Bulldozed by Net Zero: Shelton Slams Trespass on Hunter Farm
Family First Party
MEDIA RELEASE
10 August 2026
Bulldozed by Net Zero: Shelton Slams Trespass on Hunter Farm
NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe needs to be held to account after government contractors trespassed on an Upper Hunter grazier's property, mowing down an electrified fence and driving through a family's residential yard without permission.
Family First National Director and lead candidate for the NSW Upper House Lyle Shelton says the trespass on grazier George Crouch's Upper Hunter property is a textbook example of how the pursuit of net zero is trampling the rights of farmers and rural communities, and has called on the Minns government to immediately halt further work on the New England Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) until landholders' property and biosecurity rights are guaranteed.
Contractors working for the state government's EnergyCo agency drove three trucks onto Mr Crouch's land without permission, past clearly displayed 'no unauthorised access' and biosecurity signage, before driving through an electrified fence containing bulls and continuing on to a family's residential yard. EnergyCo and Ms Sharpe's office have since apologised and stood down a contractor's employee — seven days after the trespass was reported.
" This isn’t a one-off mistake — it’s what happens when an ideology is treated as more important than the law," Mr Shelton said.
“Biosecurity signs, private property, a family home with kids in it — all just something to be driven through on the way to hitting a renewable energy target. If a farmer did that to a government vehicle, they’d be in court by now.”
Mr Shelton said the incident was not an isolated case, pointing to an earlier trespass linked to the same project revealed in May, and growing community resistance to a scheme critics have branded a potential $20 billion 'white elephant' that will push up power bills while it is built.
“Family First has warned all along that net zero was never going to be delivered without trampling on the people who actually grow our food and manage our land. Transmission lines, wind and solar projects are being forced onto agricultural land against the wishes of the people who live there, and now we’re seeing contractors literally driving through fences and family yards to make it happen," Mr Shelton said
“Penny Sharpe says this project is essential. Essential for what, exactly — for bulldozing biosecurity, private property and common decency? Family First’s energy policy is clear: end the net zero targets that are driving this madness, stop forcing subsidised wind and solar onto agricultural land, and keep the coal and gas generation we already have running so we don’t need to carve up the Upper Hunter with transmission lines in the first place.”
“We’re calling on the Minns government to immediately suspend all REZ-related site works until every landholder along the route has enforceable guarantees on notice, access and biosecurity — and on the federal government to abandon net zero altogether. Farmers should not have to install CCTV and warning signs just to be ignored by their own government," Mr Shelton said.
ENDS
Lyle Shelton is Family First’s National Director, NSW Legislative Council lead candidate.
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Lyle Shelton
