A farmer has accused the ABC of selectively editing an interview to eliminate real problems he has with wind turbines in his region.
Grant Piper, a rancher in central western New South Wales, near the town of Dubbo, said an episode of ABC’s 7.30 Report that aired in early February left out what he most wanted to show, which is the extent of the invasion of the wind. farms.
Dissatisfied with what was left on the cutting room floor, Piper filmed a video a couple of days after the broadcast to show the location he had taken the show’s makers to so they could understand the magnitude of a proposed wind farm. near your property.
Piper said two wind farms with more than 200 turbines each more than 200 meters high would surround his property.
NSW farmer Grant Piper made his own video to show what ABC left on the cutting room floor.
During the segment, Mr. Piper was given about a minute to explain his position, with his contribution divided into three points of the segment’s seven-minute duration.
“I went there and spent the whole morning with them,” Piper told WhatsNew2Day Australia on Friday.
‘We understand that they only have a five or seven minute segment, we understand that.
“What we said and what we tried to impart was knowledge, facts and information that people could take advantage of to inform people.”
Piper said all the report could have achieved was to “reinforce people in their entrenched position.”
“It didn’t advance the conversation, it didn’t educate either party to have an informed discussion,” he said.
“It just reinforces the long-held narrative that farmers don’t want it, but renewables are good.”
In the video, which has been shared on One Nation Senator Malcom Roberts’ Facebook page, Piper climbs to the top of a hill to demonstrate “what the 7.30 report didn’t show”.
“This is what I brought you here to show you, as usual, ABC’s good selections and editing to sell a message and basically talk for seven minutes and not communicate anything to you.”
Piper points out the proposed sites for two wind turbine properties that will surround his property.
During the ABC report, Mr Piper was given about a minute of airtime to make his points.
‘There are more than a thousand turbines listed at the moment in the projects, each of them has more than 2,000 tons of concrete in its base, 600 tons of steel in the tower… plus I don’t know how many tons of carbon fiber. and epoxy on the blades,” he said.
Piper said wind turbines will spew particles of bisphenol A, the chemical used in making polycarbonate plastics for wind turbine blades, also commonly known as BPA.
“BPA is an endocrine disruptor, so it will erode over the life of those turbines and distribute fine BPA throughout the country and into waterways,” Piper said.
“So what effect is that going to have on fertility and the health of livestock and the health of people… but they don’t want to talk about (that)?”
Whether wind turbines spew BPA particles that can harm the fertility of people and animals remains a hot topic of debate between proponents and opponents of renewable energy.
Piper maintains that in the future BPA will be viewed in the same way as asbestos is now.
“The blades erode over time, but the tips go 300 or 400 miles per hour and erode,” he told WhatsNew2Day Australia.
‘You couldn’t think of a better way to spread all that dust and particles over the ground.
‘We work generations, centuries of work in raising livestock and fertility is the first thing that is needed.
‘If you don’t have fertility, the numbers don’t add up. If they get even a two or three percent reduction in their herd, that will destroy the last 300 years of progress.
“It’s not a small thing.”
In his video, Piper refuted the idea that farmers are well compensated for having wind turbines.
“Compared to the loss of capital value of the land and the loss of production of the land, any compensation offered is not really significant,” he said.
“It is also a huge impediment to food production in this country and we are going to suffer in the long term, as will our children, because they will have to pay the bills of these foreign corporations forever.”
Piper said city dwellers may not appreciate what it entails.
“It’s not like the city where they buy you land to build a railway or a roundabout or something like that, where youHey, buy the entire block of your house.‘ he said.
‘(In rural areas) they are buying an easement and putting in a power line that stays forever and they only compensate a little for the easement and a small percent on the rest of the property but it really doesn’t compensate for the loss. of the capital value
“If you subdivide 100ha and get a damn power line on that lot, you’ll never sell that damn thing, it’s worthless.”
In his video, Piper showed how his property would be surrounded by the proposed wind farms.
‘Once you’re immersed in this uncertainty, what effect does that have on your business investment and future plans?
He said most people who have wind turbines installed on their properties “take their foot off the pedal.”
‘They are no longer primarily farmers, they don’t need to.
“Because of noise or other things, they end up moving, so most of them are absentee landowners.”
Mr Piper’s property is located in what the New South Wales government has declared the Orana Central West Renewable Energy Zone, meaning the region is set to be a major hub for renewable projects.
According to Piper, there were 54 renewable energy projects in the works for the area, comprising more than 1,000 turbines and nine million solar panels.
He said that, on average, operators needed 140 hectares per turbine and approximately 25 square kilometers for an 850 megawatt solar park.
Heavy transmission lines would also need to be installed to transport power from renewables, which Piper said typically meant farmers had to subdivide their properties.
“During construction you will not be able to move from one section of the property to the other section of your property,” he said.
‘Would you buy a property if it had power lines running through it inside or around the edge?’
The 7.30 Report asked Mr Piper if he was a ‘NIMBY’ who only opposed renewable energy because it was in his backyard.
Piper was unapologetic about saying he didn’t want them near him, pointing out that people in Sydney don’t want them away from the northern beaches or Bondi Beach.
“(Teal MP) Zali Steggall has something on her website that says I don’t support wind farms on the northern beaches,” he said.
“I mean, what a hypocrite you must be.”
Ms Steggall’s website says: “For the record, I have solar panels on my house, I drive an electric car and I do not support wind farms along Warringah beach.”
As for whether he was disappointed by his performance on ABC, Piper said he wasn’t surprised.
“All of these once trusted institutions that you once supported – the ABC or the CSIRO or the BOM – are destroyed and have no integrity or credibility left,” he said.
‘We know. Anyone with their eyes and ears open knows this.’
ABC has been contacted for comment.