Submissions

Draft Renewable Energy Planning Code – Submission to the WAPC

Draft Renewable Energy Planning Code Submission to the Western Australian Planning Commission Executive Summary This submission responds to the Draft Renewable Energy Planning Code released for public consultation in December 2025. It focuses on wind energy facilities and large-scale solar developments in rural and agricultural areas, grounded in established principles of property law, nuisance, and planning discretion. The draft Code adopts a lowest-common-denominator approach to setbacks, noise, shadow flicker, and visual amenity. It relies heavily

Darren Brown February 1, 2026

Opinion Articles

When fewer people meet more food

For most of the modern era, the story of food was scarcity. More people meant more demand, higher prices, and ever-expanding markets for farmers. That part of human history has now come to an end. For the first time, global population growth is slowing sharply at the same time as global food production continues to rise. The implications for agriculture — particularly for bulk grain and meat producers like Australia — are profound, under-discussed, and

Trevor Whittington January 15, 2026

Opinion Articles

The parallels between the Roaring 1920s and the Turbulent 2020s

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Mark Twain A century divides the Roaring Twenties from today’s so-called Turbulent Twenties, yet the distance feels strangely compressed. As we limp toward the midpoint of our own decade, the parallels grow sharper and harder to ignore — reminders that our present upheavals are rarely as unique as we like to believe. Historians are rightly suspicious of neat analogies, but here the similarities are too blunt to

Trevor Whittington December 4, 2025