Rally Against 'Reckless Renewables'

FLASHBACK: Member for Wide Bay Llew O’Brien, Member for Maranoa David Littleproud and Kilkivan Action Group spokesperson Katy McCallum with other protesters at a Brisbane rally against the Borumba Dam Pumped Hydro Project last August (Photo: LNP)

February 5, 2024

Two South Burnett residents are scheduled to speak at a rally targeting renewable energy projects to be held in Canberra on Tuesday.

Katy McCallum, from the Kilkivan Action Group, and Jim Willmott, from Property Rights Australia, will take to the microphone at the “National Rally Against Reckless Renewables” about noon.

The Kilkivan Action Group has been campaigning against the Borumba Pumped Hydro Scheme and the proposed Powerlink transmission lines which would link the dam to the Woolooga and Haly Creek sub-stations.

Ms McCallum says the project threatens to send the critically endangered Nangur Spiny Skink to extinction.

Also scheduled to speak at the rally are Member for Wide Bay Llew O’Brien and Member for Flynn Colin Boyce.

Other speakers include Senator Jacinta Price, former MP Craig Kelly, Senator Ralph Babet, Senator Matt Canavan, Senator Malcolm Roberts, Senator Gerrard Rennick, Senator Pauline Hanson, Bob Katter MP and former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce.

Current Nationals leader, Member for Maranoa David Littleproud, said the rally would be calling “for the suspension of Labor’s plans to rip up agricultural land, which will destroy farming communities and reduce the supply of food, therefore driving up food prices”.

He said regional Australia was being forced “to bear the brunt of inner-city ideology”.

“Labor is pursuing a reckless 82 per cent renewables target by 2030 which is driving up costs and threatening agricultural land, regional communities and native flora and fauna,” Mr Littleproud said.

“We need to know how much agricultural land is earmarked, where is it earmarked and when will the projects be forced on to local communities? We also need to know how much these projects will cost taxpayers and what are the protection rights of property owners.

“We have time to pause, to plan and to use common sense. Sadly, it’s becoming obvious that renewables are losing their social licence because they are destroying the very thing they were designed to protect, including native vegetation and endangered species.”

He claimed that for Labor to meet its targets, 40 x 7MW wind turbines would need to be installed every month until 2030 and 22,000 500W solar panels installed every day, or 60 million by 2030.

“Labor will also require 34 times the current amount of utility-scale variable renewable energy in the national electricity market to meet its hydrogen export ambitions,” Mr Littleproud said.

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