired resident complaints, Team Global Express reversed the decision.
Plans to cool AI data centre using trucked-in water and rainwater
By Ashleigh Barraclough
An AI data centre in north-west Tasmania, proposed by Firmus Technologies, plans to cool its facilities using rainwater and water that it trucks in. Community members are now able to make submissions on the proposal.
Regional residents furious deliveries they paid for aren't coming
By Ashleigh Barraclough
Michael Walls has been told the packages he paid to have delivered to his door have been taken to the freight company's depot — a four-hour round trip from his home.
#PostalandDeliveryServices #RegionalCommunities #ConsumerProtection #AshleighBarraclough
AI data centre proposal approved by Tasmanian council
By Ashleigh Barraclough and Emily Smith
Firmus Technologies' proposed 288-megawatt AI data centre near Long Reach in Tasmania's north has received council approval.
#DataCentres #UrbanDevelopmentandPlanning #InformationTechnologyIndustry #AshleighBarraclough #EmilySmith
Firmus AI data centre gets tick from planners ahead of council vote
By Ashleigh Barraclough
Council planners have recommended that councillors approve a proposed 288-megawatt AI data centre at the site of the former Gunns Pulp Mill.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-21/tas-firmus-ai-data-centre-george-town/107062068
#DataCentres #AI #LocalGovernment #EnergyPolicy #RegionalDevelopmentandPlanning #AshleighBarraclough
Parents who home educate their children call for representation in census
By Ashleigh Barraclough
Home educators say the census does not recognise thousands of children in alternative schooling, with about 49,000 Australian students educated at home.
#Census #Education #Homeschooling #Parenting #AshleighBarraclough
Renaming of electorate for Aboriginal leader abandoned after disagreement
By Ashleigh Barraclough
A plan to rename the Tasmanian electorate of Franklin to honour an Aboriginal resistance leader has been abandoned in part because of disagreement among local Indigenous groups.
#IndigenousAustralians #Voting #Elections #AshleighBarraclough
New attempt to revive manganese smelter in Tasmania
By Ashleigh Barraclough
The union representing workers at Australia's last manganese smelter says there are parties interested in taking over the site, days after the business was placed in liquidation.
#MiningandMetalsIndustry #Work #Steel #Unions #AshleighBarraclough
Neil the seal merch site taken down after questions about donation claim
By Ashleigh Barraclough
The website claimed to donate a percentage of its profits to marine wildlife conservation, but the listed organisations say no partnership exists. The website also advertised artwork designed by "a talented local Tasmanian artist" which OpenAI detected was actually AI generated.
#ConsumerProtection #AIEthics #AI #ScamsandFraud #Animals #AshleighBarraclough
What does 'good conservation' look like? This landowner is finding out
By Ashleigh Barraclough
Paul Davis has made it his mission to conserve his ecologically significant property, and he's bringing together a diverse group of people to help him do it.
#Conservation #Ecology #IndigenousCulture #BiologicalDiversity #EndangeredandProtectedSpecies #LandManagement #Revegetation #AshleighBarraclough
Data company urged to be 'good' after water plan slip reveals intentions
By Sandy Powell and Ashleigh Barraclough
A Tasmanian farmer has urged a data centre builder to "be a good corporate citizen" after it accidentally revealed a plan to tap into a water source earmarked for agriculture for cooling purposes at one of its facilities.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-23/firmus-urged-to-be-good-corporate-citizen/106870000
#AI #Utilities #EnergyPolicy #SandyPowell #AshleighBarraclough
AI company plan to use irrigation water disappears after ABC question
By Ashleigh Barraclough
Data centre builder Firmus Technologies posts to its website a statement, since removed, indicating its intention to get some of its cooling water from the state-owned irrigation system, adding "but we do not want to highlight this yet, as they are yet to agree".
#AI #WaterResources #AIEthics #Utilities #StateandTerritoryGovernment #AshleighBarraclough
Paramedics told not to take complex cardiac patients to Mersey hospital
By Ashleigh Barraclough
Paramedics have been told to transport complex cardiac patients in Tasmania's north-west to the Launceston General Hospital rather than the local Mersey Community Hospital.
#PublicHealth #HealthAdministration #HealthPolicy #HeartDisease #AshleighBarraclough
Jetstar twice violated own policy on fees for changing support worker's name
By Ashleigh Barraclough
The 22-year-old northern Tasmanian man with a disability was incorrectly told he'd have to pay a fee to change the name of his support worker on a ticket. After an apology and a refund, it happened again.
#AirTransportIndustry #DisabilityAccess #PeopleWithDisability #AshleighBarraclough
Preserved ancient 'elder trees' uncovered on Tasmanian beach after storm surge shifts sand
By Sandy Powell and Ashleigh Barraclough
Weather conditions and shifting sands temporarily reveal ancient forest remains, preserved from thousands of years ago.
#Geology #EarthSciences #ScienceandTechnology #Trees #SandyPowell #AshleighBarraclough
'Deeply distressing': Another 16 deaths at Tasmanian hospital referred to coroner following investigation
By Ashleigh Barraclough
An investigation into unreported deaths at the Launceston General Hospital has found an additional 16 cases that should have been referred to the coroner. It follows allegations a senior staff member edited death certificates so the cases were not referred.
#HealthPolicy #StateandTerritoryParliament #HealthAdministration #Health #GovernmentandPolitics #HealthcareFacilities #LawCrimeandJustice #AshleighBarraclough
Tasmania has elected a hung parliament. So what does that mean, and how do minority governments work?
By Ashleigh Barraclough
While Jeremy Rockliff's Liberals won more seats than Labor at Tasmania's election, the party won't reach majority. Here's how minority governments are formed, and how they've worked in the past.
#StateandTerritoryElections #StateandTerritoryGovernment #LiberalPartyofAustralia #ALP #AshleighBarraclough
People have been living at this caravan park for years. Now, they're being told it might be against the law
By Ashleigh Barraclough
John Lowe's "tiny one-bedroom residence" is all he needs — and all he can afford — but he and other long-term residents of a northern Tasmanian caravan park are worried they'll be evicted as a result of a council crackdown.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-01/beauty-point-caravan-park-residents-fear-eviction/103516802
#HousingPolicy #LocalGovernment #Homelessness #RegionalCommunities #UrbanDevelopmentandPlanning #AshleighBarraclough
Flights arriving at Launceston Airport with no aviation firefighters, union says, warning of 'catastrophic consequences'
By Bec Pridham and Ashleigh Barraclough
Thousands of passengers have flown in and out of Tasmania's north without aviation firefighters on hand, a union claims, calling it "extremely dangerous" and accusing the responsible government body of breaching its safety requirements.
#Unions #AirTransportIndustry #TravelHealthandSafety #BecPridham #AshleighBarraclough