Labor green lights solar farm to power thousands of homes in Queensland

Project to power 200,000 Qld homes set to stoke concerns of Coalition MPs who have labelled Labor’s water buyback plan a ‘dog act’.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has approved the Smoky Creek solar farm.

A new solar farm expected to generate enough energy to power 200,000 homes in Queensland has been ticked off by Labor, in a move set to stoke concerns of Coalition MPs that have sought a ban on large-scale renewable projects until approval processes are reformed.

The Australian can reveal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has approved the Smoky Creek solar farm, which she said would deliver more than one million megawatts of renewable energy every year.

“Australia can be a renewable energy superpower, and projects like this help us get there. We have the right conditions, the technology, and the passion to make the most of these opportunities. It will help transform our economy and better protect our environment,“ she said.

“We know renewable energy is cheaper, cleaner and crucial to helping us cut emissions and reach our goal of net zero by 2050.“

The project is expected to generate 350 jobs at the peak of its construction.

As the environment wars escalate between Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton, Coalition MPs including Rowan Ramsey, Matt Canavan and Perin Davey will this week travel to regional towns in Shepparton, Griffith and Moree to canvas concerns of residents over Labor’s plan to purchase water from irrigators and return it to the Murray-Darling river system.

“Water buybacks rip the carpet out from under communities because they reduce the amount of food that is grown and the amount of business that spins through the town. This is not the news farmers need heading into dry conditions,” Senator Canavan said.

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley said Labor’s water buyback plan was a “dog act by a Prime Minister who said he would leave no one behind”.
“We are right in the trenches with our farmers and our irrigators on this, we’ll fight this in our communities and we’ll fight this on the floor of the parliament,” Ms Ley said.

“We’re up for this fight because Labor’s plan is a death sentence for many of our communities.”
On the renewables project, Ms Plibersek said Labor was committed to “making up for the lost decade” in environmental policy under the former government.

“I’m proud to have already doubled the rate of renewable energy approvals, with a record number of projects in the pipeline,“ she said.

“We’re making clear to industry that the decade of stalling and denial when it comes to the opportunities of renewables is over.”

Mr Plibersek said the project had been approved with strict conditions to protect the local environment and minimise impact to nearby land and waterways.

The Nationals last month passed a motion at its national conference calling on the government to “place a moratorium on all large-scale renewable energy projects“ until the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act was amended.