In this interview, Mia Schlicht appeared on Credlin – Sky News Australia to discuss the findings of the IPA’s research on net zero.
All media appearances posted onto the IPA website are directly related to the promotion and dissemination of IPA research
Peta Credlin:
Now to something that’s really going to upset the pro-renewables lobby. Today the Institute of Public Affairs has launched its new renewables rejection database, and it reveals in black and white the vast number of community groups that oppose large-scale renewable energy projects across regional Australia.
Now, as of tonight, there is something like 150 projects on this database where locals reject them, and this number set to grow as Chris Bowen commits to going even harder to meet his failing 2030 targets. Joining me now, research fellow at the IPA, Mia Schlicht, to talk us through this work.
Well, it’s hard to dispute the facts Mia, and once you have this database, and we can all get on there and have a look at it and search it, you’ve brought together in one place a wholesale list of communities that are saying, “Absolutely not. We do not want these projects to change our communities and our landscape forever.” I think this is a very important project.
Mia Schlicht:
Yeah, thanks for having me on Peta. That’s exactly right. I mean, for too long we’ve had pro-renewable groups spinning this narrative that opposition to renewable energy projects are somehow isolated or they’re fringe. And what we’ve done, our experience on the ground in the IPA and as you’ve seen, our visiting these original communities, that’s just not the case. There are farmers and landholders all across the country who are furious about the net-zero policy and the way the rollout is affecting their lands, and they’re banding together to stand up and say, “Enough is enough.”
And for too long we’ve had groups in the inner city advocating for these ideological goals to achieve net-zero. But it’s all well and good to say when these projects aren’t being built in their backyard, they’re not having transmission towers constructed against, across their land. And when you put these groups together, you can see that this opposition is not isolated. It’s national, and it’s growing, and it’s organised.
Peta Credlin:
All right, so you’ve got a good appreciation of the grassroots opposition. What would your advice be the Liberals? Because they’re going to meet to discuss this very issue on Friday, what would you say to them?
Mia Schlicht:
Well, yeah, we know the coalition is meeting this week to decide a position on net-zero, and what I would say is that, look, the Australians have not had an opportunity to have their say on net-zero. We’ve had bipartisan support for net-zero at the last two elections, and at the last two federal elections, a coalition has lost in a landslide. Australians do not get behind net-zero, we’ve told them. And 79% of Australians said that affordability and reliability should be the main focus of our energy policy, not net-zero. So I would remind these MPs who are meeting this week, that many of these regional communities form their constituents, and it’s important to make sure that their voices and their opinions are brought to the table.
Peta Credlin:
Yeah, just quickly remind us how many of them are foreign owned? Talk about wind and talk about solar, Mia.
Mia Schlicht:
Yeah, we’ve done some research at the IPA to look at just how many of these projects are foreign-owned, and the numbers are quite shocking. Altogether, about 75% of these projects are foreign-owned. And what many Australians do not realise, is that they are the ones propping up these foreign-owned companies through a river of subsidies that they pay for on hidden charges on their electricity bills. So we have Australians crying out for lower power prices and at the same time, the bills are increasing because of net-zero, and because of these policies that are going to line the pockets of foreign-owned companies.
Peta Credlin:
You’re not wrong, and they sweep in, they get the subsidies, the company sells on the project, the next one who gets the subsidies, and they sell it on again. It is a money-making scheme for these companies. They are not there all the way through the life of these projects, and it’s got to break hearts in the country and break farms to. Thank you Mia.
This transcript with Mia Schlicht on Credlin – Sky News Australia has been edited for clarity.
