Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to express my great pride in the farmers of Mallee. They are facing an uphill battle right now. They have the Victorian government and their tentacle subgroup TCV, Transmission Company Victoria, coming onto farms. Well, that's what they want to do; they want to enter farms. Instead we have farmers standing inside the fence saying, 'Access denied.' Access is denied to TCV and to the Victorian government for seeking to railroad my communities. These farmers are on the edge of harvest. They are literally about to start harvest.

We also hear in this space that we have Chinese made brake pads with asbestos in them. Asbestos is illegal. It is illegal to bring it into Australia. But here we have companies all over Australia who are bringing in wind turbines with asbestos as part of the works of each turbine, creating biosecurity hazards, I would suggest. I'm not an engineer, but, if a wind turbine goes on fire, what happens with that asbestos? There is food growing under these turbines.

It is an absolute disgrace that the Labor government has allowed these turbines to come into Australia with no checks and balances. What is going on is that these products are all over Australia now, by the thousands—maybe hundreds of thousands. Renewables absolutely cost farmers. I have farmers in my electorate, and I'll name a few of them: Andrew Weidemann, Ross Johns, Julie Weir, Marcia McIntyre, Ben Duxson and Gerald Feeny. All of these farmers and the myriad that are coming to support them are standing at the gate, stopping TCV coming in. Now, TCV don't actually have court orders to be able to enter the properties. They have no right. But, I tell you what, they're intimidating and they're bullying our farmers. It is outrageous—at the beginning of harvest.

We hear today that the Victorian government have put out a consultation about the five new RESes—I think there are six now—doubling the gigawatt hours that they require to put on farmland. Seriously? That's a consultation over a harvest period right through to February, when farmers are at their busiest and they are tired, and now they have to do what we know already is a sham consultation. It is a disgrace. Both the federal Labor government and the Victorian Labor government should be held to account, and that's what we are doing on this side of the House.

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