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  • Ellis Gelios

Member for Mallee, Dr Anne Webster, addresses next month's "Reckless Renewables Rally" in Canberra

Nationals Member for Mallee, Dr Anne Webster appeared on Flow FM's Country Viewpoint program this week to profile next month's significant protest event to be held on the lawns of Parliament House.


Image credit: Anne Webster MP official Facebook page

Thousands of protestors are expected to attend the rally, which Webster will also front to speak out against an issue she says many of her constituents are aggrieved by.


"People might be aware that over the last 12 months in particular, I've been actively supporting farming communities who are being railroaded with transmission lines or wind farms or even rare earth mining," Webster said.


"All of those things are really stepping on, literally, agricultural land and in some cases, generations of farmers threatened into the future because of these projects and Labor, in particular, in Victoria, has been railroading Mallee constituents - it is all connected whether it's rare earth mining which theoretically goes into batteries as well as defence material.


"The problem is that we have some farmers who are happy to put wind towers onto their own land and they consider it drought proofing, they'll receive X dollars per year for each wind turbine that they put on their land, problem is the neighbours are impacted, the community is impacted and what I've seen over the last 12 to 18 months is that communities are being divided and fragmented because these are not just a personal decision, it impacts the whole of the community."


Webster indicated that she will attend next month's rally in Canberra with an open mind, despite her staunch opposition to wind towers and transmission lines.


"There are going to be different views at that reckless renewables rally and there are some who just don't want any renewables at all, but in my view, in representing Mallee, there are some who believe that some renewables is a good thing and I have to take that on board as well," Webster said.


"What we want is reliable, affordable, sustainable energy into the future and at the moment the push being made by Labor is not that and energy prices continue to soar. I read that gas is up 28%, I think electricity is up 18%, people's bills continue to climb while we continue to drive this renewable rush when we have no dispatchable power.


"We will have no dispatchable power by the time they turn off coal and of course Victoria have shut down gas, so we're in a very difficult state right now in Australia, so I will speak at the Reckless Renewables Rally on February 6 in Canberra, invite every farmer, every person in the community to come and have their voice heard, be part of the crowd that will gather.


"I think we do need nuanced arguments and it needs to include nuclear into the future and it certainly needs to include gas and even clean coal, there are many new ways to develop power and energy from coal which is cleaner than it was in the past."





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