13 July

Farmers and the Clean Energy Council have quantified what’s at stake in the idiot war some in politics have invented over renewables in regional and rural areas. This is the projected income to both local towns and farmers that is at risk. (See: https://cleanenergycouncil.org.au/news-resources/billions-in-the-bush-landholder-benefits) Renewable energy is the enormous strategic advantage regional areas have, that is key to their survival. To weaponise it for cheap votes should be a criminal offence. I challenge anybody to name one other viable industry for these areas, that can allow them to survive. Just one will do. Tourism, turning them into bucolic theme parks for bored city people, is the usual answer. It won’t even scratch the surface of what’s needed for them to survive.