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

At the Royal Easter Show, I'd like to say a big hello, welcome and congratulations to Tycolah hereford stud, who got the supreme hereford award; to Michael Purtle, who I often bump into when I'm at the saleyards buying and selling cattle and Justin Oakenfull, who won the young auctioneers awards; to Dominique Wise from Tamworth High School, who won the Land royal ag show young woman of the year; and to Rob Hayward, our favourite bagpipe-playing veterinarian, who won the royal ag show youth medal.

But, unfortunately, at the same time, we have the dichotomy of the swindle factories—the swindle factories otherwise known as wind farms. Why do they call them farms? Gosh only knows. They don't produce fruit; they don't produce grain; they don't produce meat. They produce the filth of transmission lines.

At the same time, they're talking about the price of power being forced up by poles and wires. The Labor Party are going to build another 26,000 kilometres of poles and wires. They're building them all over our countryside; all over New England. We have no right to this being forced on us. We need a Senate inquiry so the Australian people have a better understanding of exactly what they're doing to us. We have to have the people in the city understand this. We're going to go to Dee Why; we're going to have a seminar there. Make sure that you clearly understand—if you want to stand up for regional people, stand up against the 'swindle farms'.