Recent reports about farmers being harassed for hosting renewable energy projects may have shocked city readers, but to us they rang true.
Across rural areas, we’ve seen and experienced the same pattern of behaviour – bullying, misinformation and deliberate eforts to shame those who make a diferent choice about their land.
One farming family had their daughter abused at a local pub, called “the daughter of the f#@&ing idiot hosting the turbines.” Another found local buyers had stopped purchasing their grain. And in one instance, children were handed letters at their primary school shaming their parents for deciding to host wind turbines.
When energy politics reaches the point where children are dragged into it and livelihoods are sabotaged, something has gone badly wrong.
That’s why it was so disappointing to hear former Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack suggest that farmers who host renewables have “sold their soul” and should expect “backlash”.
Those words weren’t just careless – they excuse cruelty.
We know the pressures on the land all too well: rising costs, uncertain markets, and changing seasons.
Decisions to host aren’t made out of greed; they’re sound business decisions – a way to diversify farm income, manage risk, and strengthen resilience.
It’s not only host families who benefit. Neighbours receive payments, and nearby towns gain from the steady flow of infrastructure and community investment.
Since when did it become acceptable to question the integrity of people making decisions about their own land? The Nationals once defended property rights as a core principle. To now condemn farmers for exercising those same rights feels like a betrayal of the very people the party was created to represent.
The reality in our communities is clear: most people understand the value of renewable investment and the jobs and infrastructure it brings. We’ve seen poll after poll showing strong regional support. Opposition exists, and people are entitled to voice it, but that right ends where intimidation begins.
Unfortunately, the loudest voices are often fuelled by misinformation spread through social-media groups recycling the same myths about land values, turbine waste and health impacts. These campaigns target and isolate landholders, turning neighbours against neighbours. It’s intimidation dressed up as debate.
We need our national leaders to set a better standard – to say clearly that disagreement does not justify abuse.
Some claim renewable energy is “tearing communities apart”. The truth is the opposite. It’s not the farmers who host projects who are dividing towns – it’s the small number of activists who use fear and harassment to punish people for making a diferent choice.
Hosting a project doesn’t make anyone less of a farmer or less a part of the community. By questioning the moral integrity of farmers who choose to host renewables, Mr McCormack gives cover to those who think it’s acceptable to shame families or target their children. That’s a failure of leadership. And it’s time it stopped.
Submitted jointly by farmers Lachlan Sullivan (Central West NSW), Peter Southwell (Yass, NSW), Dave Hill (Central Queensland), Peter Crafter (Central Victoria), Matt Hicks (Riverina region), Jonathan Schof (Riverina region), Karen Schof (Riverina region), Andrew Locke (New England NSW), Warwick Fletcher (New England NSW). Tony Inder (Central West NSW).
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