Barnaby Joyce will lobby the Commonwealth against a state renewable energy plan which he said will turn his electorate into a "sea of wind farms".
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The former Deputy Prime Minister and member for New England said he will work, as a local member, on behalf of a number of community groups that have sprung up in opposition to wind farm developments.
"If anyone says they are going to cover New England with wind towers, they're in for one heck of a battle," he said on Facebook on the weekend.
But according to Mr Joyce, that's exactly what the state government has planned.
The New England region was last week designated as a Renewable Energy Zone.
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State government plans accommodate for much as 8,000 megawatts of wind, solar and battery power in the region, development worth as much as $12.7 billion.
Mr Joyce said existing proposals for renewables development were already generating backlash across the region, with opposition groups emerging in Ben Lomond, Nundle and Kentucky, among other towns.
"Anything, once it gets to a saturation point, starts to attract disdain," he said.
He said the "legislation that would close down four coal fire power stations will result in 600,000 hectares of new wind farms."
"That starts to scare people. That goes from a novelty to a threat," he said.
"I don't want hundreds of thousands of further hectares of new wind farms."
The Electricity Infrastructure Investment Bill, which legislates a plan to transition from fossil fuel to renewables, passed state parliament with an overwhelming majority last week. Just the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers and One Nation opposed the legislation. Deputy Premier and Nationals Leader John Barilaro strongly backed the new laws.
Given the bipartisan near-consensus on reform, Mr Joyce said it was his responsibility to "vent the contrarian view".
"I also have a political role as the [local] MP. The Greens, the Labor party, the Liberal party and the Nationals at the state level are on the same page. Someone needs to vent the contrarian view. "
Instead of vast new renewables development, Government should look to upgrading the coal-fired Liddell power station to meet future power needs, Mr Joyce said. The plant is currently slated to close in 2023. The giant Hunter Valley power plant can generate about 2,000 megawatts of electricity.
The zones are designed to facilitate planning new power construction in a coordinated way to protect agricultural land, according to state Energy Minister Matt Kean.
The first phase of the plan will see the State Government work with local councils and community members to map and plan where to build renewables and where to avoid.
Representatives of local groups opposed to local wind farms will link up in a regional meeting in Armidale later this week.
Mr Joyce said they "are not crazy ginger groups", have legitimate complaints and represent a wide segment of the community.
Renewables are not new to the region. When it was built, White Rock Wind Farm outside Glen Innes was the largest in NSW, at a cost of $400 million. The neighbouring Sapphire Wind Farm cost $550 million, and is now the largest.
Andrew Messenger
Politics, environment and energy journalist at the Northern Daily Leader. I also write about health, bushfires and occasionally music. I'm a Brisbane boy by way of Charleville and Hobart who now lives in in beautiful New England. Get me at andrew.messenger@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Politics, environment and energy journalist at the Northern Daily Leader. I also write about health, bushfires and occasionally music. I'm a Brisbane boy by way of Charleville and Hobart who now lives in in beautiful New England. Get me at andrew.messenger@austcommunitymedia.com.au
