Letter to the Editor

DEAR News Of The Area

I REALLY must respond to the article Zone ‘Revived’, published in the last edition of NOTA (29 January).

Firstly, the old nugget that all the community is against offshore windfarms.

Alison Penfold, NATS member for Lyne, is quoted: “Offshore wind is simply not feasible or wanted off the Myall (or Hunter) coast. Our community has made this blatantly clear.”

What the community made blatantly clear on this side of the Bay was their support for Labor at the last Federal Election where the incumbent MP was returned with an increased majority.

That’s the only thing close to a survey I have seen on the topic of offshore wind.

Those who say that it is not supported by the community aren’t basing that observation on any facts.

Then there’s the opinion presented as fact that… “It failed on environmental risk, economic justification, and social license.” [This was] according to Mr Radford.

But the actual proponent Equinor has never completed the necessary risk assessments.

We don’t know what the environmental or economic assessments would have shown.

What we do know is that economic challenges in the United States after the election of Donald Trump caused the withdrawal of Equinor from the project.

The new President pulled the pin on several renewable projects in which Equinor had already invested heavily in the US.

That fact, plus the lack of bipartisan support for renewables here in Australia, makes it an unnecessarily risky investment for an international company like Equinor.

Mr Radford also talks about the “industrial impacts” of windfarms on our coast.

Has he noticed the number of coal ships coming out of the largest coal port in the Southern Hemisphere?

Do they count as the industrialisation of our coast?

The same group that tried to make offshore wind a state and local government issue is saying they will do this again in upcoming elections.

Is any journalist going to ask for an explanation of exactly how any state government or local council decision will impact this issue?

It proved to be a non issue in all elections held in Port Stephens.

Labor was returned Federally and in State elections.

Our council appears to have been totally intimidated by the anti-offshore wind brigade and has passed some innocuous motherhood statements in regard to renewables that they know will go nowhere and mean nothing.

This is an important issue for our children’s future.

Nine of the warmest years since recordings have been made have occurred in the last 10 years.

All governments agree that we need to stop mining coal and move to renewables.

They only disagree on the time frame and how to get there.

Journalists should not be enabling this debate to be hijacked once again by self interested groups.

Kathy Brown

Salamander Bay