Say no to solar farms
Dear Editor,
Most Australians would be unaware that only about 6.5 per cent of Australia’s land mass is arable (able to grow crops). There have been statements from Global Warning Theorists that predict a 1.5C rise in temperature in south eastern Australia in the foreseeable future.
This, they argue, would prevent the growing of different cereal crops in some areas.
Of the arable land available a miniscule 0.43 per cent is under irrigation and yet this provides 21 per cent of the economic output of all the arable land in Australia. This land is priceless in a mainly arid and semi-arid continent.
Despite this, in our area, Solar Industrial Enterprises (SIE) falsely labelled as “Farms” are covering irrigation land at a frenetic rate.
This not only increases the cost of transporting water to those still irrigating but also increases the cost of electrical power. This is because reliable coal fired power stations have to juggle power supplies with the power provided by unreliable solar installations.
Irrigators who choose to have these Solar Industrial Enterprises on their land can hardly be blamed. As a reward they receive a substantial reliable income from the usually overseas owned company which is heavily subsidised by Government (ie the taxpayer.
They may have land presently not being used to grow crops and, in many cases, they are able to sell their water. On top of this, some don’t have to worry so much about variations in prices for their commodities. If I were offered this, I would be strongly tempted to go along with it. However, I am not sure how my neighbours would react nor my community prosper.
The present Federal Government while promoting and almost forcing Renewables upon us with the assistance of the state government, is also promoting their madcap ill-advised Murray Darling Basin Plan. Our argument against them taking 450 gigalitres of water from the irrigation areas is diminished when we are allowing thousands of hectares of irrigation land to be covered by Solar Industrial Enterprises.
The government will obviously fallaciously argue that our area, along with other irrigation areas with massive S.I.E already installed do not need their historic water entitlements.
Where do our State and Federal parliamentary representatives stand on this issue, because I believe our area is under serious threat?
One answer would be that a moratorium should be placed on the construction of all Solar Industrial Complexes on irrigation land as a matter of urgency, that is if we wish to survive as thriving communities.
The people who built our visionary irrigation schemes early last century, our irrigation pioneers and the taxpayers who funded them must be turning in their graves.
Noel Hicks. Griffith.
