Country residents sacrificed on altar of Labor ideology

Christine Middap’s article in The Weekend Australian concerning the battles playing out in rural areas over the construction of electricity transmission lines presents environmentally vocal but NIMBY city folk with a timely snapshot of the human cost of Labor’s wind-and-solar love affair (“Dead sheep, locked gates, police complaints in high-voltage battle”, 28-29/12).

Owners of long-held family properties look on in dismay as massive transmission towers march across their paddocks, converting the agricultural landscape, nurtured by generations past, into a semi-industrial one in which traditional farming activity will seem like a quaint intrusion. Financial compensation affords some relief to landholders directly affected, but also sows division within rural communities, as landholders neighbouring the new installations suffer the visual downgrading of their environment, and are just expected to “cop it”, for the greater public good. The whole transition process from coal-fired power to Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s alternative nirvana of wind- and solar-generated power is being driven by an artificial timetable of politically driven urgency that makes no allowances for the negotiations and fine-tuning necessary to reconcile engineering demands with owners’ property rights and rural landscape amenity.

Peter Austin, Mt Victoria, NSW

Farmers like James Petersen are suffering at the hands of ambivalent city-slickers who are content to go along with the government’s renewable energy frolic (“Dutton’s nuclear plan ‘economic madness’ ”, 28-29/12). It is a travesty that he and many others on the land are to be the sacrificial lambs on the altar of Labor’s ideological crusade. Chris Bowen is the high priest but his cabinet colleagues are accessories. Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ wild assertion that the Coalition’s nuclear ambition will cost trillions in investment reflects the panic of the government. It’s an 11th-hour attempt to secure the high ground in the energy debate but there’s been too many false dawns for Labor. It’s time for city folk to push back in support of their country cousins.

Kim Keogh, Claremont, WA

My wife and I used to live on a busy road. The windows would shake as trucks went by. The noise was unpleasant in the extreme. Eventually, we sold up and found somewhere else to live.

The point is, the NIMBY principle operates in cities as much as in rural communities. It would’ve been wonderful if the traffic outside our house found a different route, but that would just have pushed the problem on to others. I can perfectly understand how farmers do not want these things snaking across their property, but that does not render the lines themselves inessential.

Sadly, we’ve waited too long to tackle the energy transition, and must now push on if we’re to get to net zero by 2050. Perhaps if we’d started 20 years ago, things might be different.

Ken Enderby, Concord, NSW

Thank goodness someone of Jennie George’s standing has the courage to bell the cat in regards to what this government is doing concerning our contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and the need to maintain reliable sources of baseline electrical power (“Keeping the door closed on nuclear makes zero sense”, 28-29/12).

Maintaining some level of coal-fired power stations or some gas-powered generation – neither of which will add significantly to global emissions – should not stop us from considering nuclear power stations. George is absolutely right in saying “keeping the door closed on emissions-free, next-generation nuclear technologies makes no sense and is not in our national interest”. The best this government can hope for is that we struggle through this summer without a succession of blackouts or brownouts on stinking hot days, or else its current energy policy will be seen for the nonsense it is.

Peter Thornton, Killara, NSW

Jennie George’s article contains more truth, honesty, facts and sheer common sense than any single word Chris Bowen has ever uttered on energy policy. Each one of her statements emphatically underlines the hypocrisy of Labor’s environmental and economically destructive energy policies. Thank you, Jennie George, for your courage in not toeing the party line and instead standing up for Australia.

Helen Dyer, Ferndale, SA