Large-scale energy project cost concerns
The National Farmers’ Federation says it is concerned about the significant cost blow-outs associated with the proposed Hume-Link Transmission Line.
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It said costs had blown out by 250 per cent to $3.317 billion and that proposed transmission lines within the Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) Integrated Systems Plan (ISP) had caused land use conflict and was leaving households out of pocket.
“These mega-projects have been thrust on rural and regional communities with little or tokenistic landowner consultations, inadequate compensation and now will leave energy consumers worse off, with each household liable for an additional $60 a year just to pay for the Hume-Link cost blow-out,” NFF’s Tony Mahar said.
“The NFF has long sought for a greater focus on small-scale, mid-scale and community scale renewable projects, that keeps the economic and value-add benefits of projects with local communities, and reduces the need for new transmission lines.
“It is a shame that AEMO has on the most part neglected these opportunities in favour of a bigger is better approach.”
Mr Mahar said initiatives such as the Australian Local Power Agency proposed by Federal Member for Indi Helen Haines could address some of the challenges.
He said developing an agency that was solely focused on overcoming the regulatory, engineering and financial hurdles for a greater uptake of these small-scale and mid-scale generation opportunities would address the imbalance towards the promotion of predominantly large-scale energy infrastructure.
“The energy transition should benefit our regional communities and all energy users, not just big energy companies.”
Supporting mental health
Gateway Health, Gannawarra Shire Council and NCN Health are among 11 councils, primary care partnerships and private organisations to share in $2.9 million to deliver programs that will increase awareness of mental health treatment options for rural communities.
The Resilient Farming Communities Project is a two-year joint Agriculture Victoria and Department of Health initiative to support farmers, farming families and communities to better manage stress and improve their health.
Initiatives include outreach services, on-farm health workshops, wellbeing plans for rural communities, the delivery of resilience programs in secondary schools and mental health first aid training.
“Our farmers have faced many challenges over the years, including drought, bushfires and now the pandemic, which all take their toll on resilience,” Victorian Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said.
“This project ensures farmers and their communities are supported to focus on their mental health.”
The grant recipients and associated projects are:
- Gateway Health — Building Ovens Murray Agricultural Sector Resilience.
- Gannawarra Shire Council — Resilient Gannawarra.
- NCN Health — Farm Community Connect.
Help for Victorian agribusiness to go global
The Victorian Government has appointed three agriculture export specialists to help agribusinesses establish more trade pathways.
Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas announced the new agriculture-focused specialists would provide in-market support from Victorian Government Trade and Investment Offices in China, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.
In Kuala Lumpur, in-market specialist Ian Thompson will provide insights to Victorian agribusinesses looking to grow their exports and diversify their markets in South-East Asia. Mr Thompson will work to promote quality Victorian food and agricultural produce in these markets.
Dubai-based in-market specialist Emma Page has a mandate for the Middle East and North Africa region. Ms Page will be supporting Victorian agribusinesses to respond to the strong demand for premium food and beverage products coming from the MENA market.
Beijing-based in-market specialist Davis Tao Xu will deliver tailored advice to Victorian businesses in Victoria’s biggest food and fibre export destination — Victoria’s food and fibre exports to China were valued at $4.7 billion in 2019-20.
For more information, visit: agriculture.vic.gov.au/pathwaystoexport
Election options limited
The NSW Electoral Commission would need at least 12 months to switch its current plans for December's local government election to a full postal vote, according to the head of the agency.
Due to NSW's current COVID-19 outbreak, the local government elections planned for September 4 have been pushed back three months.
Arrangements for the December 4 vote to take place in person and via post are set in legislation and require an act of parliament to change.
NSW Electoral Commissioner John Schmidt told a parliamentary inquiry on August 18 that he was legally obliged to arrange for in-person voting, even if the state's strict stay-at-home orders remained in place. Should this not occur, the election could be deemed a failure.
Mr Schmidt also said that his agency's electoral systems were too slow to pivot from current plans to a full postal or online vote on short notice.
He wrote to the government in July 2020 requesting council elections were conducted by post and online, but the plan was not supported.
However, the government earlier agreed to provide the commission an undetermined amount of additional funding to get its work done — and hire more casual staff — for December 4. This funding would potentially be in the "tens of millions".
Mr Schmidt also said that any further postponement of the December 4 poll would complicate preparations for the 2023 state election.
The shift to December 4 was the second postponement for the elections, which were initially scheduled for September 2020 but canned in March that year as the first coronavirus wave took hold in Australia.
Electors will be able to cast their vote electronically for the first time, while in-person pre-polling has been extended to 13 days.
The elections will take place across 125 NSW local government areas.