I WANT to congratulate everyone for continuing to fight for their farming communities affected by energy cowboys’ proposals for the region.
It is no coincidence that Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio visited Kerang and Wycheproof this week and VicGrid’s chief executive Alistair Parker was in the region, both at times receiving justifiably prickly receptions.
Shires, community advocates and protestors have made their voices heard loud and clear that Labor’s railroading of regional communities is completely unacceptable.
VicGrid are talking about compelling energy project developers to deliver “the best community benefits” and a “Renewable Energy Zone community fund”.
At last, talk of real REZ benefits for locals but let’s ensure, if the projects happen, benefits are long-lasting and shared equitably.
VicGrid also proposes reducing the number of solar panels proposed in Victoria’s REZs.
Victorian Planning Minister Sonia Kilkenny had indicated her government wanted 6.4 gigawatts generation in the REZs to come from solar, but VicGrid are capping new solar at between 0.9 to 1.5 gigawatts.
One gigawatt generated from our current coal-fired power plants would power about one million Australian homes annually.
One gigawatt of solar-generated power supplies around 300,000 homes. That’s the inefficiency of renewables (more like replaceable, with four million panels in Australia needing disposal of this year, rising soon to eight million a year – and only 10 per cent are recycled – but I digress).
Federal and State Labor Government political targets interconnect here, with the Victorian Government wanting 95 per cent renewables by 2035 – an impossible task – and their net zero target is by 2045.
The Federal Government wants Australia to reach net zero by 2050 – all to bolster Labor’s bid to strut at a 2026 COP31 global climate conference they hope to host in Australia.
Under Labor, net zero means railroading regional communities and nowhere else in the world is Labor’s plan being tried at the geographical scale of Australia.
Other nations are using zero-emissions nuclear energy, particularly with AI and power-hungry data centres coming online.
It’s about time Labor caught up.
