“While the Coalition dithers on its position on net zero, relying on policy briefings behind closed doors in Canberra with Sydney-based academics; the IPA is in the regions listening to Australians who will be hit hardest, but are being ignored by the political class,” said Mia Schlicht, Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.
Today, the IPA launched new research, the IPA Renewables Rejection Database, in Albury. The database documents the growing grassroots opposition to large-scale wind, solar, battery, and transmission projects imposed on regional communities. Key findings include:
- There has been over 150 instances of community-led opposition to renewable energy projects across Australia since 2008.
- Nine of the ten federal electorates recording the highest levels of community opposition to renewable energy developments are held by members of the Coalition, these seats are:
- New England (National Party) – 14 projects rejected.
- Riverina (National Party) – 12 projects rejected.
- Mallee (National Party) – 12 projects rejected.
- Farrer (Liberal Party) – 8 projects rejected.
- Calare (Independent) – 7 projects rejected.
- Maranoa (National Party) – 7 projects rejected.
- Wannon (Liberal Party) – 7 projects rejected.
- Barker (Liberal Party) – 6 projects rejected.
- Parkes (National Party) – 6 projects rejected.
- Nicholls (National Party) – 6 projects rejected.
“The very communities Australia relies upon for its food, fibre, and exports are being steamrolled in the name of net zero. Their plight is being ignored by the same politicians they elected and trusted to represent their best interests,” Ms Schlicht said.
“Opposition to net zero is not isolated or fringe – it is national, organised, and growing, which represents a major and growing problem for political leaders who ignore the will of their electorates.”
The IPA Renewables Rejection Database is the first national record of its kind, bringing together examples of councils, farmers, residents, and community groups rejecting renewable energy developments.
“The IPA’s research has been inspired by that of energy expert Robert Bryce, who has extensively mapped the rejection of renewables throughout the United States and across the world. The IPA’s database exposes the true scale of the public backlash to the destructive consequences of net zero policies in Australia,” Ms Schlicht said.
“For too long, Australians outside the capital cities have been treated as collateral damage in the nation’s reckless race to net zero.”
“This database gives a voice to mainstream Australians who have had a gutful. They are standing up for their communities, for affordable energy, and for Australian prosperity,” Ms Schlicht said.
Recent polling commissioned by the IPA found that only 21 per cent of Australians believe meeting net zero emissions by 2050 should be the focus of energy policy, while 23 per cent believe the focus should be reliability, and 56 per cent believe it should be affordability.
“Decades of poor decision-making based on flawed advice and ideology have crushed Australia’s most productive industries. Once we had some of the cheapest electricity in the industrialised world, now we have some of the most expensive,” Ms Schlicht said.
“Replacing the reliable energy currently generated by coal, gas, and oil with wind and solar would require the industrialisation of roughly one-third of Australia’s agricultural land. This scale of land use would irreversibly transform our rural landscape and threaten our nation’s food security.”
To view the IPA’s Renewables Rejection Database click here.
