'Abandoned ideals of empathy, compassion and morality': Hunter landholders slam EnergyCo.
Three Hunter landholders have told a parliamentary inquiry that they have been collateral damage in the quest to build the state's new renewable energy transmission infrastructure at breakneck speed.
Ian Barry, Kathy Morris and Ben Turner, who testified at the Upper House inquiry looking into the impact of renewable energy zones on regional communities, said that their lives had been irreparably damaged by the compulsory land acquisition process undertaken for the Hunter Transmission Project (HTP).
The government's energy corporation, EnergyCo, which is responsible for planning the 100-kilometre transmission line between Bayswater and Eraring power stations, was universally condemned for unceasingly bullying landholders who resisted its plans.
"Energy Co. has abandoned ideals of empathy, compassion and morality and taken a path of ill-conceived shortcuts and oversights," Cedar Creek resident Ian Barry told the inquiry.
Mr Barry, who has advanced motor neurone disease, said he and his wife Vicky had spent a year arguing that more suitable alternatives to running high-voltage power lines across his land existed.
Despite that, they were advised late last year that EnergyCo would compulsorily acquire an easement through their property, resulting in infrastructure coming within 600 metres of the house where Mr Barry had hoped to spend his final days in peace.
"Effectively, easement doesn't mean renting your land. It means you no longer own it," Mr Barry, who previously shared his experiences with NSW Climate Change and Energy Minister Penny Sharpe, said.
"We have a year of diary entries documenting land access, coercion of neighbours, frequent bullying, phony eco-visits, lies, plus instances where EnergyCo. workers denied me basic disability rights like recording meetings and withholding information like easement details of our own land."
Kathy and Peter Morris's 20-hectare property on the fringe of Pokolbin State Forest will also be compulsorily acquired for the HTP.
Ms Morris said, based on her experience Energy Co was a "disorganised, self contradictory, mostly unfeeling, mostly un-listening, entity that is miserly with facts and seeks to overreach and bludgeon affected land holders into submission."
Most of the property's dense native vegetation, much of which has been rehabilitated, is likely to be cleared for transmission infrastructure.
Likewise, an animal sanctuary located on the property will also go by the wayside.
Despite the emotional impact, Ms Morris said EnergyCo representatives had made her feel like she was an inconvenience to them.
"We've been told that we're too emotional about the loss of our home. I have been told I am too angry, and when am I going to get over it? I have been told that I should be happy with what I get," she said.
"I thought that EnergyCo was a public body serving the people of NSW, but it acts like its activities are state secrets and we are spies for the opposing government."
Ben Turner's family owns a 175 hectare property in the Watagan Valley south of Cessnock that is due to have high voltage power lines strung over it.
He told the inquiry that a power imbalance existed between the acquisition authority and landowners.
"There is an inherent negotiating imbalance between a well-funded government entity and a dispossessed landowner who is not paid for their time in navigating the dispossession that they did not want in the first place," he said.
"Secondly, acquiring authorities general unconditional reliance on their own valuer and other experts leaves little room for meaningful negotiation or compromise in circumstances where reasonable, qualified expert opinions may differ between the parties."
Three Hunter landholders have told a parliamentary inquiry that they have been collateral damage in the quest to build the state's new renewable energy transmission infrastructure at breakneck speed.
Ian Barry, Kathy Morris and Ben Turner, who testified at the Upper House inquiry looking into the impact of renewable energy zones on regional communities, said that their lives had been irreparably damaged by the compulsory land acquisition process undertaken for the Hunter Transmission Project (HTP).
The government's energy corporation, EnergyCo, which is responsible for planning the 100-kilometre transmission line between Bayswater and Eraring power stations, was universally condemned for unceasingly bullying landholders who resisted its plans.
"Energy Co. has abandoned ideals of empathy, compassion and morality and taken a path of ill-conceived shortcuts and oversights," Cedar Creek resident Ian Barry told the inquiry.
Mr Barry, who has advanced motor neurone disease, said he and his wife Vicky had spent a year arguing that more suitable alternatives to running high-voltage power lines across his land existed.
Despite that, they were advised late last year that EnergyCo would compulsorily acquire an easement through their property, resulting in infrastructure coming within 600 metres of the house where Mr Barry had hoped to spend his final days in peace.
"Effectively, easement doesn't mean renting your land. It means you no longer own it," Mr Barry, who previously shared his experiences with NSW Climate Change and Energy Minister Penny Sharpe, said.
"We have a year of diary entries documenting land access, coercion of neighbours, frequent bullying, phony eco-visits, lies, plus instances where EnergyCo. workers denied me basic disability rights like recording meetings and withholding information like easement details of our own land."
Kathy and Peter Morris's 20-hectare property on the fringe of Pokolbin State Forest will also be compulsorily acquired for the HTP.
Ms Morris said, based on her experience Energy Co was a "disorganised, self contradictory, mostly unfeeling, mostly un-listening, entity that is miserly with facts and seeks to overreach and bludgeon affected land holders into submission."
Most of the property's dense native vegetation, much of which has been rehabilitated, is likely to be cleared for transmission infrastructure.
Likewise, an animal sanctuary located on the property will also go by the wayside.
Despite the emotional impact, Ms Morris said EnergyCo representatives had made her feel like she was an inconvenience to them.
"We've been told that we're too emotional about the loss of our home. I have been told I am too angry, and when am I going to get over it? I have been told that I should be happy with what I get," she said.
"I thought that EnergyCo was a public body serving the people of NSW, but it acts like its activities are state secrets and we are spies for the opposing government."
Ben Turner's family owns a 175 hectare property in the Watagan Valley south of Cessnock that is due to have high voltage power lines strung over it.
He told the inquiry that a power imbalance existed between the acquisition authority and landowners.
"There is an inherent negotiating imbalance between a well-funded government entity and a dispossessed landowner who is not paid for their time in navigating the dispossession that they did not want in the first place," he said.
"Secondly, acquiring authorities general unconditional reliance on their own valuer and other experts leaves little room for meaningful negotiation or compromise in circumstances where reasonable, qualified expert opinions may differ between the parties."
Three Hunter landholders have told a parliamentary inquiry that they have been collateral damage in the quest to build the state's new renewable energy transmission infrastructure at breakneck speed.
Ian Barry, Kathy Morris and Ben Turner, who testified at the Upper House inquiry looking into the impact of renewable energy zones on regional communities, said that their lives had been irreparably damaged by the compulsory land acquisition process undertaken for the Hunter Transmission Project (HTP).
The government's energy corporation, EnergyCo, which is responsible for planning the 100-kilometre transmission line between Bayswater and Eraring power stations, was universally condemned for unceasingly bullying landholders who resisted its plans.
"Energy Co. has abandoned ideals of empathy, compassion and morality and taken a path of ill-conceived shortcuts and oversights," Cedar Creek resident Ian Barry told the inquiry.
Mr Barry, who has advanced motor neurone disease, said he and his wife Vicky had spent a year arguing that more suitable alternatives to running high-voltage power lines across his land existed.
Despite that, they were advised late last year that EnergyCo would compulsorily acquire an easement through their property, resulting in infrastructure coming within 600 metres of the house where Mr Barry had hoped to spend his final days in peace.
"Effectively, easement doesn't mean renting your land. It means you no longer own it," Mr Barry, who previously shared his experiences with NSW Climate Change and Energy Minister Penny Sharpe, said.
"We have a year of diary entries documenting land access, coercion of neighbours, frequent bullying, phony eco-visits, lies, plus instances where EnergyCo. workers denied me basic disability rights like recording meetings and withholding information like easement details of our own land."
Kathy and Peter Morris's 20-hectare property on the fringe of Pokolbin State Forest will also be compulsorily acquired for the HTP.
Ms Morris said, based on her experience Energy Co was a "disorganised, self contradictory, mostly unfeeling, mostly un-listening, entity that is miserly with facts and seeks to overreach and bludgeon affected land holders into submission."
Most of the property's dense native vegetation, much of which has been rehabilitated, is likely to be cleared for transmission infrastructure.
Likewise, an animal sanctuary located on the property will also go by the wayside.
Despite the emotional impact, Ms Morris said EnergyCo representatives had made her feel like she was an inconvenience to them.
"We've been told that we're too emotional about the loss of our home. I have been told I am too angry, and when am I going to get over it? I have been told that I should be happy with what I get," she said.
"I thought that EnergyCo was a public body serving the people of NSW, but it acts like its activities are state secrets and we are spies for the opposing government."
Ben Turner's family owns a 175 hectare property in the Watagan Valley south of Cessnock that is due to have high voltage power lines strung over it.
He told the inquiry that a power imbalance existed between the acquisition authority and landowners.
"There is an inherent negotiating imbalance between a well-funded government entity and a dispossessed landowner who is not paid for their time in navigating the dispossession that they did not want in the first place," he said.
"Secondly, acquiring authorities general unconditional reliance on their own valuer and other experts leaves little room for meaningful negotiation or compromise in circumstances where reasonable, qualified expert opinions may differ between the parties."
Three Hunter landholders have told a parliamentary inquiry that they have been collateral damage in the quest to build the state's new renewable energy transmission infrastructure at breakneck speed.
Ian Barry, Kathy Morris and Ben Turner, who testified at the Upper House inquiry looking into the impact of renewable energy zones on regional communities, said that their lives had been irreparably damaged by the compulsory land acquisition process undertaken for the Hunter Transmission Project (HTP).
The government's energy corporation, EnergyCo, which is responsible for planning the 100-kilometre transmission line between Bayswater and Eraring power stations, was universally condemned for unceasingly bullying landholders who resisted its plans.
"Energy Co. has abandoned ideals of empathy, compassion and morality and taken a path of ill-conceived shortcuts and oversights," Cedar Creek resident Ian Barry told the inquiry.
Mr Barry, who has advanced motor neurone disease, said he and his wife Vicky had spent a year arguing that more suitable alternatives to running high-voltage power lines across his land existed.
Despite that, they were advised late last year that EnergyCo would compulsorily acquire an easement through their property, resulting in infrastructure coming within 600 metres of the house where Mr Barry had hoped to spend his final days in peace.
"Effectively, easement doesn't mean renting your land. It means you no longer own it," Mr Barry, who previously shared his experiences with NSW Climate Change and Energy Minister Penny Sharpe, said.
"We have a year of diary entries documenting land access, coercion of neighbours, frequent bullying, phony eco-visits, lies, plus instances where EnergyCo. workers denied me basic disability rights like recording meetings and withholding information like easement details of our own land."
Kathy and Peter Morris's 20-hectare property on the fringe of Pokolbin State Forest will also be compulsorily acquired for the HTP.
Ms Morris said, based on her experience Energy Co was a "disorganised, self contradictory, mostly unfeeling, mostly un-listening, entity that is miserly with facts and seeks to overreach and bludgeon affected land holders into submission."
Most of the property's dense native vegetation, much of which has been rehabilitated, is likely to be cleared for transmission infrastructure.
Likewise, an animal sanctuary located on the property will also go by the wayside.
Despite the emotional impact, Ms Morris said EnergyCo representatives had made her feel like she was an inconvenience to them.
"We've been told that we're too emotional about the loss of our home. I have been told I am too angry, and when am I going to get over it? I have been told that I should be happy with what I get," she said.
"I thought that EnergyCo was a public body serving the people of NSW, but it acts like its activities are state secrets and we are spies for the opposing government."
Ben Turner's family owns a 175 hectare property in the Watagan Valley south of Cessnock that is due to have high voltage power lines strung over it.
He told the inquiry that a power imbalance existed between the acquisition authority and landowners.
"There is an inherent negotiating imbalance between a well-funded government entity and a dispossessed landowner who is not paid for their time in navigating the dispossession that they did not want in the first place," he said.
"Secondly, acquiring authorities general unconditional reliance on their own valuer and other experts leaves little room for meaningful negotiation or compromise in circumstances where reasonable, qualified expert opinions may differ between the parties."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
12-06-2025
- West Australian
Opinion: Rubber stamp democracy leads to gun laws but 42nd Parliament gives glimpse of what is possible
After four long years of rubber-stamp democracy in the WA Parliament's Upper House, this month we got a brief glimpse of what might be possible in the 42nd Parliament. A Liberal motion, supported by the Nationals and the entire crossbench, was successful in sending the Firearms Act 2024 to a review committee. While the March State election did return Labor to power with a substantial majority in the Assembly, Labor lost control of the Legislative Council which they had used to brutal effect, cutting short debate and ramming through laws without the scrutiny that the house of review, the Legislative Council, is supposed to provide. With overwhelming numbers in the Legislative Council in the 41st Parliament, Labor had been able to pass any piece of legislation they wanted — whenever they wanted. Despite this power they also declared 11 Bills urgent, cutting short debate. The era of Labor arrogantly ignoring the purpose of the Parliament and hiding Bills from proper interrogation came to an end last week just three days after newly elected MLCs took their seats in the chamber. Last week Liberal MLC Nick Goiran moved a motion to refer the Firearms Act 2024 to the Standing Committee on Legislation. The motion directed the committee to report on: · problems that have emerged from the implementation and operation of the legislation; · whether all provisions are consistent with fundamental legislative principles; · recommended amendments that will ensure the legislation's workability and effectiveness. It would be difficult to argue with any of those sensible suggestions. In my opportunity to speak on the motion I said: 'We have an opportunity, members — not just the Opposition and the crossbench, but also Labor members — to put right the mistake that was made in the last Parliament by not scrutinising this piece of legislation appropriately. I urge members to give that some consideration — some serious consideration. Let the Standing Committee on Legislation do what it does best in this, the 42nd Parliament.' Why did this referral need to happen? Well, despite Labor promising that 'the law will be subject to the full scrutiny of Upper House debate, as is normal practice', they allowed consideration and examination of only 11 clauses of a Firearms Bill that contained 492 clauses. Not exactly gold standard transparency, which was another Labor broken promise. What did some of those 481 unexamined clauses contain? Just a very brief sample from the hundreds of important clauses that Labor didn't think worthy of examination: Section 150, 'General matters for consideration' states: Without limiting the matters to which the Commissioner may have regard for the purpose of forming an opinion as to whether a person is a fit and proper person, the Commissioner may have regard to any of the following — (a) the person's conduct and behaviour; (b) the person's physical and mental health; (c) the person's views, opinions and attitudes; (d) the person's way of living or domestic circumstances. I would have welcomed the opportunity to discover how the Commissioner might determine my attitudes or views when considering if I am a fit and proper person to hold a firearm licence. There are also clauses relating to the storage of firearms, health checks for firearm owners and what defines a farm or a farmer where discussion and explanation from the government could have been useful. Labor chose not to bother. They chose to push the Bill through the last Parliament and ignore genuine concerns. The Liberal motion received support from across the political spectrum because it is sensible and allows the Parliament to do its job. Greens MLC Brad Pettitt, a supporter of reform to the Firearms Act, added his support for the referral noting concerns from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners regarding the impact on RACGP members having to deal with the health checks. The Legislation Committee now can recommend changes that will improve the workability of this Act for all stakeholders and achieve the goals of community safety. Even the Labor Party supported the referral to the committee. Possibly because they realised the error of their ways, or more probably because they didn't want the embarrassment of losing a vote so early in the life of the new Parliament. Either way, democracy is the winner. The newly-elected Legislative Council might have fewer regional members because of Labor's electoral law changes before the last election, but it now has an opportunity to hold the Government to account. Steve Martin is a WA Liberal member for the Agricultural Region and a farmer at Wickepin
West Australian
04-06-2025
- West Australian
Basil Zempilas: Government needs to step-up over bare-knuckle fighting event in Perth
1. Rita Saffioti has the power to ban bare-knuckle fighting coming to WA — but she won't. She and a roll call of fellow ministers have lined up to tell us 'it's not their cup of tea', that they won't be attending, and that it doesn't appeal to them. And still, this Government won't stop it. How gutless is that. For goodness sake Minister, you have the power to ban this barbaric event coming to Perth. It serves no good purpose and sets a shocking example. Step up and do the right thing. 2. Of course, if the Deputy Premier won't ban it, the Premier can. But where is he on this? Hiding in the shadows. He calls himself 'a dad from Kwinana' on his social media bio. Is this really what dads want for their kids and for the community? I'm a dad too Roger, and I know it's not what I want. It's time for leadership. Premier, pull your bare-knuckle fighting, racetrack-building State Government back into line. 3. In the same week they refuse to ban this blood sport, it's been revealed government fees and charges will rise in this month's State Budget, the chronic overcrowding in our State primary schools has been laid bare and ambulance ramping for the month of May has been clocked as the highest on record. Racetracks, a rugby team and bare-knuckle fighting, this Government has its priorities all wrong. 4. Let's give the final word on bare-knuckle fighting to someone who we can credit with displaying the leadership we're looking for, the Prime Minister. Asked if he would ban it if it was his call, Anthony Albanese said: 'I think I probably would. I do think we need to have a bit of common sense here.' Well said PM. 5. The Liberals' WA listening tour has taken off to the Pilbara. Yesterday I was in Port Hedland with Upper House colleague Neil Thompson for a visit to local businesses and a tour of BHP and FMG's ship loading and logistics facilities. Incredible. And if you haven't had a meal at the Hedland Hotel, I highly recommend it, especially if Senator Dean Smith is with you. 6. Today it's Karratha and a first time visit to the ancient rock art at Murujuga. The mayor, CEO and local chamber of commerce boss have all made time and the afternoon's itinerary takes us to Woodside's Pluto LNG project. 7. The week ends in Exmouth, where as well as the senior leaders of the shire, the CCI and some local businesses, I'll get the chance to take in the marine culture of the Tantabiddi boat experience. 8. It appears we have received the most tragic reminder that alcohol and escooters should never be mixed. 9. The Foo Fighters for the AFL grand final? Richard Goyder will be My Hero if he pulls that off. 10. My long weekend highlight, watching the Perth 14s go back to back in division 1 at the Association Championships at Matthews Netball Centre.
ABC News
02-06-2025
- ABC News
Federal politics live: Cox defects from Greens to boost Labor Senate ranks
Senator Dorinda Cox's defection from the Greens to Labor will increase the government's numbers in the Upper House. Follow our live blog below.
