Western Victorians back renewables, so why doesn’t it feel like it?

Sheep, cattle and crop farmer Colin Frawley has spent his life on the same Hamilton property his family has worked on for more than 150 years, long enough to see the landscape - and the weather - change around him.

He says renewable energy is becoming an increasingly important part of how he thinks about his farm’s future, even as debate around clean energy projects grows.

According to new polling, two thirds of western Victorians agree with him, but Frawley says “angst” around clean energy has meant many don’t realise their neighbours think the same way.

What’s going on: Data from research firm 89 Degrees East found 66 percent of 202 residents polled in western Victoria support the transition to renewables, with just 13 percent opposed. Yet fewer than half, 46 percent, believe their local community supports the shift.

• The new data also showed 43 percent of western Victorians were much more concerned about climate change than at the same time last year, the highest percentage of any other region polled in the country.

Tangible proof: Frawley has watched those statistics play out in real life.

• On a property his family has farmed for about 150 years, Frawley said increasingly erratic conditions are already changing the way he operates.

• “Last year was an incredibly difficult year for the first half and then it totally changed and kept raining, [but] I'd say the first half of last year was about the worst I can remember,” Frawley said.

• “We buy fertiliser, and we buy diesel and we’re stuck with that … it puts us under more cost pressure, and that makes life more difficult.”

A better approach: Despite what he describes as “a lot of angst” locally around renewable projects, Frawley sees clean energy as both a climate response and an economic opportunity during uncertainty.

• “I think that people who don't like the idea of taking action on climate change start off with a negative view of renewable energy projects, and I think that's got a lot to do with their attitude,” he said.

• “I think it’s a huge potential source of income … it’s got the potential to be a huge positive. We are into climate change, and it’s going to have big impacts, and it’s going to create a lot of instability. And I find that really worrying.”

A perfect storm: Near Ballarat, winegrower Michael Unwin has taken a practical approach to rising energy costs, installing solar panels at his winery with a diesel generator as backup, allowing him to operate off-grid and avoid access fees.

He believes local frustration about the shift to renewables is being driven by a range of separate issues, from management of the Western Renewables Link transmission project, to the fire services levy - and they’re being lumped together.

• “I don't think many people would doubt it [climate change],” he said. “But what you get is people who are frustrated... I think that there are a whole lot of other things which have just angered rural Victoria.”

What now? For Frawley, the path forward is clear.

• “[People] think that there's nothing that Australia can do about [climate change], that we're not a very big economy, so it doesn't matter what happens in Australia,” he said. “But we make up 0.3 percent of the world’s population, and we’re responsible for 4.5 percent of global emissions. Per capita, we put out 13 times the average carbon emissions around the world.

“I think that we should be playing our part.”