Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised Labor will continue consulting communities in the New South Wales Hunter region over an offshore wind project.
The PM visited Newcastle yesterday – which was one day after Energy Minister Chris Bowen held a closed-door meeting with the community leaders, following local backlash towards the project. Mr Albanese argues there has been extensive consultation over the development of an offshore wind farm, but will allow more opportunities for Hunter locals to make their concerns known.
Port Stephens Tourism Director Frank Future responded with “not at all” when asked if the PM’s claims of extensive consultation on the project were true. “We were first informed around March this year and had some meetings with government representatives, but then it went quiet, and then the next thing it was basically and virtually a done deal,” Mr Future told Sky News Australia.