In the annals of political irony, few names fit the bill quite like Mark Speakman.
Here we have a man whose very surname evokes the act of articulation, of speaking out boldly in defence of principles and people. Yet, as the NSW Liberal Party grapples with its latest leadership crisis, Speakman has proven to be anything but vocal.
Blindsided by the resignation of frontbencher Wendy Tuckerman over the party’s limp support for Labor’s controversial renewable energy laws, Speakman has presided over a fiasco that exposes the deep fissures within the Liberals.
The crisis erupted when Tuckerman, the MP for Goulburn, sensationally quit the opposition frontbench in protest over her party’s handling of Labor’s rushed electricity bill. This legislation, aimed at accelerating the transition to renewables, has been slated for its lack of consultation and its blatant disregard for the impacts on rural landowners.
Tuckerman, who has repeatedly voiced concerns about large-scale solar farms, wind turbines, and transmission lines encroaching on prime agricultural land, accused the Liberals of failing regional NSW by not opposing the bill more vigorously. Her resignation wasn’t just a personal stand, it was a clarion call against policies that prioritise ideological Net Zero targets over the livelihoods of farmers and the integrity of private property.
It’s patently obvious that renewable energy isn’t the panacea it’s cracked up to be. As I’ve argued before, the so-called ‘green transition’ comes at an exorbitant cost, not just financially but environmentally and socially. In regional NSW, these projects have been foisted upon unwilling communities with minimal input. The result is never lower energy prices. Instead, reckless renewables disrupt ecosystems, devalue properties, and divide towns.
Transmission lines slicing through family farms and vast solar arrays blanketing fertile soil aren’t progress, they’re overreach.
Tuckerman’s electorate knows this all too well, with proposals like battery storage systems and wind farms sparking fierce local opposition over their intrusion on private land and the broader economic fallout for agriculture-dependent regions. By crossing the floor in spirit and resigning, she has embodied the conservative values the Liberals once championed: individual rights, limited government intervention, and a healthy scepticism toward top-down environmental mandates that sound virtuous but deliver chaos.
And where was Speakman in all this? The man who should be the voice of opposition has been eerily quiet, caught off guard at a press conference where he admitted to being blindsided.
For a leader named Speakman, this silence is deafening.
Instead of rallying the troops to defend property owners against Labor’s bulldozer approach, he’s allowed the party to drift into complicity, supporting bills that erode the very freedoms Liberals are meant to protect. This isn’t leadership, it’s abdication.
The result? A party in disarray, with whispers of a leadership challenge growing louder by the day.
Tuckerman deserves our applause.
In an era where politicians too often bend to the winds of political correctness and green dogma, her courage stands out. She’s not anti-environment, she’s pro-reality. Tuckerman recognises that true sustainability can’t come at the expense of regional prosperity. If the Liberals want to reclaim their mantle as defenders of the bush, they should follow her lead and push for sensible alternatives like nuclear energy, which offers reliable power without the sprawling land grabs of renewables. Nuclear lasts decades longer, with a fraction of the footprint, and could genuinely bridge NSW to a low-emissions future without sacrificing farms or freedoms.
In the meantime, the NSW Liberals are no longer at a crossroads. They’ve sold their soul to the devil.
Unlike the folklore figure, however, they’ve refused to use the devil’s talent and handed it to Labor. Will they continue under a Speakman who doesn’t speak up, or will they embrace voices like Tuckerman’s to rebuild trust in the regions?
Regrettably, Labor’s green overreach may have already silenced the NSW Liberals for good.
Dr Michael de Percy @FlaneurPolitiq is the Spectator Australia’s Canberra Press Gallery Correspondent. If you would like to support his writing, or read more of Michael, please visit his website.
