Latest news with #ElectricityInfrastructureInvestmentAmendment
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Regional farmer raises concern of PFAS contamination as govt leaves communities 'in the dust' for renewable projects
A regional NSW farmer has raised her concerns the government was leaving communities 'in the dust' in order to roll out renewable projects while sparking PFAS contamination concerns following a 'huge lack of consultation'. After the NSW government passed the 'Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment (Priority Network Projects) Bill 2025' on Thursday, farmers have claimed the new legislation potentially increased the ease with which the government can acquire land for renewables projects. On Sunday, farmer Emma Bowman from Dunedoo said regional communities have been 'steamrolled' amid the rapid renewable energy transition. Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Bowman said there had been a 'huge lack of consultation' when it came to the Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), the cost of which has blown out to $5.52 billion from the original $650 million figure. 'We've definitely been steamrolled throughout the rollout of the rapid transition to renewable energy and rural and regional communities are being left in the dust,' Bowman told Sky News. 'There's been a huge lack of consultation when it comes to the central-west Orana REZ, and I would think all the other REZ's in New South Wales, the four others, have been very similar.' Bowman said on Sunday she had seen the story of Queensland cattle farmer Larry Acton, who since 2021 had found per and polyfluoroalkyl substances – known as PFAS, a chemical linked to an increased risk of some cancers - had been leaking onto his land, near Biloela, north of the Sunshine Coast, from the Callide Power Station. Last month, The Daily Telegraph reported the Albanese government's ban on PFAS chemicals would not apply to renewable energy infrastructure. PFAS have been known to exist in components of renewable energy technology. 'I know that the reason that this has happened happening rapidly is because not enough has been done in the last 20 years,' Bowman said. 'So I understand that we're under time pressure, but I do think that we need to pause and just make sure that we are going to do this right, because if we contaminate our water, if we contaminate our ag (agriculture) land, we are in big trouble and I think that's really scary.' National accreditor for the $82 billion red meat industry, Integrity Systems, issued advice less than 12 months ago notifying farmers that chemical or physical contamination risks 'can be caused if livestock have access to degrading equipment and infrastructure including solar panels and wind turbines'. Bowman said her biggest concern was if the Orana REZ, which is set to encompass areas such as Dubbo, Mudgee and Dunedoo, will become the 'next PFAS contamination issue'. 'I think it's of huge concern to livestock producers,' she said. Bowman said she was 'opposed' to large-scale renewable energy projects despite having solar panels on her shed, because she considered the risks to be 'great'. 'I think there are huge risks to contamination of ag land, contamination of our water. I think taking our ag land out of full production, in some cases, to generate energy for intermittent supply, I don't think that's the right thing to do,' she said. 'I'm a farmer, I don't have all the answers, but I just think that the rapid transition to renewable energy is a mistake.' Bowman said Australia needed a range of energy sources, but if coal was continuing to be mined, that it was 'foolish not to burn it here'. She said she did not want a coal mine on her property either, but called the trajectory of renewables, and the potential detriment it could have on her livelihood, as 'really scary'.
Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Can't get a fair go': Beef farmer rails against NSW government pressure to seize more land for renewables projects
A New South Wales beef farmer has railed against new legislation which he claimed would diminish the ability for regional Aussies to get a 'fair go' and potentially increase the ease with which the government can acquire land for renewables projects. The 'Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment (Priority Network Projects) Bill 2025' passed state parliament on Thursday afternoon, granting Energy Minister Penny Sharpe additional powers regarding priority renewable energy infrastructure. Ms Sharpe said the bill 'does not change' the approval process for projects and insisted the state Labor government was not 'shortcutting' the NSW planning system. She added the legislation will 'allow energy to flow sooner' and allow her to choose from a wider pool of projects to 'address a reliability or systems strength gap and keep the lights on'. Beef farmer Grant Piper, based on the Great Dividing Range near Coolah, told Sky News there was already compulsory acquisition rights for state-significant infrastructure, which had only covered transmission lines. 'I guess that they talked about extending that to more projects,' he said. 'Anything that extends the Minister's powers or their executive order ability to just ram things through, it just crushes the whole idea of having a parliamentary democracy. I can't see how you can justify it in any way whatsoever.' Mr Piper said the state government kept 'ignoring our concerns' and would not acknowledge the downside of the renewable projects, including bushfire risks. 'We're going to have 130-odd turbines to the west of us, the next ridge west, which is an absolute fire hazard. We won't be able to fight a fire in there with aircraft,' he said. 'Then north of us is 185 turbines on the Liverpool Range Wind Farm and then inside the REZ (Renewable Energy Zone) is, you know, scheduled to be over a thousand turbines plus the solar. 'It's going to be a huge change and a huge impact and they actually don't acknowledge any of the downsides.' According to The Daily Telegraph, government sources claimed the new powers were necessary to allow the Minister to direct more transmission projects and will allow her to direct projects to the state regulatory framework, rather than the more encumbered federal one to streamline completion times. Mr Piper said the unfolding list of renewable projects across the state meant he and other regional Australians 'can't get a fair go'. 'They keep ratcheting up the pressure and taking more power and we saw that through COVID and these are the same techniques being used now to ram through the transition net zero rubbish,' he said. 'We're all suffering for it, we're all going to pay for it and so are our children. The costs are immense and it has no technical merit or economic merit, and it has no environmental merit - locally you're taking farmland out of production to put this toxic junk on it.' Earlier, Victorian Nationals MP Anne Webster called federal Labor's push for renewables a 'fast moving train' which she could only hope 'derails'. 'In Victoria you would be aware the VNI West was $3.6 billion last year, thereabouts, and looks to $7.6 billion this year – wow, and then you know potentially $11.9 billion for the same piece of transmission line that very few people in my electorate want,' she said. 'Lots and lots of people coming up and talking to me about the heartbreak in their communities, the division in their communities… it turns out in my electorate 60 per cent do not support net zero or 2030 targets. 'Let's face it they're political and ideological and these are very pragmatic people and they do not support it. Of the 30 per cent that do support net zero, 68 per cent are not prepared to pay more than $100 a year. 'Well, the horror story is, as you and I know, people are paying well more than that already for this disastrous plan.'
