Gippsland › Latest news › Liberal Nationals

Farmers disappointed by Labor government renewables review as it neglecting real impact on agricultural land in regional communities

The Community Engagement Review by the Labor government on renewables fails to consider the real impact on agricultural land, leaving farmers and regional communities disappointed.

By news@gippsland - 2nd February 2024 - Back to News

Farmers and regional communities will be disappointed with the Labor government's Community Engagement Review into renewables, which fails to examine the real impacts on agricultural land. Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud said Labor is asking regional Australia and agriculture to bear the burden of its reckless race to 82 per cent renewables by 2030, without any understanding of its impacts.

Instead of harming regional communities and increasing living costs, Chris Bowen's plan requires installing 47-megawatt wind turbines and 22,000 500-watt panels daily until 2030

Uncertainty for farmers

Mr Littleproud said, "The bland recommendations in the Review do not provide the confidence and certainty that farmers and regional communities have desperately asked for. This Review gives zero indication of how farmers can continue to do their job without being impacted. It fails to give clarity on protecting their livelihoods."

"Communities will continue to feel anxiety about their future, with Labor failing to ensure agricultural land, or our nation's food security, will be preserved. While farmers will bear the brunt of Chris Bowen's reckless race to renewables, it's families at the checkout who will pay for it.

"The report appears nothing more than a cynical public relations exercise by the Albanese Labor government to give Labor a green light to forge ahead steamrolling regional communities in its attempt to reach their reckless target," he said.

Community dissatisfaction

Mr Littleproud added the report also highlights the disgraceful treatment of farmers and regional communities in steamrolling ahead with these renewable projects. "It is alarming that 92 per cent of respondents were dissatisfied with the level of engagement from project developers. Rather than listen to communities, Labor is instead more focused on its PR campaign, with the report also stating that messaging about renewables should include "the limited time available to achieve these significant changes".

"We have time to pause and plan this correctly - rather than destroy regional communities and drive up everyone's cost-of-living because of Chris Bowen's target, who has previously stated that 40 7-megawatt wind turbines will need to be installed every month until 2030, while 22,000 five hundred-watt panels need to be installed every day, or 60 million by 2030."

"Labor will also require 34 times the current amount of utility-scale variable renewable energy in the national electricity market to meet its hydrogen export ambitions. The Nationals are not against renewables, but renewables are losing their social licence on the very thing they are meant to protect - the environment," Mr Littleproud said.

Pictures from Victorian Farmers Federation Facebook page.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com