Well it’s official, everybody except that self-deluded and letter Chris Bowen absolutely hates the idea of offshore wind farms floating willy-nilly in the Pacific Ocean 20 miles from our pristine coastline.
Labor MP Fiona Phillips probably thought she was winning the hearts and minds of voters everywhere when she announced the final approval for an offshore wind energy zone in the Illawarra area of New South Wales.
Looming over the pristine stretch of water between Stanwell Park and Kiama is a haunting shadow earmarked for industrialisation – the colonisation of the sea by a delusional ideology.
Residents are preparing for the installation of concrete and steel blades the size of skyscrapers. They will be sunk into the water – whales be damned. And yes, they will be visible from elevated positions along the coast as depicted in the official mock-ups within the proposal.
The turbines are described as 268 m high with blades of 118 m. They will stand on a grid 2 km by 2 km apart that begins roughly 20 km from the shoreline.
‘It will bring new employment opportunities, creating an estimated 1,740 jobs during construction and 870 ongoing jobs,’ Ms Phillips declared, only for locals to threaten to vote her out of power at the first available moment.
Plenty of residents flocked to her Facebook post to voice their opinion on the wind farm. Later, she added, ‘Worth noting that the then-NSW Liberal government declared the Illawarra Renewable Energy Zone off the coast of the Illawarra in Feb 2023.’
Giving your opposition credit for something is typically an indication that the policy has turned sour. Besides, no one is claiming the Liberals are any better. They’re not. The soaking wet Morrison regime sold Australia’s local environment out to renewable energy barons with just as much enthusiasm as Blackout Bowen.
As regional communities keep saying, if offshore wind is so wonderful and pretty, why aren’t there wind turbines planned for Bondi and Mosman? Surely the most eco-minded communities would love the opportunity to ‘do their bit’…? Or is environmentalism a bit like being asked to donate a kidney to that person you said hi to once while buying a train ticket. You care but … you would rather someone else do it.
‘Let me be clear, anybody that opposes this opposes cheaper power prices and more local jobs,’ she snapped.
Which is odd, because the more renewable energy that enters the grid, the higher energy bill prices climb – a pattern repeated across Australia and around the world with the exception of traditional hydro. Perhaps residents are concerned about the look of their area and the environmental impact? That is what they say at community consultations. To write their concerns off in such a cynical, flippant remark is unbecoming of the MP.
In one of many examples, hundreds of locals gathered under the historic lighthouse at Flagstaff Hill in October 2023. ‘Keep the sea free!’ they shouted.
(Notice how they weren’t shouting, ‘Stop all those jobs!’)
These were not professional activists or uni kids skipping class – they were families and business owners uncomfortable on the front line of a rally.
When questioned about the risk posed to birds and whales, Ms Phillips replied that the wind farm would have to abide by the Environmental Protection Biodiversity and Conservation Act, a piece of legislation that includes shutting turbines down during, for example, breeding seasons.
This would suggest that wind farms have at least some detrimental impact on bird populations otherwise why turn them off?
Despite extensive ‘consultation’ processes, the reality is that communities are unable to oppose renewable energy projects.
There is no genuine democratic mechanism to protect the environment.
Australians live at the whim of ‘progress’.
When the government decides to build something, it goes through the motions of consultation and then does whatever it wants. Regional communities feel that their voice means little to Labor.
To every complaint of potential danger to the local environment, ‘experts’ reply that the damage caused to the marine environment must be compared to ‘negative impacts caused to marine ecosystems due to inaction on climate change’.
It is the perfect example of destroying the environment to save it.
We are seeing an immediate, measurable harm replaced with a wishy-washy, unquantifiable, and untestable harm. Citizens could pile up shredded seagulls and point at blood stains on the blades and an expert could still say, ‘Yes, that’s sad – but think of the reef!’ Those who live near one of the west coast reefs marked for a wind farm could point to the concrete poured over the coral and an expert could still say, ‘Oh, that’s very sad – but think of the ice caps!’
Only the souring of public opinion can stop wind farms and the very real threat of politicians losing power.
Nationals Leader David Littleproud speculated that Labor picked the Illawarra area as a guinea pig for offshore wind because it was a safe Labor area.
‘The projects are not necessary. Australians are sick of billionaires telling them how to live. The wind farms will destroy our economy and our sovereign capability. The only way to stop the wind farms is to not vote Labor. We have a very short window of opportunity to stop this.
‘Labor has sold the people a pipe dream that we are going to have an environmental utopia. What we have is a catastrophe. We say there is a clear difference. The Nationals won’t be supporting offshore wind farms.
‘We don’t intend to support big industrial renewables.
‘This goes to the very heart of what determines elections, testing the politicians on how they are going to represent their people.’
If you are confused, that is understandable. Littleproud has backflipped on the renewable issue, with his current stance sitting a long way from these comments that some argue cost the Nationals dearly at the last election.
‘I believe the climate is changing. Whether it is manmade or not, I don’t really care. The reality is we are seeing disruption, particularly with renewables, and we are going to see cleaner air. I try not to live in cities, you do feel the effects … so it’s a good thing that renewables are coming on.
‘In fact, in my own electorate I’ve got all of the above. I’m about to have one of the largest solar farms in the southern hemisphere, one of the biggest wind farms in the southern hemisphere. I’ve got geothermal and I’ve got four coal-fired power stations. Two of those are super critical.
‘The disruption that’s happening with the technology, moving towards renewable energy, particularly in storage for base load, is exciting. I think it is a good thing.’
You know what? I guess the real lesson here is that politicians are about as reliable as a wind turbine on a calm day.
