Communities locking farm gates against transmission lines gets framed as NIMBYism. But a new study of three WA towns tells a different story. In Busselton, residents said consultation came too late to influence anything. In Kojonup, some landowners got investment opportunities while neighbours got disrupted views and zero benefit. In Albany, a wind farm that has been running for two decades now powers 80% of the city and draws 200,000 tourists a year. And the locals love it. This is not anti-renewables sentiment. It is the predictable outcome of a system where private developers capture the upside and communities bear the risks. Scotland mandates a minimum £5,000/MW/year community payment. Denmark runs energy cooperatives where locals own a share. Australia's model: hope nobody notices until the bulldozers arrive. Fix the deal structure: community equity, revenue sharing, genuine co-decision. Then the opposition vanishes. Until then, every stalled project is self-inflicted. #auspol #energy