Andrew Gee (Calare, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

In the last parliament, I introduced a game-changing bill which would stop the building of wind farms in softwood pine plantations which are state forests.

I introduced it because of the pain, anguish and anger that many of our local residents are feeling over wind farm proposals in these areas.

That pain and anguish has not gone away, and politicians of all persuasions have failed to act. So I am bringing this bill back to this House, and it needs to be passed into law.

I'm not against renewable energy.

But what our communities are crying out for is reasonable and commonsense balance.

I've attended numerous community meetings and consultations over these proposals.

What residents are experiencing is very concerning.

Fly-in fly-out, tick-a-box consultation from developers without meaningful engagement and genuine dialogue has been a feature of our residents' experiences.

City people may think that putting turbines in state pine forests means they're out in the back blocks, far from having impacts on local residents. But this is not the case at all.

The developers are putting them close to the powerlines and to road access, which means they are extremely close to towns, villages and community members. They are literally surrounding communities.

Many residents are seniors. Some families have been living in these impacted areas for generations. Others had moved there to experience the quiet country life that we all know and love.

Their peace has been shattered.

In the case of the Sunny Corner Wind Farm, some residents were given maps that showed 300-metre turbines less than one kilometre from their homes.

I had one resident approach me with a map to tell me he'd sunk all his super into his small plot of land and he now wouldn't be able to sell it because of turbines in such close proximity, and he pointed out one that was just 700 metres away. People in the cities just don't understand the stress and anguish residents feel when confronted by these developments so close to their homes.

I've had residents tearfully tell me they can't sleep because of the stress and the strain.

There is a real human cost to this that is too often lost, overlooked and ignored. In the case of the Sunny Corner Wind Farm proposal the developer, Someva, has clearly placed turbines in locations that will cost them the least yet impact residents the most.

Profit is being put ahead of people, and it's appalling.

It's the same around Oberon, where the developers of the Pines Wind Farm have managed to turn a whole region against it.

When I attended a so-called consultation at the Black Springs hall I asked the developers whether it is true that they were shopping turbines outside the boundaries of the state forests. I was assured that they were not. These assurances proved to be false.

Shopping turbines outside of the boundaries of state forests is exactly what they have been doing, to such an extent that the developers are now pushing the proposal towards the small, close-knit farming community of Trunkey Creek.

The community is in shock.

I recently attended a community meeting at the Trunkey Creek hall, and the anger was real; the hurt was real.

I've been working with local residents in other impacted communities for many years. While I've had some success in getting windfarms moved or modified for local residents, such examples are, sadly, few and far between.

I believe that this is because, for all the so-call consultations and calming words of city based consultants on the ground, decisions about turbine placement are, for the most part, made in foreign boardrooms far, far away. It's a business decision. Moving turbines away for impacted residents costs money.

I recently met with the developers of the Kerrs Creek Wind Farm near Molong. I wanted an update on how far they had gone to meet community concerns. They tried to tell me how much they've compromised, but it was just words. After more than a year of engagement with this company, they'd hardly budged. Why?

Because it's all being developed by RES, which is controlled by the McAlpine group of companies in the United Kingdom. Does the McAlpine group really care how the people of Molong feel? Clearly not.

All these companies I've spoken to try to smooth it over by saying, 'It's all okay; we're going to try to sponsor the local footy team,' or the like. But that is cold comfort to the retirees who've just found out they're going to be surrounded on three sides by 300-metre turbines. It's a patronising and condescending attitude to hardworking Australians who just want to be left alone in the communities they love.

So, how did we get here

It was a failure in politics and politicians; that's how we got here—politicians not doing their jobs.

The problem is that windfarms are regulated by state planning laws. In 2021, when the New South Wales National Party passed a law to put windfarms in state forests, they did so without properly regulating and setting out the rights of impacted residents and neighbours.

Exactly the same thing happened when the National Party created renewable energy zones in New South Wales. They, again, abjectly failed to properly regulate them.

They caused more pain for residents with the failure of EnergyCo to properly consult and compromise. EnergyCo is a New South Wales government company that's building powerlines across the regions. The National Party did all this.

It should not have come to this, and it would not have come to this if the National Party had done its job, but it has failed.

Rather than pretending to ride around on white horses, the National Party should apologise, own up to its failure and come into this House and support this bill.

All of the major parties have had a hand in this. They are all guilty of failing these residents.

And it's been an ongoing failure across the political divide. All parties need to bear responsibility for it.

The result of this failure is conflict and controversy.

They have left others to pick up the pieces.

You've got friends fighting with friends and family members pitted against family members over the back fence.

It's a tragedy. And it all could have been avoided if politicians had simply done their jobs.

Why is anybody building anything on prime agricultural land?

The state planning laws and regulations need an overhaul.

Because successive state governments have abrogated their responsibilities, this bill steps in to fill a void created by their failure.

My bill enables the federal government to use its constitutional powers to make laws to stop turbine developments in these state forests. This federal legislation would override failed state legislation.

Clause 3 of the bill is the operative clause.

It uses the corporations power within the constitution to provide that a corporation must not construct, install or commission a windfarm in a state forest.

To put it beyond doubt, without limiting the definition of 'state forest', it includes the Sunny Corner State Forest near Portland and Lithgow, the Vulcan State Forest, the Mount David State Forest and the Gurnang State Forest—they are all in the Oberon area—and also the Canobolas state forest near Orange.

But the bill and the operative clause are not limited to those named state forests; they're for any state forest.

It's now up to all parties to get behind this bill.

It's time for the major parties, notably the National Party, to fess up to their failures, stop the infighting, bickering and plotting, start being an effective opposition, and come and support this legislation.

Our communities are tired of the failure.

They're tired of the false promises and the empty words.

They want their voices heard.

They want these wind farms in state forests stopped.

I commend the bill to the House and cede the rest of my speaking time to the honourable member for Kennedy, who will second it.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Katter's Australian Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion. I greatly appreciate the honourable member for moving this legislation.

The case of Chalumbin, which featured in a national magazine, the Spectator, was most notorious. The biggest wind farm in Australia was proposed to be put within a few hundred metres of some of the last remnant jungle on earth. There is very little jungle left on earth, and they were going to put this giant wind farm a few hundred metres from Chalumbin. We praised then Minister Plibersek from stopping that proposal from going ahead. The university professor who was leading the battle against Chalumbin had said, 'You've got to stand back and say, "What is happening here?"' What was happening was that a beautiful nature wonderland was being turned into an industrial wasteland.

Proof positive of what he was saying there was the dismantling of the wind farm, which is no longer producing any electricity. It's worn out. They took the blades down and dumped them on Kidner's property without any permission. The company that did it vanished, so the Kidners couldn't sue anyone. It made national television. This is a beautiful area, a nature wonderland bordering on remnant jungles, very little of which are left on earth. These huge blades, which could stretch right across this room, were dumped there. (Time expired)

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allocated for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.