Fabulous effort with Jazz festival weekend This is just a letter of thanks to all involved with the jazz festival weekend in Wangaratta. There was a wide variety of great activities available for all to enjoy, with beautiful weather also adding to the weekend. I would especially like to give a special thanks for the organisation involved for the free community stage. A lot of thought had been put into this so that everyone could enjoy it. I won't mention all the activities provided. If you were there you will know, and if you missed out, do yourself a favour and go next year. Congratulations. Colleen Jackel, Wangaratta Time to consider the financial costs I hope that this comparison will help many of your readers get their head around the scale of funding as politicians on all sides talk excitedly about the money they are spending on various projects. If we convert dollars to seconds, a million dollars is about 11.5 days. A billion is 31.7 years. And – wait for it – a trillion is 31,700 years! Food for thought. David Price, Wangaratta Opposition lacking to stop solar farm It's a pity that the eminent Dr Helen Haines (MHR, Indi) did not oppose the inappropriate industrial solar facility development at Meadow Creek - especially as she identifies as a cattle farmer herself. Dr Haines has many mechanisms as our federal MP to oppose this development and has had more than enough time to introduce a Private Member's bill to ensure that agricultural land is protected from renewables in the King Valley, and Australia wide, but has chosen not to as a key independent, who received funding from Climate 200. She can criticise the Victorian government's decisions when she chooses but has refused to take a stand against this facility. Covering agricultural country with renewables must have an inflationary effect on food prices, impact food security and diminish agricultural exports. The biggest threat to farming businesses is not climate change, but rather multinational companies and billionaires subsidised by Labor to cover prime agricultural land with renewable, including the Battery Energy Storage Systems at Dederang and the vast amounts of land at Glenrowan, Winton and Baddaginnie being put under solar panels and soon the Meadow Creek solar facility. When will commonsense prevail to keep farming land for farming as written in the Paris Agreement article 2.1b and not threaten food production? Frank Vickers, Wangaratta Community consultation must be part of changes This week I proposed key amendments to new environmental laws being debated in Parliament. The reforms to Australia’s environment laws are long overdue, but there is still a need for greater transparency and meaningful community consultation to be embedded in the legislation. Our laws must protect nature, give clarity to industry, and provide a clear path for community input and impact to be considered. These new laws move us forward in parts, but give substantial discretionary powers to the minister and fall well short in ensuring genuine community consultation. The inclusion of bioregional mapping in the reforms is welcomed, but it is imperative environmental considerations extend to high value agricultural land and drinking water catchments, strengthening requirements on developers. Bioregional plans must consider and protect the sustainable maintenance of high value agricultural land and drinking water catchments. I’m drafting amendments to require a National Environment Standard for Community Engagement and Consultation that developers must address. For two years, I’ve been calling for agricultural land to be mapped to identify clear ‘no-go’ zones for large-scale renewable projects and give regional communities certainty. The government must outline how it will identify these ‘go’ and ‘no-go’ zones, and how they interact with state Renewable Energy Zones. Dr Helen Haines, Independent federal MP for Indi Nationals adopt fairer energy and climate plan The Nationals are putting Australians first with cheaper electricity, secure jobs and lower emissions. We are announcing an all-energy approach, to deliver the lowest possible electricity prices for Australian households and businesses, while maintaining reliability and lowering emissions. Australia can’t afford Labor’s Net Zero plan, which Labor cannot achieve anyway. The Nationals will abandon a net zero commitment. We will do our fair share to reduce global emissions, but not more than the rest of the world. Our plan is cheaper because we will lower energy prices first, use all of our resources and abandon the commitment to net zero. All carbon taxes and restrictions should be removed. Our plan is better because we will protect our local environment through local community action such as waterway protection, land restoration and soil carbon. We will ensure that our national security is not compromised. Our plan is fairer because we will reduce emissions in line with comparable nations, not ahead of them. We will ensure that costs are distributed fairly, not concentrated on regional Australia. Australia has cut more emissions than other countries - about two per cent per year - double the OECD rate. We will incentivise lower emissions through a renewed Emissions Reduction Fund. This will be a small fraction of the $9 billion now being spent each year on net-zero subsidies, regulations, and administrative costs. Our approach will increase investment in cheaper electricity by broadening the Capacity Investment Scheme to include all energy technologies and remove the moratorium on nuclear energy. Senator Bridget McKenzie, Nationals' deputy leader
