Anne Webster MP - Need for nuclear demonstrated by alarming new mapping for Labor’s $1.3 trillion ‘renewables’ agenda

October 7, 2025

Need for nuclear demonstrated by alarming new mapping for Labor’s $1.3 trillion ‘renewables’ agenda - Media Release

Need for nuclear demonstrated by alarming new mapping for Labor’s $1.3 trillion ‘renewables’ agenda

Tuesday 7 October 2025

Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster MP said ground-breaking comprehensive ‘truth data’ of Labor’s reckless ‘renewables’ rollout proves the need for nuclear in Australia.

Rainforest Reserves Australia and Steven Nowakowski’s analysis, which can be found at https://www.rainforestreserves.org.au/renewablestruthmap , shows the shocking impact Labor’s all-renewables plan will cause on agriculture land, pristine natural landscapes and regional communities including in Mallee.

“And this is before the mapping includes the proposed 240 kilometres of VNI-West and 110km of WIRES transmission lines that will attract more energy company cowboys to pick off landowners and divide communities,” Dr Webster said.

“It is shocking that Labor so lacks the ambition to compile the transparency that this vital, informative mapping has been produced by volunteers. Labor has kept Mallee residents in the dark on the full impact of the rollout in their communities, hoping out-of-sight, out-of-mind secretive project rollouts will not agitate metropolitan voters.”

Dr Webster has reached out to the map authors who hope to add VNI West and WIRES to the mapping soon.

The current mapping outlines the scale and size of every site in Australia and the footprint it will leave, with clickable, real-time data. Vast amounts of land will be taken up by Labor’s 1126 projects, requiring over 44,895 kilometres of new haulage roads for more than 300 wind projects, along with an additional 443,000 hectares of prime land for 545 new solar projects.

The total number of solar panels proposed totals a staggering 584 million, with the estimated total rollout cost over $1.3 trillion – previously estimated to cost $642 billion, despite the Albanese Government repeatedly estimating a total cost of $300 to $350 billion.

“This mapping shows the need for honesty with the Australian people, and the need to lift the nuclear moratorium for a balanced and technology-neutral energy mix,” Dr Webster said.

“Australians need to understand, this mapping shows Labor is destroying the very thing we are trying to protect – the environment.

“There’s nothing ‘renewable’ out this rollout – there’s no transparency on the total cost, the mapping, the subsidies, the individual turbine and panel decommissioning costs & landowner responsibility, the landfill impact of the technology, and of course the long-term damage to food security and local environments.”

“Mallee residents are being forced to bear the burden of Labor’s reckless ‘renewables’ rollout. After the all the agriculture land is ripped up, after all the forests are destroyed, Labor’s plan still won’t generate the energy Australia needs – all it will do is leave a trail of destruction in Mallee that our native flora and fauna will never recover from.”

Environmentalist Steven Nowakowski said the mapping is the most comprehensive to date.

“This is a trillion-dollar industry yet no one has done this mapping before,” Mr Nowakowski said.

“This was a three-year project, the irony being it was undertaken by volunteers.

“Australians can now see the impact for themselves. Every proposed wind or solar generation project is online, and clickable, showing the size of the installation. I commend RRA and Steven for their service to the nation with this huge piece of work that every Australian needs to know about.”

Rainforest Reserves mapping snapshot

Key data

205 BESS projects

13 Hydrogen

13 Hydro Projects (expansion of existing or new)

24 Pumped Hydros

545 Solar

296 Onshore Wind (101 commissioned & operational)

28 Offshore Wind (proposed)

2 Tidal

Total 1,126 projects

Total of 323 wind farms (commissioned and proposed)