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Anthony Albanese has been heckled by offshore wind farm-opposed locals at a press conference on the NSW south coast.
The prime minister spoke to reporters in Wollongong in the Illawarra region on Friday morning, paying tribute to , who appeared alongside him.
Labor’s new candidate for the seat of Whitlam, Carol Berry, also spoke, with Albanese rejecting the suggestion she had been parachuted in.
Also at the press conference was a small group of locals who are opposed to wind farms being built in the region.
The proposal for the Illawarra is particularly contentious, with The Sydney Morning Herald reporting in 2024 that 14,000 people had made submissions to the federal government’s public consultation.
A Senate inquiry into offshore wind industry was set up, and its report was due to be handed down on Thursday. However, on Tuesday, an extension was granted until 13 March, which puts the due date closer to the federal election, which .
Anti-offshore wind farm campaigner Alex O’Brien was among the hecklers. Source: Supplied
The group called out throughout the press conference. Along with booing, they told Albanese to “go home” and at one point yelled out “another lie” when he said Labor had the backs of blue-collar workers.
Alex O’Brien, an anti-offshore wind farm campaigner who was among the hecklers, said the group had concerns over what impact the proposed project could have on the environment and the local fishing and tourism industry.
O’Brien said they wanted “accountability and transparency” and for the Senate offshore wind farm inquiry to be fast-tracked.
“They’re trying to bury the truth that is in those submissions that our community spent a lot of time putting together, sharing their experiences, and that’s what we need to make sure it is public, and we need to investigate that further,” O’Brien told reporters.
Alison Byrnes, the Labor MP for Cunningham, whose electorate covers the coastline off which the proposed wind farm would sit, said on Tuesday the inquiry had received more than 300 submissions, and that was sufficient.
“Offshore wind means more jobs and more investment in the region,” Byrnes said, according to local newspaper Illawarra Mercury. “I welcome continued discussion about ensuring the regions which have built and powered Australia for generations continue to do so into the future.”
