Colin Boyce (Flynn, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Rural and regional Australia have had enough of mass-scale renewable projects destroying remnant vegetation, koala habitat, sugar glider habitat, bird sanctuary and carbon-sequestering trees. They've had enough of the state and federal governments not listening to their concerns, and, to be frank, I've had enough the state and federal governments' failure to implement proper regulations to protect our environment and our farming and agricultural land against these mass-scale renewable projects.

In Queensland, there is no legislation to ensure the compliance of environmental protocols imposed on other industries such as the agricultural sector and the mining and resource sector. Just recently, a project has come across my desk, a 46,000-hectare wind factory near Theodore in Central Queensland, with 160 turbines up to 260 metres tall. The impact on the landscape, fire mitigation, powerline connections and all of the issues surrounding these projects needs to be addressed properly.

Farmers recently rallied in Queensland against these reckless renewables outside Queensland Parliament House and at the Rockhampton Bush Summit, urging the Labor government to rethink its plans on destroying prime agricultural land, rainforest and animal habitat throughout Queensland. The farmers, from different parts of the state, are warning Labor's commitment of $200 million for wind farm projects in Central Queensland, along with plans for a $14.2 billion Borumba pumped hydro and the Forest Wind projects in the Wide Bay as well as the $12 billion five-gigawatt Pioneer-Burdekin pumped hydro scheme in Ungella and the Pioneer Valley region, will have devastating consequences.

At that rally against reckless renewables, Katie McCallum from the Kilkivan Action Group said the local community 'completely objected' to Labor's plans. She said: 'Our major concern is the destruction of our stunning district and the irreparable damage to the environment where so much amazing flora and fauna live. The Borumba pumped hydro project has not met its requirements under social license, and nobody in our area wants it.' Sixth-generation beef grazier in the Flynn electorate Glen Kelly said, 'Labor's plans are not looking after the environment—they are destroying it.' The Moah Creek project will see 60 270-metre-tall wind turbines along 300-to 400-metre-high ridgetops in the Rockhampton area. These things are huge. The sweep of the blades covers five football fields. The Moah wind factory will clear 654 hectares of vegetation. The foundations for these things take up approximately 600 tonnes of concrete, which will never be removed. I stand with these people, and they need representation.