Today in Parliament, Abigail contributed to a debate acknowledging the challenges in the renewable energy rollout, noting community concerns are often fuelled by misinformation and fossil fuel lobbying.

Abigail said:

I briefly contribute to discussion on the matter of public importance, and I thank the member for bringing it. It is a live discussion in the community. Unfortunately, it seems to be a little bit devoid of facts and information. It is really difficult to bring communities with us in a process where the quality and amount of information they are getting is not ideal. We must be aware of arguments about how the renewables rollout is undertaken. It is a masquerade, while there is still an argument about whether we should have a renewables rollout at all. It is no accident that people are complaining about the way in which the rollout is being done, when those people have also gone on record as not really thinking we need renewables and being, in many cases, against the very well settled climate science on the issue.

As everyone knows, I quite like to have a go at the Government. But I am not having a go at Government members on this particular issue because they inherited something that was so far behind and so poorly planned out that they are playing catch-up. I am glad that we had a multipartisan approach to renewable energy zones in the last term of Parliament, but it came at least 10 years too late. We are now in such a hurry to do the rollout in an effective and a sensible way that communities out there feel a bit railroaded.

Because of the muddying of information by climate deniers and those who would do the bidding of fossil fuel lobbyists, communities get muddied information and renewables look like a big scary thing. It is much easier to say, "No, we don't want that renewable project," than it is to have a conversation about how we do renewables in a sensible way. I am frustrated that we do not already have in place transition authorities that are more in tune with the community to help guide the process. The problem is that right-wing conservative voices are not letting the debate happen in a sensible way.

There are a couple of things happening here. The Greens and I are sympathetic to the Labor Government playing catch-up, but there needs to be a greater focus on how we bring communities with us, because it is not their fault. It can be very disruptive for people to have a renewable energy project proposed in their town. Of course it can be disruptive, and not every location is good for particular projects. Those things need to be worked through and modified, and we need genuine community consultation. But, at the end of the day, we cannot use relatively minor objections to how renewables are being rolled out to oppose the whole idea of the renewable rollout.

I had the dubious pleasure of trying to talk on Sky News Australia the other week. I always think, what have I got to lose? Maybe somebody will listen to the information being provided. If we do not give people another voice to listen to, how are they supposed to even know that there are other voices? I feel strongly about democracy and using whatever channels we can to get our message out to people so they can understand that there are alternative views to the ones they are being fed by the right-wing media, but it is still incredibly hard because we are dealing with people who call misinformation facts and are resistant to allowing the actual facts to come through.

We need to have those debates and get into every area that we can to talk to and connect with people. It is not the fault of the people who watch Sky News. I like to punch up, not down. I will always criticise the big corporations, big media companies, big fossil fuel companies and everyone else who is conspiring against the progress we are making with the rollout of renewables, but I will never blame the individuals who are only getting the information they are fed. If we do not like what the community is saying to us, then we need to engage with the community better and smarter. In conclusion, I do not agree with the basis upon which this motion has been brought, but The Greens take this opportunity to encourage the Government to engage more with the community.

Read the debate in Hansard here.

23 October 2025