Secret Energy Business in Farrer & Murray drowning residents in “fake transparency”

Public rage as residents rally against monstrous wind generators and solar panels ruining farmland

By Jeanine Bird

Thanks to the stupidity and treasonous actions of our pollies, both Federal and State, in allowing the Renew-A-Bull industry to transfer wealth from Aussie mums and dads to transnational corporations to pay for their BS Renew-A-Bull LACK of energy.  Businesses are going broke or closing down because of higher power bills, and families are struggling to pay their energy bills due to inefficient, expensive, Chinese-built wind generators and solar panels.

Meanwhile, the “totally transparent” Secret Energy Business is alive and well.  They DO NOT want people knowing about their meetings like the upcoming Coleambally one, NOR hearing what others have to say, especially with a by-election coming up in Sussan Ley’s seat of Farrer in the near future.  The truth is NOT welcome here!!  Yet they tell us it’s “transparent”.  Hmmmm.

In Sussan Ley’s federal electorate of Farrer (and the State electorate of Murray), the so-called Independent Planning Commission NSW (IPCN) were to hold a public meeting in the town of Coleambally about the foreign-owned Dinawan Solar Farm on 27^th  February.  Speakers had to register by the 17^th.  Written submissions close on 5^th March (and of course, it’s so “transparent” that it’s not properly advertised, so nobody knows about it).

I think pressure came to bear (some from State Independent Murray MP Helen Dalton) and forced the “no phone presentations” to be changed to allow them.  But then, they changed it again!!  Why?  Because of “lower than expected in-person speaker registrations”.  Perhaps they were scared to air the information of some who registered by phone?

Fourteen (14) people registered to speak – a miracle in itself really, because the Government Secret Agents disguised as the “Independent” Planning Commission GO OUT OF THEIR WAY TO KEEP IT SECRET!! They do not, but could simply letterbox the communities concerned if there was a GENUINE will to have the issues aired.

Chairman of the National Rational Energy Network Grant Piper said the NSW Independent Planning Commission until recently, always held on-site public meetings where three Commissioners heard presentations from locals about projects they were ruling on.   This only occurred if the project had more than 50 opposing submissions to the EIS for a renewable energy project.

“Also, the IPC public meetings have sometimes got very good public attendance and excellent opposing presentations, which were live streamed, and showed the opposition and the Commissioners discomfort in having to approve these farcical projects,” Mr Piper said. 

“Experts and others could also zoom in remotely and make a presentation.   For our local project the livestream removed all public ambient sound, which was applause for the speakers and general, positive good vibes, which (meeting facilitator) GovCo does not want – they deprive us all of any positive feedback.

“So they moved to a community meeting, where commissioners hear one person at a time in private, and don’t livestream just issue transcipts of the discussion. They also complain about non-local residents taking part or lodging opposing submissions, which is hypocritical, as the proponents are usually foreign companies and the commissioners themselves don’t come to the local area either, and this is a national problem, so why can’t remote experts and those concerned have their say?”

Rather, they want to keep their SECRET ENERGY BUSINESS SECRET!  They’re drowning us in fake transparency!  

Goodness gracious golly gosh, what if the locals who’ve only heard our Governments Secret Energy Spin hear some of those speakers who know their stuff and can argue logically showing that it’s not renewable energy, but UN-Renew-A-Bull??   Our Secret Energy Agents do not want people finding out there is another side, apart from the Secret Energy Spin!

So, once again, the local people who have to live near this toxic mess and be continually exposed to this “asbestos of the future”, are trampled upon.  Instead of a live broadcast which is public, they’ve closed shop.  Only the three people “in person” will be allowed to present that day – and to hell with anyone from the community who had heard about it and was going along to have a look/listen!  They won’t know it’s not public after all till they get there!!!  They make it all so confusing it’s hard to follow!!  Then, people who registered for phone presentations have been put across to another day, the 4^th March!  The plebs can be mucked around willy-nilly all day long.

Considering submissions close on the 5^th, that is not enough time for people to listen to the supposed-to-be-public presentations (if it’s even on their website??) and put a submission in!  The Secret Energy Agents posing as the IPCN are a law unto themselves and are contemptuous of country people who will have to live near these industrial monstrosities that send their energy bills ever skyward.  (Even a project with over 1,000 objections got totally ignored, because the deal was already done.  Transparency ticked.)

This is what happened with our water – the Murray Darling Basin Plan meetings were almost always at times inconvenient to farmers (harvest, sowing etc).  People going to them had to take a day off work – unpaid –  to go and listen to all the highly paid drop-kicks who thought they knew better tell farmers how wonderful it would be to go broke with less water allocations …. that they still had to pay for!  Just the thought of people losing equity in their homes and farming businesses was euphoric!  And if you suicided, they probably put a gold star on their secret gotcha water white-board.  After all, they were not OUR servants, because they were serving our UN International masters. 

I’m not mixing Federal and State issues up – in both water and their Secret Energy Business  all governments have a big hand in it.   They ensure there are plenty of authorities, committees, “independent” boards and commissions, task-forces, consultants, and all sorts of NGO’s and councils, both State and Federal, whereby they can pass the blame or rather, “responsibility” back and forth between them so that ordinary taxpayers can never get a straight answer.  Neither State nor Federal are responsible then …… naturally.  (We love fake transparency.)

So, when the IPCN hold “community meetings”, that means no-one from the community can go and listen.  Only the speakers presenting can go in one by one (unless they graciously relent and allow other speakers to listen too).  At the Yanco BESS meeting, it wasn’t broadcast either although  they said they’d transcribe what presenters said.  But ONLY in-person presentations were allowed.  No phone or video presentations, as had been allowed previously.  So, there is no “community” in these meetings – it is just communism.

In “public meetings”, it appears phone presentations are allowed, and supposedly people are allowed to attend.  However, it’s so secret, nobody knows anything about it – which is probably why only 14 people registered.  The locals know nothing usually until it’s all a done deal.  Furthermore, they’re now calling the Coleambally meeting with the 3 in person people, “individual stakeholder meetings”.  They, apparently, may be observed by the other (2) speakers!!  Whoopie doo!

This is all in keeping with their “transparency” policies!  (If you think that’s as clear as mud, it’s supposed to be!)  Is Coly a public, community, or stakeholder meeting now??  All I know is that it’s definitely transparent, and we’re meant to drown in said transparency.

There should be a live on-line broadcast of the proceedings and it should all be held on the same day – the original day, instead of the day before submissions are due, when no-one has the benefit of listening to other presentations before getting a submission in!  (It won’t be transcribed or up on their website by then either!  But, it’s transparent, of course!)

These people are so cock-sure and get away with their deceptive, unethical and devious actions, no doubt because they have the blessing of (in this instance) the State Government.  This borders on  fraud really, and ordinary residents are on the receiving end of their dirty-dealing “totally transparent” Secret Energy Business.

Governments, both State and Federal should mandate public letterboxing of affected communities, and PUBLIC meetings – proper public meetings – to be held so that people can hear what everyone else is thinking, instead of these secretive “one on one” box-ticking “drowning-in-transparency” consultations these energy companies hold with communities. 

Of course, they won’t do  that, because then everyone would find out a lot faster that the numbers don’t stack up, and they couldn’t keep up the Secret Energy Spin.  Heaven help us, even the ABC might have to report something other than the Secret Energy Spin, and we can’t have that, can we?

Recently, the Australian (12/2/26) reported the $40bn Snowy 2.0 would lock in high power prices and destroy farmland.  The Financial Review (17/2/26) reports the grid owner wants consumers to wear a $1.1b (of the $1.5bn) cost blow-out of Energy Connect (the 900km power hook-up between NSW & SA).  Think higher power prices.

Then, Vast Renewables and it’s subsidiaries were put into administration in November 2025, leaving the Jemalong (near Forbes) solar facility once promoted as a flagship RE development, half-demolished.  The cutting edge concentrated solar thermal facility caught fire too, and as it’s only half demolished and they’re in administration, who’s going to foot that bill?   Maybe the local councils who’ve taken “blood money” may now realise they can never hope to cover liabilities like this??  Again, think higher power prices.  (And, what taxpayer subsidies did they get that are simply unrecoverable??)

Meanwhile, even former Greens leader Christine Milne called the North West Transmission (Tas) developments championed by Blackout Bowen an “ecological and economic disaster”.  Where are the rest of the Greens on this??  Snouts in the proverbial trough slopping up their Secret Energy Business slush funds?? 

Sussan Ley could do something constructive about getting some true transparency around the current “fake transparency” before she settles into her $220k p.a. parliamentary pension, but the “responsibility” is on the States here so I suppose those pigs might keep on flying, since a lot of the pension might have to come out of the Renew-A-Bull piggery farm?