GPSA Pushes for Fairer Compensation on Transmission Project

Grain Producers South Australia says it cannot support any proposed route for the Northern Transmission Project unless compensation arrangements for affected landholders are brought into line with those offered interstate.

The organisation says grain growers are being unfairly treated compared to landholders in states including Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, where annual payment models are increasingly being adopted for renewable energy and transmission infrastructure.

A recent GPSA survey of more than one-thousand grain producers found eighty-five per cent supported ongoing annual compensation payments for hosting transmission infrastructure on farm.

Almost seventy per cent of respondents also indicated they would be unlikely to voluntarily allow renewable energy infrastructure on their properties without fairer compensation arrangements in place.

GPSA Chief Executive Brad Perry says growers are not opposed to renewable energy development, but farming businesses should not be forced to shoulder an unfair share of the burden.

He says transmission towers can create long-term impacts on machinery movement, cropping efficiency and future farm planning.

GPSA says the current compensation framework must be fundamentally improved before the organisation could support any proposed route for the project.