Let the (wind farm) games begin

Forget Question Time in Parliament. That’s just theatre.

And forget about the door stops, when politicians front a barrage of microphones outside the doors of the House of Representatives or the Senate.

That’s spin: scripted messages delivered to create a perception.

And most news stories?  That’s journalists rehashing “stuff” from their “sources”.

It’s a back-scratch relationship. The journalist says to a contact: “You feed me stuff and I’ll get it printed.” The contact says: “I’ll tell you stuff if you’ll get it printed.”

Simple as that.

The reporter has the appearance of being a story breaker. The source gets their message out more effectively than using a PR firm. Convenient, cozy and effective.

The days of  investigative journalism are just about over in this country. All the old grey heads have taken voluntary redundancy or have left to work in PR. And the ones left are too under the pump to spend time actually digging “stuff” out – or they are too inexperienced (with a handful of exceptions).

Have a look at what passes as investigative journalism into the wind farm industry. Most of it looks like the result of briefings from the Clean Energy Council or the Greens.

We think, in the future, citizens will start their own media.

Hang on, that’s what we’ve done! The future is now. We’re here. And we’re doing it. Thanks for reading another STT post.

But our point is this.

Eighty-five per cent of political activity happens out of view, below the surface. It’s the iceberg principle.

And all of that activity is towards a single outcome. Winning votes.

Short and sweet.

Every political decision taken is done with an eye on the ballot box.

And the people who try to influence that are business, unions, NGOs, party factional leaders and lobby groups.

During the last Parliamentary sitting week last year, a veritable circus of renewable energy types hit Canberra for intense lobbying. These included the Clean Energy Council and Beyond Zero Emissions.

We also know wind farm developers and operators wore the carpet thin in some pollies’ offices.

Make no mistake, the clean energy sector is worried. Very worried.

Even their own propaganda sheet, the Climate Spectator, is reporting that attitudes  at a gathering just before Christmas were like those you would find at a wake.

A follow-up article on the appointment of leading businessman and anti-wind farm campaigner Maurice Newman as chair of the Coalition’s Business Advisory Council was positively hysterical.

And here’s what one of the industry’s international publications is saying.

And then of course, you have Madigan, Xenophon and Shultz.

All three are seen by the wind sector as very dangerous.

Madigan and Xenophon are independent, beholden to no vested interests.

(We’re told that’s one of them under the Ned Kelly helmet.)

And Schultz is a long-term and  experienced political operator with relationships within the party networks.

He knows how the system works. He’s tough and uncompromising. Other Libs might not always agree with him, but they respect him.

And now he’s leaving.

So all bets are off. The hounds are unleashed.

With the election date declared, both major party machines are acutely sensitive to any and all pressure points. There’s no doubt, regardless of what the Prime Minister said, everyone is in election mode right now.

Schultz has been an outspoken critic of the turbine Taliban. Apart from health, he says the economics are skewed.

“There are about 1,000 wind turbines currently in Australia, and to meet the Renewable Energy Target there needs to be ten times that number,” he said.

“The economics just don’t stack up without massive subsidies as well. 10,000 wind turbines is a waste of money bigger than the NBN – at about $7 million each.

“That makes $70 billion. Each turbine has to be subsidised. I believe that each turbine earns its owner around $500,000 a year, $150,000 in electricity sold, and $350,000 in subsidy. Who pays the subsidy? You, from your electricity bill.”

Schultz called the “green” agenda a religious dogma of the worst possible kind.

“To criticise renewable energy (no matter what the cost, either economically or environmentally) is a heresy akin to speaking in favour of nuclear energy. Facts, evidence, logic and reason seem to be the scarcest of all resources in this entire debate.”

Most importantly, Schultz said wind farms don’t do what their proponents claim. They don’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They only work 30 per cent of the time and require fossil fuel generator back-up.

And that, we might say, is a bummer.

There are a few of us at STT who are old enough to have really enjoyed the sixties and when we first saw wind farms we thought they were kind of groovy.

It’s kind of a downer that they don’t actually work, says the STT president and honorable refiller of the drinks fridge, Graham.

That’s him on the right. We ask him to put clothes on before serving the biccies and cheese.

But we digress.

SO FROM TODAY, STT DECLARES THIS THE WIND FARM ELECTION.

We take a vow not to let outcomes be decided by big business and lobby groups, not to let politicians hide away in their Canberra lairs.

It’s time to write to your local Member and Senator and tell them they must support the Xenophon/Madigan bill. Do it now.

Email them, phone them, call into their office. Shout loud!

Democracy is about being heard and making your community – our community – their problem.

We can bring about change. This issue is too important to be decided by big business, greedy pricks and bastards in horn-rimmed glasses.

Stand up! Take action! Be counted!

And if you think we’re being silly, we’ll send Graham round to your place on his bike. He’d love to have a chat.