31 January 2025
Dear Queensland Treasury,
Farmers for Climate Action welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission in relation to the Draft Renewables Regulatory Framework.
Farmers for Climate Action represents farmers, agricultural leaders, and rural Australians who want to see Australia adopt strong climate policies to protect farmers and farming communities. Our organisation has more than 8,400 farmer members across Australia, including more than 900 in Queensland, and a further 80,000 community supporters.
Since 2015, we have been at the forefront of conversations about the intersection of renewable energy and agriculture. We are aware of the need to find a balance between competing interests and priorities including farm productivity and profitability, food security, emissions reduction, energy security and reliability, regional development, and safeguarding the future of farming in Australia. Our work includes several published reports, informed by expert research and analysis as well as the experiences of our farmer members, which inform this submission.
In 2024 we launched Farming Forever, a series of case studies of farmers who are successfully farming with renewables and transmission lines on their land. Later this year we will host our first national conference, the three-day Farming Forever National Summit 2025 over three days in Canberra. This summit will continue our work convening and mobilising farming communities to discuss issues critical to the future of farming, including renewable energy, emissions reduction, climate-smart agriculture, nature restoration, and more.
We acknowledge the Queensland Government’s efforts to engage with stakeholders from the agriculture sector in refining its approach to renewable energy regulation and planning. People around Australia see farmers as a trusted voice in the debate surrounding Australia’s energy shift. For farmers and regional communities, renewable energy provides once in a generational opportunities as well as some challenges to be worked through. We strongly encourage the Queensland Government to continue to engage with farmers and the agricultural sector in finalising the Draft Renewables Regulatory Framework.
We would be happy to facilitate engagement between the Government and our community of farmer members who support strong economy-wide climate policies to realise a prosperous and sustainable future, full of opportunity for farmers and farming communities. We acknowledge the work of industry bodies including the Queensland Farmers Federation and AgForce ensuring that the voices of farmers are heard in conversations about renewable energy.
A majority of farmers support renewable energy, but renewables must be done right
Research consistently shows that a majority of farmers and farming communities around Australia support renewable energy. Independent research commissioned by Farmers for Climate Action and conducted by 89 Degrees East (summary report attached) in late 2024 shows that 62% of people living in Queensland Renewable Energy Zones (REZ) support renewable energy projects on farmland. Across REZs in all states, this figure is even higher at 70%. Among people with a direct connection to farming, the level of support is higher again at 73%. This data confirms the findings of previous surveys, including:
- A poll by Porter Novelli in October 2024, which found that two-thirds (67%) of Australians, whether living in cities or rural areas, are supportive of renewable energy projects – including initiatives in their own communities.
- Research by CSIRO in April 2024, which found that, overall, most Australians (82%) would either tolerate, be ok with, approve, or embrace living near renewable energy developments. In Queensland, 79% of respondents would either tolerate, be ok with, approve, or embrace living near renewable energy developments.
Renewable energy offers a once in a generation economic opportunity for regional Queensland. Many Queensland farmers are already earning additional income from hosting solar panels, wind turbines or power lines on their properties. The income from these projects can help drought-proof farming businesses and support additional investments in farming inputs, making farms more profitable. 89 Degrees East found that 70% of residents in renewable energy zones agree that “it is important that farmers who choose to are allowed the opportunity to drought-proof their income by hosting renewable energy projects on their property.”
These opportunities will continue to increase over the coming decades. Our report Billions in the Bush: Renewable energy for regional prosperity, co-authored with the Clean Energy Council, found that Queensland farmers and landholders stand to receive up to nearly $300 million in additional income from hosting renewable energy projects between 2024 and 2030. By 2050, Queensland farmers and landholders will have received up to $3.3 billion in landholder payments from hosting wind and solar projects, while regional communities and councils are expected to receive over $600 million in contributions from renewable energy companies.
Farmers are also enthusiastic adopters of smaller-scale renewable energy technologies on their own farms. In 2023 we published our Renewables On Farm Survey Insights, in which 75% of respondents stated that they are already generating renewable energy or hosting renewable energy infrastructure on their farms.
While farmers and regional communities are positive about the opportunities that renewable energy provides, they are also keen to ensure that renewable energy projects are ‘done right’. This includes authentic and early communication with communities by developers, co-design that ensures farms will continue to be productive and profitable, project design that ideally utilises less productive land, upgrades to local infrastructure, reduced power bills and improved energy supply. Further insights regarding farmers’ attitudes towards renewable energy are included in the 89 Degrees East’s Summary Report and our 2023 Survey of Australian Agricultural Perspectives on a Path to Net Zero.
There are further opportunities for governments to ensure regional communities benefit from the roll-out of renewable energy
Engagement with our broad base of members across regional Australia has identified several opportunities to ensure that the roll-out of renewable energy benefits regional communities, which will help to ensure continued support for renewable energy among these key stakeholders. These include resolving barriers which prevent farmers and rural residents from fully participating in energy markets and maximising the value of their investment in renewable energy technologies, for example:
- Export limits, which restrict the amount of electricity farmers can supply to the grid, and in turn restrict the amount of additional income farmers are able to make from small-to-medium-scale renewable energy investments.
- Restrictions on sharing electricity across multiple titles – e.g. these restrictions may prevent a farmer using electricity generated on the roof of their house to power a neighbouring shed, or vice versa.
- Outdated grid infrastructure, including the continued prevalence of Single Wire Earth Return (SWER) lines which are unreliable and limit farmers’ opportunities to participate in the electricity market.
These barriers, along with related recommendations, are discussed in our 2022 report Farm Powered: Opportunities for Regional Communities in the Renewable Energy Boom. We ask that the Queensland Government explore and pursue opportunities to remove barriers to the adoption of renewable energy technology in rural and regional areas, including advocating to the Commonwealth Government and Australian Energy Market Commission for regulatory improvements where necessary.
We are fully committed to working with the Queensland Government on achieving more equitable outcomes for farmers and regional communities and supporting Australia’s shift to renewable energy. Please do not hesitate to contact me on the number below should you wish to further discuss this submission.
Yours sincerely,
Natalie Collard
CEO
Farmers for Climate Action
