Protesters have rallied outside a Bush Summit in regional New South Wales where the Prime Minister is speaking, to voice their opposition to renewable energy projects.
Key points:
- Protesters have gathered outside the Bush Summit at Tamworth
- The landowners are concerned with the way renewable energy projects are being considered and managed
- The Prime Minister is a keynote speaker at the summit and has announced a drought relief package
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s arrival at the Tamworth summit was met by protesters rallying against the development and consultation processes for renewable energy projects, including transmission lines on agricultural land.
Former deputy prime minister and Nationals Member for New England Barnaby Joyce said the protesters wanted their voices heard properly on renewable energy projects
“People feel it’s just tick-a-box consultation,” he said.
“The government, who has the power to compulsorily acquire and drive their agenda through your land — to change the landscape around your house — are doing precisely that.
“Then they’re flipping the deal to overseas companies, so we now have the double dilemma of being walked over for people in Singapore and Stockholm and China.”
Boorolong cattle producer Tony Menkens, from west of Armidale, said communities were not being considered.
“There’s more to introducing renewable energy projects into communities than I think the government has considered,” he said.
“Certainly, some of these project companies haven’t considered communities as a whole … we have Aboriginal community people, to wildlife carers, lifestyle people, right through to farmers.
“We are very disappointed with the way these companies have behaved in our community.”
Annette Piper farms at Coolah and said property owners did not want “wind, solar and transmission lines” coming across their agricultural land.
“It will change our way of life, it will affect our property values,” she said.
“It’s going to make our beautiful scenic country an industrial wasteland.”
But Robert Lee, a sheep and beef producer from the NSW Central West and a member of Farmers for Climate Action, accused Mr Joyce of “stirring up” people and labelled his actions “reprehensible”.
“Many farmers are very aware that climate change is impacting them,” Mr Lee said.
“I think if you’re concerned about climate change you’ve got to acknowledge that we have to get out of using fossil fuels to generate electricity.”
Mr Lee said governments needed to consult with affected communities.
“That concern about change is very understandable,” he said.
“The government has to be very careful to not let development be rampant and walk over people’s concerns.”
Drought relief?
The Prime Minister announced long-term trials of drought-resistant farming practices would be funded as part of a $38-million federal government package.
The successful research projects are:
- $6.23m for Charles Sturt University to investigate cropping/livestock in response to seasonal variation
- $3.94m for the Cooperative Research Centre for High Performance Soils for trials in drought reliance
- $4.32m for NQ Dry Tropic Limited to look at the effectiveness of virtual fencing
- $7.2m for the University of Melbourne to consider adaptations to improve drought resilience of broadacre grains, grazing and mixed farming systems
- $8m for Flinders University for trials on the climate resilience of cropping, livestock, and mixed farms across multiple sites in South Australia
- $7.99m for Deakin University to investigate the diversity in pastures to build resilience
The prime minister says the package will help future-proof farmers against climate change.
“We know that already some changes to the climate are locked in, so what we need to do is to minimise that by taking action on climate change, but also we need to deal with mitigation issues as well,” he said.
“Australian farmers have shown great resilience, and I’m sure they’ll continue to do so, but we need to use science to improve yields, to improve productivity.”
Mr Albanese said he wanted to ensure farmers were coming up with innovative ways to deal with climate change, including replicating what was already working.
“This is really important, it’s about spreading best practice basically, supporting the long-term trial of new and emerging agricultural practices to deal with the changing climate,” he said.
NSW Farmers Association president Xavier Martin said it was wrong to label the package as drought relief.
“It’s a long-term investment in science that may give us some future improvement and certainty in how we go about producing food and fibre,” he said.
“It’s certainly not a help in the short-term response to the drying conditions.”
The annual Bush Summit is in its fifth year in New South Wales and has attracted a number of high-profile political leaders.
Mr Albanese delivered the keynote speech, while NSW Premier Chris Minns, federal Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton also spoke at the event.
The premier was expected to announce incentives of up to $20,000 to attract healthcare workers to regional New South Wales.
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