Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I would just like to note that in my electorate wind towers and wind factories kill swift parrots, so, if you want to protect the swift parrots, be very careful of swindle factories.

In my electorate, there have been two big issues: property rights and the incursion by multibillion-dollar companies and individuals to build wind towers. We call them swindle factories because they rip people off. First of all, they rip off the pensioners who can't afford their power bills. They rip off the properties that the transmission lines go over. They rip off those who have to deal with the environment of staring at them for the rest of the time. As a young person, I would go to Limbri public hall. I was actually at Limbri Public School, and I could fit in through the ticket window. Those people I met the other night again feel frustrated and powerless. They feel like people are walking over them. They want to be represented.

People have to understand that, if you want to disassemble a wind tower, it's between $600,000 and $700,000. I don't think people understand that that's not going to be disassembled. One thing: check your legal documents. Understand that, if you are caught with this liability, you're caught with it forever. The first fall of the dominos has happened at Doughboy Mountain, and I'm going to continue my rage and do whatever it takes, whatever is required, to bring this scourge to an end.

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