When Net Zero Collides with Land Rights (And Wins)

追加: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]Whatever you think of renewable energy,  there’s one thing that’s undeniable: it takes up a lot of space. Fields  of solar arrays need significantly more land to match the power output  of, say, a nuclear power station.

[00:00:16]I’m not here to debate the other issues, but  the footprint of nuclear energy is far less than an equivalent number of wind turbines.  That is, wind power has a much lower power density. Although an individual wind  turbine doesn’t take up much space, for them to be effective, they need  to be spread out over massive swathes of land—not to mention all the service  roads required to build and maintain them.

[00:00:44]However, one thing we’re not short of  in Australia is land. We do, however, find ourselves in the unenviable position  of navigating Aboriginal land rights.

[00:00:56]You know the story: Australia’s colonisation  by the British has resulted in generations of eternally angry Aboriginal people  claiming their land has been stolen, passing down that sentiment from one  generation to the next, ad infinitum.

[00:01:13]So what do you think happens when the  “we-want-to-give-First-Nations-a-voice” Labor government comes up against the  “endless-renewables-at-all-costs” Labor government? Well, the Net-Zero  ideology wins, of course. Screw the land rights—we’ve got bigger fish  to fry. Using solar power, naturally.

[00:01:33]And here’s just one example from earlier this  week—thanks to the viewers who highlighted this.

[00:01:39]The ABC reported: “Renewables company destroys  Indigenous shelter despite knowing about it.”

[00:01:46]As I said, Net Zero comes first. Endless  rows of Chinese-made wind turbines take priority because they’ll be powering  our glorious green future. I mean, what has an ancient rock shelter  ever done for Australia’s power grid?

[00:02:02]To be fair, the company behind it, ACEREZ,  did apologise. They were out there cutting an access track to build power lines for the  Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone, and you know the old adage: it’s better  to seek forgiveness than permission. I wonder how that conversation actually went down… “Hey boss, there’s an Indigenous rock shelter  right in the way of the track. What should I do?”

[00:02:28]“Look mate, we’ve been assigned to build  these transmission lines to save Australia from climate change, so I’m not going to let no  rock shelter get in the way. Use the bulldozer!”

[00:02:40]“Sure thing, boss!”

[00:02:41]The ABC followed this up with another angry  news report just today: “‘No excuse’ for renewable company destroying Wiradjuri  rock shelter.” According to the article, the community is devastated at  the loss of their beloved rock.

[00:02:57]Before its untimely demise, it was  located near the Cope State Forest.

[00:03:03]Members of the Wiradjuri community called the  destruction “inexcusable”. Thomas Dahlstrom—a Wiradjuri, Tubba-Gah, and Gamilaraay man  who worked on the site conducting cultural heritage assessments—said he was devastated  to learn the company knew about the shelter but destroyed it anyway. “This is one of  the hardest parts to digest,” he said.

[00:03:27]But there’s more to the story.  It wasn’t just a shelter; it was a shelter for women and children. Yes,  not only did they destroy some ancient rocks, they destroyed a refuge used by mothers  and children while gathering food.

[00:03:40]As Mr Dahlstrom noted: “If they were caught  in rain or couldn’t get back to camp, it’s a handy little cave.” But now, it’s  all gone. It’s the modern equivalent of bulldozing an orphanage or a homeless  shelter and installing a high-voltage steel transmission tower in the name  of the glorious Net-Zero transition.

[00:04:02]The article notes again that ACEREZ has  apologised, but Aunty Sharon Riley is absolutely not buying it. She says the  company needs to consider compensating the community for destroying the shelter. I’m  sure a couple of hundred mill should cover it.

[00:04:19]As she told the ABC: “To let us know and to  just say sorry is really not good enough.

[00:04:25]What about thinking about compensation  because that’s more trauma to Aboriginal people today. It’s thousands and thousands  of years of knowledge and our history for this part of Wiradjuri country, and once  they’re destroyed they’re gone forever.”

[00:04:41]So as you can clearly see, it turns out  that when Net-Zero ideology collides with Indigenous heritage, the green  energy machine wins every single time.