Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Albanese Labor government is gaslighting Australians on energy policy. The Prime Minister claims coal is no longer viable, but if you're the barman and tell someone, 'No more drinks for you, mate', unsurprisingly, he won't stick around. Meanwhile, it's drinks on the house for wind turbine and solar farm proponents, while the bouncer is telling the nuclear energy businessman he can't come in—all while the Allan Labor government keeps locking gas out, despite gas keeping the lights on.

Labor cheers on agencies like Transmission Company Victoria as it conducts tokenistic consultation with communities in my electorate of Mallee. Disgracefully, Premier Allan has doubled down, fast-tracking the planning process to give more freebies to wind turbines while she rides roughshod over legitimate community concern. Even after the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner, Andrew Dyer, called them out, TCV keeps spurring on Labor's out-of-control, reckless renewables railroad. I spent considerable time organising meetings at Tragowel and St Arnaud between TCV and Mallee residents but TCV pulled out literally at the eleventh hour, to the outrage of local people. I went ahead with the meetings, filming testimonies and forwarding them to TCV, through the commissioner, so that Mallee people would be heard.