State Liberals welcome Dutton’s offshore wind zone scrapping pledge but union criticises plan

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s announcement he’ll scrap the proposed Geographe Bay offshore wind farm zone is a win for the South West, according to WA Liberal leader and Vasse MLA Libby Mettam.

Mr Dutton was in Busselton on Friday to announce that if his Government was elected in the upcoming Federal Election, it would scrap the offshore wind farm zone.

Ms Mettam welcomed the pledge, saying he was listening to the community.

“Peter Dutton’s commitment to scrapping the Geographe Bay wind farm is a huge win for the South West, from a leader who gets WA,” she said.

“I have worked alongside my federal colleagues, including Ben Small and Nola Marino, fighting to protect our pristine coastline from a project which would have pushed up power prices.”

The proposed wind farm zone is touted to provide up to 11.4 GW of power and is hoped to be complete somewhere between 2028-32.

In September, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced the zone would be cut in half to sit at an area of just less than 4000sqkm.

Ms Mettam said her party would focus on gas to assist with the closure of coal in Collie.

“We are committed to meeting our 2050 climate targets, but it cannot come at the cost of affordability or reliability,” she said.

“We are not ideologically opposed to nuclear energy, but our priority is bringing on additional gas supply before closing Collie to keep the lights on and prices down.”

State shadow energy minister Dr Steve Thomas also welcomed Mr Dutton’s announcement.

“This is a fantastic outcome for the South West community,” Dr Thomas said.

“It means that the Albanese Government is now isolated in its support for the zone that would see thousands of wind turbines being put out into our iconic Geographe Bay and take away the local community’s chance to stop them.”

While support is high from within the WA Liberals, not all were as pleased with the news.

Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union WA State secretary Steve McCartney said the plan would hurt local workers.

“AMWU members in the South West have been campaigning for decades for secure manufacturing jobs in Collie and Bunbury that deliver good pay and allow them to see their kids every night,” he said.

“Peter Dutton is going around the South West blocking projects that would deliver a real future for tens of thousands of metalworkers.

“Instead of creating thousands of new manufacturing jobs, he’s promising a glow-in-the-dark power station that would employ a handful of people to barely produce enough power to keep the lights on in Donnybrook.”