2025 federal Wannon election candidates on off-shore wind

The Standard

The Wannon candidates talk about their stance on the proposed off-shore windfarm

Transcript

00:00When it comes to the proposed offshore wind farm, I'm the candidate who is going for greater

00:12community consultation and a better deal for our area when it comes to the projects, which

00:17we do a lot of heavy lifting here. I'm really disappointed with the flip-flopping when it

00:21comes to those. We saw the Liberal Party with great fanfare announce that they're going to

00:25be making offshore wind zones. They've now flip-flopped and say that they're against it.

00:30Labor seem to be going for it without listening to the voices in the community who are against

00:35it and should be consulted with when making big decisions like this. So I'm pushing forward

00:39for the consultation process over the next couple of years, letting the environmental

00:43surveys being done to make sure that we're not doing anything to harm the environment,

00:47but we do have the opportunity to get cheaper power for people and making sure a better deal

00:52for our area. But I certainly won't be supporting it if those things are failed and the community

00:56are fully against it.

00:58Personally, I know that wind farms, a lot of them use carbon to actually be made and so

01:05it's not actually producing much energy from those wind farms anyway. So personally, as

01:09a person, I don't think they really need it. And they're taking up land as well that's

01:13used for farmlands as well. So probably not the best thing, no.

01:16My stance on the wind farms, the offshore wind farms, in principle, I am supportive of renewable

01:21energy and we need to make a rapid transition from fossil fuels to renewables. But we need

01:28to take the community along with us. And so every step of the way, there needs to be community

01:34consultation early and often. And we need to make sure that our community is benefiting

01:40from any infrastructure. So that means, you know, access to tertiary education and to trade

01:46needs. So we can upskill local people, we can create jobs in the area and can contribute

01:52to the local economy. We need to make sure that our marine life won't be adversely affected.

01:58We need to have strong, check the environmental impact and cultural heritage impact of any proposals,

02:04look at the whale and migratory bird patterns and make sure that we're not endangering wildlife

02:10or our local community. I personally don't like offshore wind farms. The cost to build them is

02:20astronomical. The cost of power and energy is going up and up. Where we were promised over

02:34the years that wind farms, we're going to reduce the cost of energy. It's gone the other way. It's gone

02:42up and up and up. The cost of the erection alone, just the base itself is over 100 tonne of reinforcing steel.

02:56It needs coking coal to make steel. I'm against it. The community has been very strong in voicing

03:07its concerns about this offshore, proposed offshore wind farm. I took a petition to the parliament,

03:15which had 7,000 signatures. And that shows the community is, does not support this. The community

03:22feel like they've been railroaded on this offshore wind farm. We also saw from Portland the exactly

03:29the same feeling that they felt like they were being railroaded. And the government in the end

03:34has put it off the coast here of Warrnambool and Port Ferry. It's a bad idea. It doesn't have

03:40community support and it's been put in an environmentally sensitive area where we have wonderful marine

03:47bird life, wonderful whale breeding area. And this is the wrong place for this offshore wind farm.

03:54And if we are elected to government, we will rip it up.

03:59Well, I've spoken about this before and I actually advocate for it. It's labour policy to be putting

04:05in the offshore wind farms. And in truth, if you look at it, it would provide the energy we need,

04:11that self-sufficiency that we need also in this world. And it will power up manufacturing again

04:22and enable it to be providing more jobs for people, more job security, not only just in the energy

04:31sector, but it will mean that we will transition to renewables very quickly. We are transitioning out

04:38of fossil fuels and we are moving into that. And that will enable us to basically light up the

04:43whole of Australia plus industry. And of course, Victoria will also have the advantage of the SCCV.

04:49So that's fantastic. Re-establishing, once again, getting back to the cost of living,

04:54that will reduce our energy bills as well. Oh my goodness. No, that's a complete waste of money.

04:59Don't even think of it. The corrosion for a start on the infrastructure,

05:04metal blades and the cement is impractical. The fact that it produces a direct current,

05:10which can't be assimilated into the existing grid means to me, it's just a waste of money. It's

05:16intermittent. The lifespan of those towers will be very brief. And I must say, once I was standing

05:25at Thunder Point in Warrnambool and I saw out to sea a blue whale traveling with a pod of other whales,

05:31it was the most amazing experience. It was enormous. I've never seen anything so big.

05:37Only a week later, that blue whale was killed because there was oil drilling in the Bass Strait

05:45and it was killed by the seismic blasts. Well, I tell you what, wildlife around the world

05:52needs our protection. And building those towers, we don't know the effect, but from my point of view,

05:59it's a complete waste of money.

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