Energy developers need to fund emergency fire response teams, farmers have said at the NSW Farmers Conference on Wednesday.
The threat to life and property posed by massive lithium battery fires had the potential to be too great for rural firefighters, delegates said, pointing out that renewable developers must pay for specialist equipment and training to keep farm communities safe.
"The race to renewable energy is accelerating at breakneck speed, and farmers are finding their new neighbours are huge lithium batteries that can and will burst into flames," NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin said.
"If developers are going to create these risks, then they must be responsible for managing them - and there's so much more to be done to get this renewable transition right."
The proposed super tax on family farms was also front of mind for delegates, with farmers calling for stamp duty to be waived when moving farmland out of self-managed superfunds.
"Families are now weighing up their options and considering transferring farms out of these structures, but they'll be up for significant costs to do so, including stamp duty at the state level," Mr Martin said.
"This tax is going to be diabolical for our farmers - and our future farmers - so we have to do whatever we can to minimise the collateral damage."
Other motions passed on the final day of the NSW Farmers Annual Conference included motions in support of:
- Scoping out the possibility of launching a publicly funded regional airline
- Further funding for the Farm Gate Counselling Program
- Improving the design and implementation of flood warning systems
- More regular reporting on non-tariff measures impacting agricultural trade.
