Both sides gear up for energy showdown

Anti and pro-renewable protesters are set to clash outside parliament on the first sitting day of the year, prompted by the announcement of a ‘national rally against reckless renewables’.

David Littleproud with MPs and protestors including Katy McCallum, right, at a Brisbane rally.

Protesters for and against ­renewables are set to clash outside parliament on the first ­sitting day of the year, with farmers pitted against inner-city ­activists.

The “national rally against reckless renewables”, which has been planned since December, is expected to see hundreds of landholders from across the country converge on the lawns of parliament and call for a suspension of renewable projects on arable land until a Senate inquiry is conducted.

Nationals, including Barnaby Joyce, are expected to attend alongside farmers and conservationists. But in response, left-leaning activist group GetUp urged its members to “crash” the rally with mobile billboards promoting counter messages.

“Disinformation can be a ­potent force for vested interests – and it’s clear the hard-right has shifted their focus to renewable energy,” the group said.

“Barnaby’s set to front a ­national anti-renewables rally in Canberra … but we can’t let the far-right control the narrative on the first day back of parliament. We have a plan to crash Barn­aby’s anti-renewables rally and combat their lies.”

Nationals leader David Littleproud said the push towards renewables was part of an “inner-city ideology” that ignored the impact on the regions.

“Labor is pursuing a reckless 82 per cent renewables target by 2030, which is driving up costs and threatening agricultural land, regional communities and native flora and fauna,” he said.

“We need to know how much agricultural land is earmarked, where is it earmarked and when will the projects be forced onto local communities … We have time to pause, to plan and to use common sense.

“Sadly, it’s becoming obvious that renewables are losing their social licence because they are destroying the very thing they were designed to protect, including native vegetation and endangered species.”

National Rational Energy Group vice-chair and Kilkivan Action Group organiser Katy McCallum, who will attend the rally, said the $14.2bn Borumba pumped hydro project and the Forest Wind project in Queensland risked destroying ecosystems. “(The government) are going to push this through and destroy our state because they can. This needs to stop,” she said.

The clash comes as Farmers for Climate Action released a survey of nearly 700 people in regional Australia showing just over 20 per cent believed renewables would provide the biggest opportunity for their area in the next 20 years.