The Hon. AILEEN MacDONALD (12:21): Minister Sharpe indicated that the existing planning laws and guidelines already provide safeguards with respect to the decommissioning of renewable energy projects. If the current framework was adequate, we would not have repeated warnings from the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner about decommissioning costs. The risk is real and the costs are known, but the safeguards are absent. This is not about opposing renewables; it is about fairness and ensuring that farmers are not left with stranded assets and steel towers at the end of projects.

On the issue of the tax, a bond is not a tax. It is accountability. The cost of decommissioning is a real, unavoidable cost of doing business. If companies do not set aside funds up-front, the bill lands on the farmer or the taxpayer. Just like in mining, bonds are not considered a tax. They are a safeguard. The renewable energy industry should not be given a free pass to walk away from its obligations, leaving regional families with the liability. If renewables are truly competitive, they should be able to carry their full costs and not offload them onto farmers.