Federal Member for Riverina Michael McCormack has welcomed the indefinite delay to the proposed 90 260-metre tall wind towers between Binalong and Bowning.
It has since been revealed Wind Prospect’s United Kingdom arm owes millions of dollars to creditors and has been trading insolvent since 2017.
Mr McCormack said the announcement was a win for the local community, but the rush to renewables would not stop under this current Government.
“The communities of Binalong and Bowning have been beside themselves with concern over this controversial project,” Mr McCormack said.
“The decision by Wind Prospect to postpone progress until at least next year is a victory for the Binalong and Bowning community but the uncertainty will continue to linger whilst the Labor Government pushes its renewables barrow to appease inner-city voters at the cost of regional Australia.
“It goes to show people being made offers that are too good to be true ought to be very, very wary.
“There has to be more accountability and transparency and that starts with the office of the Minister responsible, Chris Bowen, all the way to these companies which have only one thing in mind and that is to make money – and lots of it – without any regard to the farmers, the environment and the communities they are tearing apart.
“If proper due diligence was applied to this project by the State and Federal Governments, it may have saved months of heartache and uncertainty.
“By secretly making deals with landowners before any public consultation started, they are sowing seeds of doubt between neighbours, families and friends – essentially dividing communities – even before a project is put to public consultation.
“This indicates that this multinational company does not care for regional Australia’s interests – it only cares about its bottom line and propping up an already failing business plan in the UK.”