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<\/p>\n\u201cI don\u2019t think anybody who lives in capital cities quite understands the depth and gravity of just how bad the divisions are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
McCormack said the fervent opposition among some in his electorate to \u201cwind and solar factories\u201d made a backlash against farmers who accepted payments to host development inevitable.<\/p>\n
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Riverina MP Michael McCormack.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course they\u2019re going to cop some backlash; that\u2019s just human nature,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s like that old biblical saying … what does a person gain when they … gain the whole world but sell their soul?\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it going to reduce the temperature of the globe by half a degree? No, of course it\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019ve had a person say to one of my family members, you\u2019d be lucky if I don\u2019t get shot,\u201d said Henderson. \u201cI\u2019ve had another person ring me and said, for god\u2019s sake Craig, keep your head down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI support the wind farm to help mitigate risk and diversify the income into our farm and the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are feeling incredibly desperate as they\u2019re seeing their private property rights eroded \u2013
what you\u2019ve got is a tiny minority getting a large economic benefit,\u201d she said. \u201cAs I understand it, the vast majority of landholders and community members are saying we do not want these projects in our communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt some point, the federal government is ultimately responsible for this because they set the target for us as a nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe back farmers who choose to host clean energy, and we back those who choose not to,\u201d said chief executive Natalie Collard. \u201cFarm groups have pushed for farmers\u2019 choices to be respected for decades. Opposing the farmers\u2019 right to choose how they farm on their own land undermines farmers\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe ask all involved to stick to the facts. Community is more important than political points.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe negative ramifications of this project are the current, and will be the future, experience for hundreds of locals if this proposal goes ahead,\u201d including community division and loss of agricultural land,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n