Independent for Forrest Sue Chapman and Liberal candidate Ben Small clash over Geographe Bay wind farm

Independent candidate for Forrest Sue Chapman and Liberal candidate Ben Small have clashed over the controversial Geographe Bay offshore windfarm. The project — which was announced by Labor last year — involves the construction of a 4000sqkm windfarm off the coast of Bunbury, which Labor claims could power the entire South West. At the “meet the candidates” event hosted by the Busselton Chamber of Commerce last week, each of the five Forrest candidates present was asked by the audience to give a simple yes or no answer to whether they supported the project. Liberal candidate Ben Small, Nationals candidate Cam Parsons and One Nation candidate Paul van der Mey all said no, while Greens candidate Georgia Beardman said yes. Labor candidate Tabitha Dowding wasn’t at the event, but told the Times earlier in the week “it was a great initiative”. However Dr Chapman refrained from giving a position one way or another — which caused audible frustration from the crowd. “I would have to pass, as at the present time, there are no actual proposals forward, no one has been granted a feasibility licence,” she said. “I would assess the evidence and also aim to bring the community along to say this is what been put on the table, this is the potential impact and maybe we’d find benefit for the community or maybe we can’t. “Therefore, we’re actually making a valid decision instead of asking me to address a hypothetical situation.” Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen insisted the project was going ahead last month despite a number of developers pulling out of their applications. He said the Government have received four other bids to take on the wind farm, which he believed was proof of strong interest. Mr Small told the Times there was a number of matters in which Dr Chapman’s position was unclear. “Sue Chapman won’t tell locals who she’ll make prime minister and she won’t tell locals where she stands on the Geographe Bay Windfarm — what else is she not telling locals?” he said. “These games are all part of the teal-Green radical agenda playing locals for fools with the word ‘independent’ whilst being backed by hundreds of thousands of dollars from east coast businessmen and Greens donors.” Dr Chapman hit back at Mr Small and accused him of “spreading misinformation” and attempting to discredit her. “If Mr Small spent as much time listening to the community and creating policy as he does talking about me, we’d have a contest of ideas this election,” she said. Dr Chapman said it was the role of a Federal representative to bring everyone to the table and discuss major projects which were proposed in the region, and to “negotiate benefits for the local community”. “We never see the major parties do this. Instead, they take opposing positions and encourage our community to pick a side. When the major parties are only focused on opposing each other, we all lose,” she said. “I do not support any project being built in Geographe Bay that has not listened to local concerns and offered benefits to our regional communities. “Right now, there are no proposals and at least six companies have withdrawn their consideration. The likelihood of any project being proposed in Geographe Bay is increasingly untenable.”