David Littleproud has gone on the attack over net zero. Photo: David Littleproud Facebook.
Federal National Party leader David Littleproud has used National Agriculture Day (21 November) to attack the Federal Government over net zero, the target of completely negating the amount of greenhouse gases produced by human activity.
He claimed farmers were being forced to bear the brunt of Labor’s “race to all-renewables and reckless net zero ideology”.
“Under Labor, 95 per cent of emissions cuts have come from cutting productive farmland, not energy transition,” Mr Littleproud said.
“Large areas of bushland and farmland are being cleared for solar panels and wind turbines, threatening native species and local communities.
“We have sadly already lost 7.2 million hectares of agricultural land, and to achieve Labor’s net zero targets, we’ll lose another 5.1 million hectares.”
These claims have been disputed by Andrew Blakers, a Professor of Engineering at the Australian National University. Last year, he did an analysis on the amount of land needed for a zero carbon economy.
“All we need is 1200 square kilometres,” he concluded.
“That’s not much. The area devoted to agriculture is about 3500 times larger at 4.2 million square kilometres. The area of land that would be taken away from agriculture works out at about 45 square metres per person – about the size of a large living room.”
Mr Littleproud claims food security is under threat, meaning that Australians will have to pay higher prices at the supermarket.
“We need a cheaper, better, fairer way to reduce emissions rather than Labor’s $9 trillion plan, which also puts Medicare and NDIS at risk.
“The Coalition’s energy plan won’t lock up our agriculture land. We need common sense, such as the Emissions Reduction Fund, which has practical measures to alleviate the use of agricultural land and supports environmental stewardship programs.”
Wagga businessman Paul Funnel, who recently started the first ever One Nation branch in the Riverina, said the Coalition would be as bad as Labor on this issue.
“They say they no longer support net zero, but it’s a Clayton version of breaking away from it. They are remaining in the United Nations Paris Agreement; they’re still trying to reduce their carbon footprint.
“All this started under the Coalition; Labor are just continuing to do it.”
According to analysis by Mr Blakers, there’s no need for farmers or politicians to fear renewable energy, as there is plenty of land to share.
“The expansion of renewable energy infrastructure will be concentrated in Australia’s regional areas. But we can also expect new energy capacity from elsewhere, such as expanded rooftop solar and new offshore wind farms, which reduces the amount of land needed for the energy transition,” he wrote.
