Andrew Gee (Calare, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the following from occurring immediately:

(1) the Member for Calare presenting a Bill for an Act to stop windfarms in state forests, and for related purposes;

(2) debate on the second reading of the bill proceeding immediately for a period of no longer than one hour; and

(3) any questions required to complete passage of the bill then being put without delay.

Today I introduce this game-changing bill which would stop the building of wind farms in softwood pine plantations. The bill is aptly titled Stopping Windfarms in State Forests Bill 2025. Over the last few weeks, I have attended consultations and meetings in Sunny Corner and Yetholme in the seat of Calare, where the Sunny Corner State Forest wind farm proposal has been unveiled. I am not against renewable energy, but reasonable, commonsense balance is needed. I have to say that I was very concerned by what I saw there. These turbines are very close to many residential homes—in some cases, a mere one kilometre away. I was surprised by how big the impact would be on these residents. It seems to me like the developer has placed the turbines at locations which will cost them the least but will impact local residents the most. It's the same around Oberon. I cannot support these developments. While the developers say that they will consult, the reality is that for these companies it's a business decision that is made in faraway foreign boardrooms.

I've been working with local residents in other impacted communities on similar issues for many years. While I've had some success in getting wind farms moved or modified for local residents, I've experienced a number of companies who will just not do the right thing by local residents. To me, it's very clear that the controversies and conflicts that communities are having as a result of renewable projects is because of the failure in politics and politicians. The problem is that windfarms are regulated by state planning laws. In 2021, when the New South Wales National Party and their candidate for Calare passed a law to put wind farms in state forests, they did so without properly regulating and setting out the rights of impacted residents and neighbours. The result of this glaring failure to pass proper laws is conflict and controversy. You've got family members fighting family members over the fence and communities divided. It's simply not the country way. I spoke to one of our local Sunny Corner residents last week who told me that under the current proposal for the Sunny Corner State Forest she will have a turbine one kilometre from her house. She said she's hardly slept because of the worry and the strain. It's a classic example of country people bearing the burden of policies that are made in Macquarie Street and Canberra.

Rather than pretending to ride in on white horses, the National Party should be apologising to local communities for the conflict they've created through their failure to do their jobs when they were in government. All the major parties need to take responsibility for their glaring failure to protect impacted residents. They have left others to pick up the pieces. It's the same story with the creation of the New South Wales renewable energy zones and EnergyCo, the New South Wales government company that's building the power lines. The National Party put all of this in place without properly consulting with local communities and without passing laws which would clearly set out the rights of landholders. All the major parties are responsible for this.

Planning laws need to be overhauled. There should be no developments on prime agricultural land. I would include residential developments in this as well. Australia needs food security, yet we are increasingly importing food from overseas. Added to this is the fact that we're often dealing with city-based windfarm staff who have no real idea about country life or how country people live and work. Lack of proper consultation is a huge issue right across our region.

I've been dealing with these issues for many, many years. There are so many developments that I'm being contacted about on an almost daily basis, and I almost lose count of them. I recently went in to bat for residents at Tallawang—which is near Gulgong—who are going to be heavily impacted by wind turbines. Through my advocacy with the company, the turbines were moved to another area. I've also worked with farmers in the Hill End and Sallys Flat area to get turbines moved away from farmhouses and get the scale of the development reduced. In one case a wind turbine was going to be constructed outside the kitchen window of a farming family who'd been working that land for generations. It's a very messy situation for residents and also for communities.

But there is a way forward to clean up this mess. There is. We just need to take a different approach. I've come up with a new solution, which I mentioned at the meetings in Oberon and in Sunny Corner last week. My bill enables the federal government to use its constitutional powers to make laws to stop turbine developments in these state forests. This federal legislation would override the existing way-too-loose state law. This is the bill that I now present to the House.

Clause 3 of the bill is the operative clause. Clause 3(1) states a constitutional corporation must not construct, install or commission a wind farm in a state forest. To put it beyond any doubt, without limiting the definition of 'state forest', it includes the Sunny Corner State Forest near Portland and Lithgow, the Vulcan State Forest, the Mount David State Forest and the Gurnang State Forest—they are in the Oberon area—and also the Canobolas State Forest near Orange. But the bill and the operative clause are not limited to those named state forests; it's for any state forests. Also, I should point out that the constitutional power which is utilised in the framing of this bill is the corporations power.

I've introduced this bill because we need some different thinking on this. These wind farm developments are coming at local residents like a freight train down the line. Local residents are very worried about it and they're very concerned about it, and there doesn't seem to be a way to stop the train. You can talk about nuclear, but these developments will be up and running by the time that policy would even get out of bed. My bill would be the quickest and simplest way to stop them in their tracks.

Many of our local residents around the Central West have been in these areas for generations. Many are elderly and many were shocked, as I was, when the Sunny Corner proposal was unveiled and they saw the scope of these turbines and where they were placed—so close to many residential areas. I expressed my concern to the developer when I saw that plan, but the consultation around the Central West at its very best has been very patchy. As I have stated, there are some wind farm developers who simply will not do the right thing.

The residents of our area who are impacted by these developments in these state forests are looking for a voice. They have asked me to take this proposal, which is a legislative response, to Canberra. I'm very happy to do it because urgent action is needed. One of the common themes through the consultations that I've had around the area, particularly with respect to these state forests, is that the burden of these developments is falling disproportionally on country people rather than city people. They don't think that balance is fair, and they don't think that the balance is right.

This bill rights the wrong that the New South Wales National Party inflicted on country communities around the Central West when they bulldozed their legislation through the New South Wales parliament to allow windfarms in state forests. It was their legislation, and they voted it in. It was National Party and Liberal Party legislation. You can't make it up. So rather than pretend to ride in on white horses, as I've already indicated, the National Party should be apologising for the hurt and pain and conflict and uncertainty that the legislation which they have unleashed has created in our area.

It's now up to all parties to get behind this bill. We need a sensible, balanced and workable energy policy that is fair for everyone. I commend the bill and the motion to the House, and I seek leave to table a copy of the bill and the explanatory memorandum.

Leave not granted.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Dai Le (Fowler, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The motion is seconded, and I reserve my right to speak.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion be agreed to.