Bush telegraph: Voice, renewables, city divide, drought the big issues at Bush Summit

Now in its fourth 12 months, and working nationally for the primary time, the Bush Summit has created tangible change throughout the bush, together with the institution of the Rural Advisory Panel which offers `recommendation to the federal government from the folks on the bottom and never bureaucrats within the metropolis.

The occasion has additionally protected the livelihoods of farming communities by pushing governments to introduce the ‘right to farm’ laws to maintain activists off farms.

The summit sequence launches immediately in Tamworth NSW earlier than hitting the highway for occasions in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia subsequent week.

Watch dwell within the video participant above because the 2023 Bush Summit unfolds.

BARNABY GOES NUCLEAR ON RENEWABLES

The tussle over the transition to renewables has taken centre stage on the Bush Summit.

“These companies are not doing it to save the planet. They’re doing it to make money,” New England MP Barnaby Joyce mentioned of the power corporations coming into his citizens with renewable initiatives.

Joking that he needed to take care of a few of these corporations with former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull “when we got along”, the previous Deputy PM mentioned he wasn’t for internet zero “if it’s going to put you out of business”.

Australian Energy Council chief government Sarah McNamara mentioned there are 100 wind farms working throughout Australia’s east coast and it was a “really delicate difficult thing”.

Transgrid’s Craig Stallan mentioned his firm was consulting the neighborhood about transmission traces presently being constructed within the Snowy Hydro area.

“It takes time to get some of these decisions. We don’t make these decisions … we push it through the machine to try and get the best outcome,” he mentioned.

Squadron Energy CEO Jason Willoughby mentioned 90 per cent of a wind farm is recyclable, in response to a query about waste produced by renewable power.

They panel shared their ideas on the way forward for power, with Mr Joyce declaring: “By default we’re going to go nuclear.”

TRANSMISSION LINES ‘DIVIDE COMMUNITIES’

Farmers have shared the challenges and alternatives surrounding power transition.

Tamworth farmer Jacqui Gidley-Baird’s property has been earmarked for transmission traces to run via it.

“So very terrifying news, and the worst thing was, is we now find that it’s not as nice as people think,” she mentioned.

“It will change the way that we operate our farm significantly. We cannot cultivate under these transmission lines. We can’t grow the fodder, we can’t self-graze because although these transmission lines don’t give off radioactive energies, they actually do short electric fences, so we can’t use electric fences anywhere near them.

“Plus we take on a massive fire risk,” she mentioned.

While she helps renewable power, she mentioned placing the traces in communities had been completed the flawed method.

“Landholders like myself that (are facing) compulsory acquisition of my land, taking away all my ability to operate, taking away my capital value and my children’s future, my neighbour’s futures,” she mentioned.

“My husband and I are Rural Fire Service volunteers. We will never forget the fear after the drought and the fires … and putting towers like that in communities that need aircraft to fight fires and taking away their ability to actually protect themselves – it’s not the way to go.”

Bendemeer farmer Rachel Rummery mentioned renewable power is the best way ahead, however farmers should be consulted. She has a wind farm being constructed on her property, however has been consulted about that.

“We also have the possibility of transmission lines crossing our land, and we get very little choice in that. At least (with) the wind farm I’ve had a choice, they’ve come to me and said, ‘would you like to be involved? These are the benefits’, and I got to choose. (There’s) no choice with a power line,” she mentioned.

CRICKET TALENT PLUCKED FROM BUSH

Australian cricketer – and Bendemeer-raised native hero – Josh Hazlewood has advised the Bush Summit of his upbringing taking part in cricket round Tamworth, saying there’s nonetheless loads of expertise popping out of the bush.

“I probably don’t get back enough to realise it, but there’s still young guys coming through (here) all the time,” he mentioned.

“Opportunity is the key word, and no one gets through the net now, NSW does a great job of finding all the talent, and getting it to Sydney.”

He mentioned Test cricket continues to be the top of the sport in Australia, India and the UK, however different international locations have slid in direction of shorter codecs of the sport.

“You see all the youngsters go in that direction until they realise they may not make it, and they go back to the franchise stuff,” he mentioned.

BATTLES, BENEFITS OF BUSH

Stakeholders from business folks to native police have advised the Bush Summit of the challenges and advantages of dwelling within the areas.

Penny Ashby, founder and designer of Lady Kate Knitwear in Narrabri mentioned her greatest challenges have been the “the same things I talk to my friends in the city about … most things are only small hurdles. When you live in the country you get used to having to access something via telehealth”.

“As long as you have good internet connection …(you’re) not disadvantaged at all where you live,” she mentioned.

“Childcare and education … is a real problem where we live.”

Ashraf Al-Ouf, the CEO Bayer Group Australia and New Zealand, mentioned an enormous well being divide stays between the bush and metro areas, with bush entry to GPs an enormous difficulty.

One in 4 folks within the bush has cardiovascular points, in comparison with one in 5 within the metropolis.

Royal Flying Doctor’s chair Tracey Hayes mentioned lack of housing was a significant difficulty, and legislation and order “is a challenge”.

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Pisanos, regional NSW subject operations, mentioned there have been nice points of interest within the bush, particularly for younger cops, but additionally challenges.

“The greatest incentive we have … is about lifestyle and community, and the civic leadership role police can play in small towns and communities,” he mentioned.

“There’s the challenge of when you stop being a cop. I think regional country cops take the issues in the community personally.

“Youth crime is a major issue, we’re seeing issues around serious youth crime. The age of criminal offending is shifting down younger.

“We just can’t arrest our way out of some of these complex societal problems.”

WE NEED NUCLEAR: DUTTON

Opposition chief Peter Dutton, at his first ever Bush Summit, has mentioned there must be an “honest discussion” in regards to the transition to renewables and mentioned nuclear power must be explored additional as an possibility.

He mentioned regional residents had been handled as “second class citizens” with wind generators and transmission traces headlining their considerations.

“I live on a small rural property about 35-40 minutes out of the city in Brisbane, people in my community wouldn’t tolerate turbines going up in their suburbs, pure and simple,” he mentioned.

“They want that amenity and I think there is a divide now between cities and regional areas where people in regional areas are being treated as second class citizens.”

He mentioned Australia ought to chase small modular reactors like China, France, the UK, and the US.

“It doesn’t need to be refuelled, we can deal with the waste responsibly. And you don’t have the disruption to rural communities that we’re seeing unfolding moment,” he mentioned.

DAM NUMBERS ‘NEVER STACKED UP’

Water and setting Minister Tanya Plibersek has defended controversial water buybacks and the federal authorities’s withdrawal of help for the Dungowan Dam mission whereas talking at Bush Summit.

She mentioned the numbers by no means stacked up on Dungowan Dam.

“Infrastructure Australia said this was the worst benefit cost ratio of any project they had ever examined. This has a benefit cost ratio of 0.09,” she mentioned, including that meant virtually for each $1 spent, the worth returned can be 9 cents.

She additionally mentioned she’d pursue water buybacks within the Murray Darling Basin as a part of its push to keep away from a water scarcity.

“My position is we need to look at all viable options,” she mentioned.

“We’ve had a couple of good years … but already the dry times you can feel them coming back.”

“I don’t think there’s any unconventional time to say we need to achieve all the objectives of the Murray Darling Basin Plan.

“I don’t see how we can achieve (the plan) without that (voluntary water buybacks).”

RENT FREEZE ‘THE LAST THING WE NEED’

NSW Premier Chris Minns backed federal Labor’s assault on the Greens’ push for a rental freeze.

The Premier mentioned a rental freeze was “the last thing we need”.

The Greens have aggressively attacked, and delayed, the Albanese authorities’s push for his or her Housing Australia Future Fund by demanding extra help for renters.

“When rents have gone up 24 per cent in the last 12 months, that’s the last thing we need,” he mentioned.

“Everyone who hasn’t already jacked up their rent would immediately do it and they do it before the rental freeze comes in.

WAGE CAP SCRAP BOOST TO REGIONS: MINNS

NSW Premier Chris Minns says government modelling estimates indicate scrapping the wages cap will pump more than $124m into the pay packets of government workers in regional NSW, and deliver the biggest pay rise to public sector workers in NSW in more than a decade.

“Our wages offering will deliver a $124.5 million boost to salaries of public service workers throughout regional NSW, he said, adding that the flow-on effects for communities would be even greater.

He said this was the first step to resolving NSW’s essential worker recruitment and retention crisis, “but it’s not the last. We know that recruitment is key.”

He mentioned the $20,000 increase to incentives for well being staff, geared toward engaging them to the bush, was one other necessary step to fill hard-to-hire roles in rural NSW.

“Which is why, today, I can announce the NSW Government will be doubling incentives for health workers to move to regional communities,” he mentioned.

“We have to grow the workforce in rural, regional and remote areas.

“We know that workforce and skill shortages are contributing to inequitable health outcomes.

“The previous incentive, set in 2010, was never reviewed despite clear strain on our regional health system.”

Teachers Federations members additionally protested outdoors the Bush Summit forward of Mr Minns’ speech.

Asked in regards to the stalemate in pay negotiations with the union, Mr Minns mentioned the settlement in place till January, and the federal government needed to convey talks ahead “because we recognise that there is a chronic teacher shortage”.

“We are committed to lifting first year teacher pay from the lowest in the country to the highest in the country,” he mentioned.

SHOPPERS NEED SUPPLY CHAIN TRANSPARENCY

The Bush Summit’s panel on financial and environmental resilience has heard of the necessity for extra transparency over the provision chain, so customers higher perceive the place their meals and garments come from.

Brad Banducci, Chief Executive Officer of Woolworths, mentioned the corporate was “focused on innovation” and remodeling the provision chain.

Merrilong Pastoral Company proprietor David Brownhill advised the Bush Summit “every farmer has it in their best interest to look after their farming asset” and that the message needed to get via to shoppers in regards to the effort Aussie farmers went via to get the very best product to buy shelfs.

Elders managing director and CEO Mark Allison, mentioned Aussie farming was in a candy spot after a number of good seasons and good costs for livestock and produce, however digital infrastructure should enhance to permit extra farming operations to have the ability to run from the bush.

Mr Brownhill connectivity points have been highlighted by him “paying some billionaire” $130 a month to make use of their web service – referencing Elon Musk’s satellite tv for pc web system – moderately than utilizing the government-run NBN.

PM MEETS PROTESTERS

Greeted by protesters outdoors the Bush Summit, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has met with a few of the protesters in a personal room after his tackle, and Q&A with The Daily Telegraph editor Ben English.

James Golden, chairman of the apolitical Renewable and Transmission Line Action Network (RAT: AND), mentioned he was representing indignant farmers from far North Queensland all the way down to Tasmania.

“I would like to compliment the Prime Minister for speaking to us for 25 minutes,” he mentioned. “But it is not enough for us to be heard yet.”

The farmers are sad that overseas owned corporations want to put 1000’s of hectares of photo voltaic panels and wind generators on prime agricultural land.

“The Prime Minister has promised to give us a seat at the table,” Mr Gooden mentioned. “He was very receptive to us calling for a senate inquiry into this.”

Farmer John Peatfield was additionally within the assembly and advised the Prime Minister that farmers have been sad with the actions of overseas owned corporations placing in photo voltaic panels and wind generators.

VOICE, HERITAGE LAWS ‘DIVIDE US’: RINEHART

Billionaire businesswoman Gina Rinehart has known as on the federal government to spend money on major industries throughout the area as she welcomed the Western Australian authorities’s resolution to desert controversial heritage legal guidelines.

“(It was) an act that placed burdens on the backs of West Australians, burdens that many would not have been able to carry,” she mentioned.

She added the prospect of nationwide heritage legal guidelines was a menace till it was “dead, buried and cremated”.’

“It is a threat of a risk of bureaucratic … regulation over the heads of anyone in regional Australia.”

Ms Rinehart’s speech was delivered to the Bush Summit by Hancock Prospecting chief government Adam Giles, on behalf of Ms Rinehart.

He likened an Indigenous Voice to Parliament to cultural heritage legal guidelines — saying they’re designed to divide us, and mentioned the federal government’s pursuit of the Voice as an “oxymoron”.

“They are putting transmission towers in a sacred site … so on one hand we are talking about the Voice and Indigenous decision making. To be putting transmission lines through sacred sites, it’s an oxymoron.

“I think we should march forward as a population together and not have these divisive things that upset us.”

He known as for the federal government to work with Aboriginal sacred websites to make sure they are often protected.

GROWING CITY-BUSH DIVIDE: RINEHART

Ms Rinehart additionally known as for struggle veterans, pensioners and college students to be allowed to work as a lot as they need with out “onerous” hours restrictions.

“(We need to focus on) deleting the upper limit on work hours so that our war veterans, our pensioners, and our university students could all work as long as they wanted.”

Ms Rinehart mentioned “huge and unnecessary large intakes of migrants” have been guilty for a rising metropolis and bush divide as a result of they didn’t have a connection to the bush.

She slammed the ballooning public service workforce, arguing not sufficient completed to spend money on boots on the bottom in regional Australia.

Mr Giles additionally spoke up in opposition to the chance of the power transition – together with transmission traces and wind generators – on primarily agricultural land.

“You can’t be in a situation where Australia is going to destroy all our green pastures … so you can supply power to people living in a concrete jungle in the city,” he mentioned.

To applause, he mentioned the agriculture trade was shouldering the duty of local weather change and reaching internet zero.

“If you’ve got people in the cities creating all that carbon, why are you coming out to my farm and disturbing my farm?” he mentioned.

“The best people who can manage their farms are the farmers themselves … farmers on the ground know their country.”

‘NEED TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT’: PM ON THE VOICE

Mr Albanese has talked about The Voice, saying one thing needed to change as solely 4 out of 19 Closing The Gap targets are being met.

“All of these stats … show we need to do something different,” he mentioned.

“There’s no question that not every Indigenous person has the same position (on The Voice),” he mentioned.

“(But this is) elected by Indigenous people themselves … a body elected by Indigenous people of Indigenous people to make representations to government.”

He added The Voice would end in an elected physique of Indigenous peoples who would advise the federal authorities

“The power of the voice is just the power of its ideas … we are the only former colony on earth which does not recognise first peoples.”

PM BRACED FOR NATURAL DISASTER ‘PERFECT STORM’

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, in a Q and A with Daily Telegraph editor Ben English, has talked of the pure disasters which Australia has to brace for but once more.

“It’s a perfect storm because you’ve had good weather conditions in terms of rain has meant that you’ve got that undergrowth (which) has come back. But if you combine that then with a summer which is hot and dry, they’re quite dangerous conditions,” he mentioned.

He mentioned the federal emergency ministers would quickly meet with state ministers to debate how emergency companies throughout Australia may greatest put together for this 12 months’s predicted bushfire season.

Mr Albanese, who was met with a wall of protesters out the entrance of the Bush Summit occasion, acknowledged rural communities – apprehensive in regards to the transition to renewable power and wind farms and transmission traces – wanted to be higher consulted.

“We need to always try to do our best, whether it’s a private sector taking action or government, to consult with people, because you have better outcomes,” he mentioned.

“Change is difficult … but we need to make sure the community is consulted appropriately.”

PM ON CHINA: ‘CO-OPERATE WHERE WE CAN’

Mr Albanese additionally added Australia has been added to China’s checklist of most well-liked locations – which means “tourists will be coming back”, which he mentioned beforehand contributed $1b yearly to the Aussie financial system.

The Prime Minister mentioned whereas China dropping tariffs on Aussie barley was welcomed, his authorities wouldn’t compromise its values for different financial advantages.

“We’re not about to change our values, we’re not about to change our support for human rights,” he mentioned.

“I want more engagement between China and the United States. The truth is there is the risk of conflict in our region … the consequences of that would be enormous.

“A war in our region would have a very significant impact on every Australian.”

He mentioned Australia’s strategy to China is “co-operate where we can, disagree where we must”.

The Prime Minister additionally revealed at Bush Summit he would go to India for G20 and Jakarta for ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).

PM DETAILS $38M DROUGHT PACKAGE

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese kicked off his tackle to the summit with an announcement on Australian agriculture’s significance to the financial system in addition to his authorities’s stance on overseas diplomacy.

He mentioned China dropping tariffs on Aussie barley previously week would reopen a market value $900m to Aussie barley growers.

“Of course there are many complexities involved in the decisions of a foreign government, even one as welcome as this,” the Prime Minister mentioned.

“But for our part, my Government is working hard to repair and maintain Australia’s relations with our friends, neighbours and trading partners.

“What it doesn’t mean is saying yes to everything. Our approach to China offers a solid template – co-operating where we can, disagreeing where we must, and always engaging in our national interest.

“We can have respectful dialogue without changing any of our fundamental positions – and still make progress.”

Mr Albanese additionally thanked The Telegraph and its editor Ben English for its founding, and continued help, of rural Australia via the summit.

“The Bush Summit is a rock solid part of my diary,” he mentioned, including he had been to each occasion because it began in 2019.

Detailing his $38m federal bundle to assist droughtproof the bush, Mr Albanese mentioned his authorities was taking each step they may to fight drought.

“We know, that with the right approaches farmers can keep their farms more productive for longer, keep feed in their paddocks for longer and moisture in their soils for longer,” he mentioned.

“We know you’re taking every step you can to ward off the impacts of drought, and this Government will be there with you.”

BETTER CONNECTIVITY VITAL: ALBANESE

Mr Albanese additionally made the most important name that connectivity within the bush needed to be bettered, as future methods of working meant “we are reducing the need for so many of us to be concentrated in a handful of big cities”.

“We must improve connectivity, whether it’s with better roads, better rail or better internet,” he mentioned.

“Too many businesses in regional Australia continue to be held back by broadband which is neither fast enough, reliable enough nor good enough.

“Nothing has the power to knock the tyranny of distance out of the equation like world-class communications technology.

“As well as removing a major handbrake on growth and jobs-creation, it can play a vital role in healthcare, education, and help individuals feel more connected.”

He additionally flagged the necessity for higher tertiary training within the bush – saying 20 extra examine hubs can be created beneath his authorities.

“Another important component in building a better, stronger regional Australia is the creation of more regional university hubs,” he mentioned.

“We want more young Australians to have the chance to go to university. At present, postcode is a significant barrier for young people getting that chance. The opportunities that are available to you in life should not be dictated by your address.”

DECISION MAKERS MUST ‘FACE THE MUSIC’

Daily Telegraph editor Ben English has promised the 2023 Bush Summit will see Australia’s decision-makers held to account, with points corresponding to drought, well being employee shortages, rural crime and housing shortages to be on the forefront of the dialogue with the nation’s prime politicians.

“In the home of country music, we are going to make our decision makers from the Prime Minister down, face the music,” Mr English mentioned.

“And that’s entirely how it should be. It’s what makes the Bush Summit so special. We come to the Bush to hear, to listen and to grill the high and mighty.”

He mentioned the primary Bush Summit in 2019 occurred when the bush was damaged by drought, with the Bush Summit since then pursuing a plethora of points and alternatives in regional Australia.

“Since the grim backdrop to our first Bush Summit, the bush has been a story of revival. Three years of La Niña have delivered the bountiful arc of our never-ending climatic cycle,” he mentioned.

“But as our front page story revealed yesterday, a new dry is looming. That is why this year’s Bush Summit is so critical. We must again use this platform, when everyone from the Prime Minister and the Premier gather to face their bush constituents, to ensure everything possible is being done to help our farmers get through another drought.”

“At the same time, regional towns across the nation are groaning from shortages of housing, and critical front line workers. Many still suffer from appalling standards of connectivity. The sick still have to travel for hours to get the critical medical attention they need. Thousands of young children can’t get into child care. And crime in some parts is on the rise and terrorising communities. As grim as they are, we need to hear about, and report on these problems.”

‘RENEWABLES RUINING BUSH’: FARMERS PROTEST

More than 100 indignant farmers protesting in opposition to the push to renewable power throughout their land waved placards and chanted outdoors the Bush Summit.

Local MP and former deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce mentioned the “apolitical” group had pulled collectively 1000’s of landholders from 240 teams stretching from Queensland to Tasmania.

“Renewables are not a solution, they are ruining the bush,” Mr Joyce mentioned.

The Summit is being attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and NSW Premier Chris Minns.`

“I would love Mr Albanese to come out and address these people, but he won’t,” Mr Joyce mentioned.

“So the only way they can have a voice is to protest like this,” Mr Joyce mentioned. “It won’t stop here.”

He vowed to take the protesters to the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra to spotlight how renewables have been turning agricultural land into “industrial landscapes”.

Emma Jeffrey from Walcha mentioned the location of wind generators and photo voltaic panels on prime farming land was “not cheap and not safe”.

“People in the cities just need to look at their power bills and they will see putting renewables into the grid is not making them cheaper.

“We don’t want them on prime agricultural land, they stop us from fertilising the land and managing bush fires,” she mentioned.

POLITICAL HEAVYWEIGHTS, NATIONAL FOCUS

As the 2023 Bush Summit kicked off in Tamworth at 9am, News Corp Australia’s government chairman Michael Miller welcomed a bumper crowd together with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, federal Opposition chief Peter Dutton, NSW Premier Chris Minns and deputy Prue Car, and NSW Opposition chief Mark Speakman.

Mr Miller highlighted the increasing attain of the Bush Summit, which in 2023 has gone nationwide with a national focus.

“By broadening the scope, national issues, as well as local ones can now be addressed, discussed, and when needed, solutions found,” he mentioned.

“The fact that the current Prime Minister has attended every Bush Summit also speaks to his commitment to the people of the bush.”

$38m TO PROTECT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE

Drought-resistant crops, tremendous soils, and feed for cattle that may assist farms keep “ahead of the curve” when the following massive dry strikes shall be funded beneath a $38m funding ­unveiled immediately at News Corp Australia’s National Bush Summit.

Anthony Albanese has introduced grants for six long-term trials of drought-resilient farming practices when he visits Tamworth to ship the keynote tackle for the summit sequence.

The Prime Minister mentioned the funds from the $5bn Future Drought Fund would help a spread of revolutionary analysis initiatives designed to equip farmers long run for a ­altering local weather.

“This investment will build a long-term evidence base to accelerate the adoption of best practices across the agricultural sector,” Mr Albanese mentioned.

“It will provide farmers with the confidence to invest in technologies and practices that have been proven across ­different landscapes and ­production conditions.”

About $8m will go to Flinders University to guide analysis into the local weather resilience of cropping, livestock and combined farms, whereas $7.99m will assist Deakin University examine how range in pastures may result in three hundred and sixty five days of feed manufacturing in southern grazing areas.

Research into drought resilient broadacre grains and grazing carried out by the University of Melbourne on trial websites in Victoria and Tasmania will obtain $7.2m.

The Cooperative Research Centre for High Performance Soils will obtain $3.94m to guage drought resilience in farming techniques and soils at websites in Western Australia, NSW and Victoria.

About $6.23m of funds will go a Charles Sturt University-led consortium investigating cropping and livestock in response to “seasonal variation”, with trials to be undertaken throughout a number of websites in NSW.

Originally revealed as Bush Summit 2023 Live protection: PM pledges $38m to assist farmers