12th Sep 2023, 5:34 PM – Senate Committees - Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee - Reference

The majority voted against a motion introduced by Tasmanian Senator Richard Colbeck (Liberal) and NSW Senator Ross Cadell (Nationals), which means it failed.

Motion text

That, noting the importance of ensuring that the National Electricity Grid has the capacity to provide a reliable and secure supply of energy to Australians as the economy transitions to new and more dispersed methods of generations and storage, and acknowledging that transition will necessarily transgress on agricultural, Indigenous and environmental lands and marine environments, the following matters be referred to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee for inquiry and report by 1 December 2023:

(a) power imbalance between Indigenous landholders, farmers and fishers and government and energy companies seeking to compulsorily acquire or access their land or fishing grounds;

(b) terms and conditions for compulsory access and acquisition;

(c) fairness of compensation;

(d) options for development of a fair national approach to access and acquisition;

(e) options to maintain and ensure the rights of farmers and fishers to maintain and ensure productivity of agriculture and fisheries; and

(f) any other matter.