Monday 20 July 2026

Mallee deserves better than Labor's energy gobbledygook

Monday 20 July 2026

Regional Australians are being forced to carry the cost of an energy transition that is rapidly losing public confidence and has no social licence, federal Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster said today.

"For years, communities across Mallee have raised concerns about transmission lines, industrial-scale wind farms and blanket solar developments turning productive farmland into industrial wastelands – but their voices have gone unheard in Labor’s corridors of power," Dr Webster said.

"Instead of listening, Labor governments in Canberra and Spring Street blindly rely on bureaucratic word salads like ‘capacity investment’, ‘involuntary load shedding’ (ie blackouts’) or constituents playing ‘an increasingly active role: role’ (read: brown outs’), while Labor governments shifts goalposts while 2030 and 2050 emission-reduction targets are unlikely – then using heavy-handed powers to push failing projects forward."

Dr Webster said Australians were being presented with an increasingly convoluted web of schemes, subsidies, underwriting arrangements and government interventions that obscure a simple question.

"If these projects are such good investments, why do they need layer upon layer of smokescreens of taxpayer support, special schemes and constant rule changes to remain viable?"

"Australians are being asked to navigate an alphabet soup of subsidies and market mechanisms while household and business power bills remain high and blackouts and other reliability concerns persist."

Dr Webster said many regional residents were frustrated by what they saw as political spin replacing honest conversations about the challenges facing Australia's energy system.

"Mallee people understand plain English. They know the difference between reliable power and power shortages.  Rebranding problems with weaselly political jargon does not solve them."

"Mallee residents are tired of political gobbledygook and they are not fools, they are tired of the smoke and mirrors, and tired of being told not to believe their own experiences."

Dr Webster said there was also a growing contradiction at the heart of Australia's energy debate.

"We will happily dig up Australian uranium, export it overseas and watch other countries use it to produce zero-emissions electricity, but Labor maintains a ban on nuclear technology here at home."

"At a time when our global competitors are embracing AI, our fourth great revolution (after Agricultural, Industrial and Information) through data centres and rapidly growing electricity demand, it is remarkable that Labor continues to shut down debate on removing Australia’s archaic ban on nuclear energy."

"Why would major technology companies even consider discussing nuclear-powered data centre investment in Australia when a moratorium remains in place?"

The Nationals Cheaper, Better, Fairer energy policy includes removing the ban on nuclear power, and having using a technology-neutral mix to improve productivity, maintain grid reliability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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