‘No farmers, no food’: Regional Australians deliver blunt message to Canberra about renewables
Farmers and environmentalists have protested in Canberra, warning the push to net zero could come at the cost of local communities and the nation’s food security | WATCH
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Farmers and environmentalists descended on Parliament House for the first sitting day of 2024 to warn of the dangers of rushing wind and solar projects across rural Australia, telling them “no farmers, no food.”
Calling for a moratorium on renewable energy projects, a Senate inquiry into the economic, social and environmental impacts of wind and solar on farms and communities, as well as a lifting of the nuclear power ban, the National Rally Against Reckless Renewables drew several hundred people to the front lawn of Parliament House Tuesday.
Oberon farmer and president of Oberon Against Wind Towers Robert Snoch said “we’ve been absolutely railroaded.”
“They just want to carpet bomb the landscape with renewable energy with no consultation,” he said, as others around him displayed signs reading “No Farmers, No Food”, “Stop Being Reckless With Our Future”, “No More Wind Turbines,” and a variety of flags.
Mr Snoch accused city dwelling politicians, particularly energy minister Chris Bowen and the teals MPs of having no understanding of the impact of their policies.
“They call us NIMBYs out in the regional areas, but you’re the NIMBYs.”
“Why don’t you start putting wind towers on North Head, South Head, Barrenjoey, Bondi, La Perouse, put it all there first and then tell us we’re the NIMBYs.
“You do it first and then you’ll see what it’s like.”
In 2023, the Forestry Corporation of NSW announced plans for as many as 625 wind turbines for the Oberon region, with towers as tall as 285 metres, in state forests to help the government meet its net zero goals including 82 per cent renewable power by 2030.
Research by the Institute of Public Affairs has claimed that at current rates, meeting Australia’s energy needs with a 50/50 mix of solar and wind would by 2050 require covering 15 per cent of the continent’s landmass and around one third of all farmland with wind and solar farms.
Grant Holland, who raises livestock, hay and canola at Young, NSW, said the spread of wind and solar farms over previously productive land was “a constant concern.”
“They’re destroying our environment and destroying our farms.”
“It’s a constant concern … our community is only just now starting to wake up to what’s going on.”
“When it was only a few wind turbines and a few solar panels it didn't bother them but now that they're starting to pop up everywhere they’re getting very concerned.”
Newcastle city councillor Callum Pull travelled to Canberra to warn of the “destruction of our visual amenity” that would be caused by proposed offshore wind farms.
“We have such a beautiful coastline in Newcastle and Port Stephens, we want to protect that.
While Labor politicians steered clear of the event, Coalition MPs including Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Barnaby Joyce and Matt Canavan addressed the crowd.
“You know better than anybody the importance of taking care of our natural environment, you know better than anybody what it means to provide from the regions for the entire nation, for the Australian people, for those in the inner cities,” Ms Price said.
“Nuclear is certainly the direction we need to go and I know Australians want this.”
Queensland Nationals Senator Canavan poked fun at an ABC report claiming that 90 per cent of farmers supported renewables, Mr Canavan said, “I reckon there are more central Queenslanders who support the NSW Blues rugby league team than support renewable energy … it is that unpopular.
Mr Joyce told the crowd “I want you to talk to your local members to remind them they might not have a job after the next election unless they change their mind” about renewables.
“The only thing that puts the fear in people is if you lose your job,” he said.
The rally echoed protests that have swept through Europe in recent months that have seen farmer block roads and spray fertiliser on government buildings in protest of environmental regulations they say are driving them out of business.
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