Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's a very quick, short contribution. I just want to say that the best decisions are always made when they're made on the basis of advice from people on the ground, at the grassroots—local communities. Too many decisions are being made about our so-called energy transition from our large capital cities by people who have no actual on-the-ground knowledge of how their decisions impact not just people but the local environment too.

It might not shock the Senate for me to say that I'm not the world's biggest greenie, but I think I'm about to get myself fitted up for a koala suit because some of these renewable energy projects near my home town of Rockhampton are destroying our local environment, destroying local koala habitats and destroying local sugar glider habitats. It's an absolute environmental outrage. It is vandalism on an industrial scale that these projects, with government approval and often government funding, can come along and just knock off the tops of mountains to put 200 x 200 square metre pads for wind turbines.

Farmers from down the valley can't cut down a tree in the Great Barrier Reef without being accused of being criminals, but these large investors—often from overseas—can just walk in and totally destroy our local environment, with no questions asked. There must be a greater spotlight put on these practices because people are making decisions out of complete ignorance. They do not know what's going on on the ground, and it will be too late when we wake up 10 or 20 years hence and vast swathes of our wonderful, rural, green landscapes have been turned into industrial wastelands. People on the ground deserve this inquiry today. It should have been done yesterday, before we made some of these decisions, but it needs to be done as soon as possible.

I want to recognise all the people who travelled to Canberra over the past days to witness this debate. They're trying to get their voice heard. That's all they want. They just want a voice. I would implore the Senate to please give them that right and respect as Australians to have that voice and support this inquiry. I also want to recognise my colleagues in the other place, the member for Mallee, Ann Webster, and the member for Wide Bay, Llew O'Brien, but I know others as well have been working very hard on this, trying to give local constituents the opportunity to bring their concerns to their nation's capital.