As you would no doubt be aware I have been running a very intense campaign with community groups against wind farm projects and the Pioneer-Burdekin Pumped Hydro Scheme and the devastation they are set to cause to prime agricultural land and pristine countryside in Central Queensland.
We have now received the news that the Palaszczuk Government has backed down on their lax State code 23 Legislation.
This legislation is all about requirements for wind farms.
State Code 23 includes requirements aimed at ensuring wind farms are designed and operated to minimise adverse impacts on the natural environment, ecological processes, visual amenity, air services, transport networks and noise levels.
Labor’s unrelenting march to 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030 comes at the expense of regional Australians.
At this point in time the renewable sector does not have to comply with any current regulations in Queensland including tree clearing guidelines, reef legislation or environmental protocols that have been imposed on every other industry. This is frankly outrageous.
Take the Moah Creek Wind Farm as a case in point, it is located thirty kilometres west of the Rockhampton, and will impact 654 hectares of remnant vegetation.
Woody vegetation is mapped as remnant where the dominant canopy has greater than 70 per cent of the height and greater than 50 per cent of the cover relative to the undisturbed
height and cover of that stratum and is dominated by species characteristic of the vegetation’s undisturbed canopy.
Not only that, this area is a haven for koalas, greater gliders, echidnas, and ghost bats.
While graziers and cane farmers are required by law to adhere to strict reef regulation legislation and tree clearing laws, renewable energy companies have open slather to demolish areas of protected native vegetation and habitat to endangered animals.
Does this sound Green to you? I assume as long as it is out of sight, it is out of mind to inner city Green voters who live in capital cities far, far away from the environmental havoc they cause.
As a result of my visits to properties that will be affected by these wind farms, I have pushed for the Queensland Government to undertake a review of the legislation framework for renewable energy projects.
Here are the issues I would like addressed in State Code 23:
Ensuring these projects are not in areas of significant environmental and
cultural value.
Greater protection of the Great Barrier Reef through companies adhere to reef
legislation.
Acoustic levels must be in line with best practice management.
A more solid investigation into the impact of how the construction process will affect locals in the area, which include housing issues.
Establish requirements for rehabilitation.
Better planning of haulage routes to prevent road deterioration and dust pollution.
While this review is a positive development, we still have a long way to go to ensure these renewable energy companies do not pillage and ruin our country just because this Labor-Greens alliance is pushing a renewable agenda.
That is why community groups from right across Queensland are converging on Queensland Parliament on August 22 to rally against reckless renewables.
The Rally Against Reckless Renewables will be held at Queensland Parliament in Brisbane on Tuesday, 22 August from midday.
