Tasmanian Energy Minister Nick Duigan announced via media release on May 20: “The location of the proposed Renewable Energy Zone south of Burnie is the result of 18 months of analysis and engagement with the north west community.”

Why, exactly, the Liberal Government is heralding yet another round of community input is truly confounding, given that so many who live in the ‘first Renewable Energy Zone (REZ)’ seem to be totally ignorant of any proposed energy generation projects on their doorstep.

(Even calling it a ‘first’ is a blatant lie with the Australian Energy Market Operator’s T1, T2 and T3 zones appearing on maps of our island years ago).

Listeners were calling in to the ABC Mornings program on Thursday and Friday last week, clearly upset that two wind farms and an ethanol fuel plant were shown on a map of their neighbourhood.

See the map at https://www.renewableenergyzones.tas.gov.au/

A few had called into the Ridgley Hall between 4.00 and 6.00pm on Wednesday, expressing outrage that they hadn’t been told of their area’s new status.

Others were annoyed that the brief window for ‘consultation’ prevented them from attending at all.

Where these locals have been living for the past few years is anyone’s guess, but ‘under a rock’ might be a fair conclusion.

Information about Ark Energy’s Guilford wind farm has been in the public domain since 2020. The Hellyer project has been on display for two years – around the same time that Porsche-HIF Global announced their e-fuel project at Surrey Hills in July 2022. Its green credentials will come from buying energy from the adjoining wind farms.

Endless promotional and feel-good articles have appeared in local newspapers, and councils have been effusive in their support of the proposals. TasNetworks has been banging on about the financial benefits and employment opportunities for its Marinus Link terminal at Heybridge and the North West Transmission Developments. Surveys have been conducted with north west youngsters and presentations made in Burnie schools extolling the future employment benefits.

Doubtless there have been glossy information flyers dropped into the letterboxes of ratepayers in the Burnie and Waratah -Wynyard municipalities, although independent MHA Craig Garland said residents “had only received information a day or two before (the May 29 drop in).”

Compton gave a lot of air time to one caller to the ABC. He seemed certain that the REZ was going to be in Bass Strait, but somehow that plan had been killed off, and it was now ‘going inland’.

There was the anecdote of a woman who planned to sell up when she learned that her property was in the REZ, but was told by a real estate agent: “Best of luck with that!”

Another listener said she’d probably received some information, but tossed it out because she thought it was just junk mail from TasNetworks.

“We thought it was about offshore wind” said another, who turned up to the two-hour ‘Landowner Drop In Session’ held at the Ridgley Community Hall last Wednesday.

One of Compton’s panellists on his Friday Forum declared: ”Tasmanians come very late to the party” – then expect their views to change developments.

These citizens are just at the tail end of a long line of Tasmanians who have been engulfed by the wind rush, which really got going when the Hodgman/Gutwein Government announced the 200% Tasmanian Renewable Energy Target in November 2020.

This thought-bubble masquerading as well-researched policy has led to an open slather assault on this island by foreign wind farm developers, aided and abetted by both major political parties. Just how much money has flowed into their election coffers from these proponents will never be known.

But what is indisputable is that Tasmanians have re-elected a Liberal government twice since then, obviously impressed by the mantra of untold wealth flowing to the citizenry through the constructing of thousands of wind turbines, swathes of high voltage transmission towers, a pumped hydro scheme, and of course the rivers of gold which would flood our island as we exported energy via the two Marinus cables. Tasmania would be “the battery of the nation”, rescuing the polluted mainlanders from daily blackouts.

While there was dancing in the streets, there were small groups of people not so sure of the blessings which this vision of rebranded hydro-industrialisation would bestow.

Of course, they were depicted as the usual naysayers and greenies – NIMBYs, each and every one. Treated as mushrooms by government officials, ignored by developers and derided by fellow Tasmanians, they have formed small community groups, fighting an unequal battle with billion dollar corporates and taxpayer-funded bureaucracies.

There’s a very strong chance their members didn’t elect the last three Tasmanian governments, or the sycophantic Labor ‘opposition’.

They have marshalled their own resources, and with monies donated by concerned citizens and assisted by some pro-bono input from specialists, have mounted a long campaign against the misinformation peddled by the renewable energy advocates, while at the same time doing their best to engage the wider community in the debate about the energy transition.

It’s been an uphill battle, and blatant PR exercises like the Stakeholder Reference Group (SRG) which was formed to assess the REZ are designed to make traction even harder.

Actual community sentiment is further muddied when wind company front groups like RE Alliance claim to work with residents to put their case in these curated forums. A press release makes the ridiculous claim: “….the lines on a map weren’t drawn until locals had shared where they would be happy for renewables to go and where they weren’t”. (see https://tasmaniantimes.com/2024/05/on-tasmanias-rez/)

With three projects already in various stages of implementation well before the Stakeholder Reference Group met in May 2023, that kind of blandishment can be seen for what it is: just a warm-glow public relations exercise.

Wind farm developers like to restrict their engagement to the smallest number of locals possible – and so it is with State Growth’s ReCFIT (Renewable Energy and Climate Futures Tasmania).

When the government announced the formation of the SRG, it was assumed it would cover the entire NW sector of the state, extending to the west coast.

However, when it came down to the formation of the group, a division had been created. There was one representing the central north west, and another for the far west north west. It appears the west coast’s identification process will be left for another day.

Both north west groups met from May to September 2023, but nothing appears to have come of the WNW discussions. Why this area – which encompasses the Robbins Island and Jim’s Plains wind farm proposals, and the corridor for the North West Transmission Developments – would be dismissed is anyone’s guess.

However, this extract from the FAQ section of the Central NW REZ documents explains how these ‘out-of-area’ projects are accommodated:

What happens to existing projects outside the REZ?

There are places outside of REZ that can also cater for a single project and where there may be existing capacity in the network. These projects can continue subject to gaining all appropriate environmental and planning approvals and network agreements to connect to the shared network. The Government will continue to engage with proponents outside the proposed REZ areas on the progression of their projects.

This seems to sum up the futility of public input into the formation and operation of an REZ.

It doesn’t really matter where a developer wants to locate your renewables project, the State Government is keen to assist.

All potential is seen through an industry lens, with the values of place and amenity expected to accommodate and adjust to imposed development. The end product is the necessary ‘social licence’ to give the project its token stamp of approval.

We never seem to get this right.  The same cookie-cutter, top-down approach has created entrenched division in this state. Think of the last days of dam-building. Think forestry. Think salmon farming. Don’t mention the decade of inactivity at Macquarie Point, followed by the indecent haste to build an AFL stadium.

The blind allegiance of electors who returned pro-development governments has now transformed into ‘caught-in-the-spotlight’ shock, as residents grapple with the stark reality of industrialisation in their bucolic neighbourhoods.

A search online or on social media will locate Tasmanian organisations opposed to unfettered energy developments. Those now concerned about their own backyard can find resources there which may be useful. Search for CHCAN, NTAG, SOLVE, PMAT.

Joining one of these groups and adding financial support for the costly business of protecting our rights and our Tasmanian landscape is a worthwhile first step.

Claiming ignorance as a first line of defence merely produces whingers, not warriors.


Greg Pullen is a committee member of the Central Highlands No Turbine Action Group (NTAG) and has a keen interest in renewable energy transformation, in particular its benefits for Tasmania. He is a firm believer in the KISS Principle.