Family First has today announced that, if its Upper House candidates are elected at the upcoming South Australian, Victorian and New South Wales elections, the Party will fight to halt the rollout of renewable energy projects that are driving up costs for families. Family First Upper House candidates Deepa Mathew (SA), Bernie Finn and Jane Foreman (VIC), and Lyle Shelton (NSW) have pledged to demand that state governments tell the truth about the massive financial and environmental cost of renewables and re-invest in coal to bring power prices down.
Family First's latest call is based on the bombshell submission from the Page Research Centre to the Australian Senate, which not only debunks the myth that renewables are cheaper but also exposes the extent of dark overseas money being funnelled to activist organisations to demonise Australia's coal industry and strip it of its social licence. The submission reveals a deliberate, well-funded strategy to delegitimise coal, mislead the public, and manipulate politicians and the media. Page Research Centre Executive Director Gerard Holland revealed that, "Last year, activist organisations spent over $170 million lobbying politicians and astroturfing the Australian media with the sole intention of demonising coal and nuclear power, and accelerating the transition to renewable energy. This entire campaign was based on a lie: renewables are the cheapest form of energy. They're not. Not even close. Once you factor in firming, system integration, and transmission, renewables cost 2–2.5 times more than coal."
Family First candidates say the reality is stark: energy is the economy. When power prices rise, the cost of everything rises — from production and transportation to refrigeration, retail and consumption at home.
"Activists with hundreds of millions in funding, much of it from overseas, have spent a decade destroying coal's social licence, flooding the public debate with misleading reports and tying projects up in court. The result is families and small businesses paying some of the highest power prices in the developed world," the Family First candidates said.
Family First believes Australians deserve an honest conversation about the cost of renewables, the damage being done to farmland and landscapes by transmission projects, and the fact that coal remains one of the most reliable and affordable forms of baseload power.
"State governments must come clean with families. They must stop subsidising expensive, intermittent energy and reinvest in coal generation to take pressure off households and small businesses." Family First will campaign across SA, Victoria and NSW to ensure the voices of ordinary families — not foreign-funded activists — shape Australia's energy future.
