“I don’t think anybody who lives in capital cities quite understands the depth and gravity of just how bad the divisions are,” he said.
McCormack said the fervent opposition among some in his electorate to “wind and solar factories” made a backlash against farmers who accepted payments to host development inevitable.
Riverina MP Michael McCormack.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“Of course they’re going to cop some backlash; that’s just human nature,” he said. “It’s like that old biblical saying … what does a person gain when they … gain the whole world but sell their soul?”
McCormack said there was no place for violence or threats, but blamed federal and state governments for setting renewable energy targets that drove development of an industry he said was destroying farmland.
“Is it going to reduce the temperature of the globe by half a degree? No, of course it’s not.”
The Albanese government has set a target for the grid to reach 82 per cent renewables by 2030, and is underwriting some renewables projects to speed up delivery. NSW and Victoria are providing funding for renewable energy zones, where development will be targeted, as well as transmission lines.
Renewables companies argue wind and solar farms are compatible with agricultural businesses and provide valuable income during drought, and that the scale of opposition is exaggerated due to the lack of people willing to speak in favour of renewables.
One who is willing to speak, grain grower Craig Henderson, said he had experienced a backlash since he agreed to host the turbines of WestWind Energy on his property in the Wimmera in western Victoria.
He said dozens of people had turned up at his property holding anti-wind farm signs, and that he had since avoided some social functions to avert conflict.
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“I’ve had a person say to one of my family members, you’d be lucky if I don’t get shot,” said Henderson. “I’ve had another person ring me and said, for god’s sake Craig, keep your head down.
“I support the wind farm to help mitigate risk and diversify the income into our farm and the community.”
However, Nationals Victorian senator Bridget McKenzie said some community members who did not want to see renewables infrastructure built in their community were prepared to be jailed for opposing development.
“People are feeling incredibly desperate as they’re seeing their private property rights eroded –
what you’ve got is a tiny minority getting a large economic benefit,” she said. “As I understand it, the vast majority of landholders and community members are saying we do not want these projects in our communities.
“At some point, the federal government is ultimately responsible for this because they set the target for us as a nation.”
Farmers for Climate Action, which backs renewable development, said farmers had a right to decide if they hosted development on their land and that disinformation was a major factor in dividing communities.
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“We back farmers who choose to host clean energy, and we back those who choose not to,” said chief executive Natalie Collard. “Farm groups have pushed for farmers’ choices to be respected for decades. Opposing the farmers’ right to choose how they farm on their own land undermines farmers’ rights.
“We ask all involved to stick to the facts. Community is more important than political points.”
Loomberah Family and Farmland Incorporated, a group campaigning against the Lambruk Solar Project near Tamworth, told the parliamentary inquiry it did not view its campaign as disinformation.
“The negative ramifications of this project are the current, and will be the future, experience for hundreds of locals if this proposal goes ahead,” including community division and loss of agricultural land,” it said.
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