It is inconceivable that in this day and age – an age of 24-7 news and ‘instant’ reaction and response – we read that in far North Queensland locals are still without power two months after Cyclone Jasper.
Most have been unable to return home, still living in caravans or with families 300km away – all with no idea when they will be able to return home.
The Wujal Wujal community has been virtually ignored by the Queensland Government in its pleas to be allowed to return – and requests for power and the ability to generate their own resources bound up in red tape.
Bureaucratic meddling has seen a study that called for a hydro- electric asset in the region two years ago – has gone nowhere. Government barriers continue to delay any progress.
The Queensland Government legislated in December of last year that all renewable energy sources must be controlled by the State – and as a result, any forward thinking to assist remote communities – like the Wujal Wujal – is now bogged down in regulations and government spin.
Brisbane bureaucrats argue there is no legal pathway to allow local communities to become energy self sufficient.
In March of last year Wujal Wujal’s Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation applied to install a small community-owned solar and battery system that would give the community power.
The proposal was rejected because there was no pathway to State ownership.
This lame excuse and continued ongoing excuses has to come to an end.
The Wujal Wujal – and many other remote communities throughout Australia – are surely entitled to a better outcome than what is currently not being provided.
A superb plan that would not just keep the power on, but would reduce electricity costs and create local jobs, has been rejected. Why?
One can only assume for bureaucratic control, because the advantages of such a scheme are there for all to see.
Energy transition is a major issue throughout Australia, yet again we see State and Federal Governments paying lip service to Indigenous communities.
Time to stop the box ticking, time to cut the red tape and time to actually engage with communities to build sustainable energy infrastructures that will offer not just power, but equity and ownership.
Many remote communities are still relying on diesel generators, while in Canberra MPs continue to push the net zero – green agenda, oblivious to the hardships currently incurred by First Nations people.
With clever use of hydro, solar and other key renewables remote communities could not only become self-sufficient, they could also become major contributors to tackling the ongoing energy crisis.
And the Wujal Wujal must be allowed to return to their homes, safe in the knowledge that the lights are back on – and will always remain so.
By PETER ROWE
Editor, IB News
