Ross Cadell (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to talk about the efforts of the people of the Upper Hunter to work on a better pathway, better plan and better way forward on EnergyCo's Hunter transmission line. I want to salute the efforts of Allison McPhee and James Burns in putting on the pressure to get EnergyCo to show up to a meeting that will be held on Wednesday at 5 pm at the Gundy Soldiers' Memorial Hall. For anyone out there in the world today who wants to have their say on this process, the planning that's gone on and the lack of consultation—and that's only now starting to come around, but it's probably too late—get to the Gundy town hall at 5 pm on Wednesday and have your say. Do not let these people run roughshod over you. Make them answer the questions you want to ask. Make them tell you why they are doing what they are doing.

What we have to do on all of these transmission lines—it's 28,000 kays under phases 1, 2 and 3 of the planned renewables rollout—is find a way to do them better. Don't have black plastic bags of compulsory acquisition notices tied to fences. Have the consultation early, and work out the routes. We need to start talking about policies that would make the whole thing fairer, whether that means a trigger that landholders can have to make the compulsory acquisition be of the entire property so that they don't have to put up with a transmission line through the middle of it—if they want that—or that means ways to make all funding under this tax free from an Australian point of view, which would ensure that, at the time of acquisition, landholders' off-farm income isn't assessed against them if they've had disasters and that a compulsory acquisition can't trigger capital gains tax.

There are better ways to make this happen. There can be better planning. When we hear about them spending $20 million to bracket around the land of a man with a pacemaker, we think, 'Well done.' But we have to realise it has cost $20 million of taxpayers' money to do that, with a guaranteed return for these companies. So well done, Allison, and well done, James. To the people of the Upper Hunter: get to Gundy town hall at 5 pm on Wednesday and have your say on the Hunter transmission line.