Alby Schultz (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to update the House on the ongoing battle to bring about an immediate moratorium on all wind turbine developments in New South Wales. Appropriately, today is Global Wind Day. This industry sponsored initiative will see coordinated public events and open days take place, accompanied with glowing propaganda pieces paying homage to these supposedly gleaming tributes to a low-carbon economy. One of these events is taking place in the electorate of Hume at one of the Prime Minister's favourite photo spots, the Capital Wind Farm at Bungendore. Visitors will no doubt be impressed by the sheer scale of the wind turbines and the assurances by the project managers that they not only will clean up our atmosphere but also might clean our environmental consciences.

But on Global Wind Day there have been other, less public developments in this ongoing battle. A neighbour of the Capital Wind Farm, Mrs Ruth Corrigan, is holding her own open day at her house. As reported in the Australian today, Mrs Corrigan is worried about the serious health effects, such as chronic sleep disruption, that wind turbine companies and the government have failed to adequately investigate. When I first reported this serious issue to the House last month, I called on the new O'Farrell-Stoner coalition government in New South Wales to implement an immediate moratorium on all wind turbine development, with the possibility of a full public inquiry. Since that speech, I have been inundated with correspondence from landholders affected by poorly regulated wind turbine development. Further, not a week goes by where local media outlets such as the Yass Tribune, the Goulburn Post, the Boorowa News and the Cowra Guardian are not reporting the community divisions and concern relating to the ongoing debate about the proposed 730 wind turbine projects planned within a 90-kilometre radius of the city of Goulburn. The New South Wales government should immediately halt further wind turbine planning, approvals and development in New South Wales pending the establishment of a commission of inquiry into this industry. Upon completion of the inquiry, the government should then implement any recommendations by creating new regulations and guidelines enacted in legislation.

There are seven action items that need to be addressed and implemented in order to bring the wind energy industry in line with community expectations and standards: (1) an immediate moratorium must be imposed on all further development applications, including those submitted but not approved; (2) similar to the moratorium in place on mining exploration, once the moratorium is lifted proponents must be required to scientifically prove the validity of their application—emission reductions—and the overall impact to consumers—power price increases—and that their development will have no impact on surrounding properties and communities in the way of health, wealth and environmental issues; (3) state planning application fees must be reintroduced for wind farm applications; (4) wind turbines must no longer be defined as critical infrastructure; (5) all future developments must be accompanied by health and property valuation guarantees; (6) all future developments must be accompanied by a AAA rated government bond for the purpose of ensuring compliant decommissioning in line with manufacturers' requirements; and (7) all developments must comply with existing building codes/laws, including the requirements of WorkCover.

Implementation of these seven points by government at all levels forms the necessary foundations for future development of the wind energy industry in regional New South Wales. The wind energy industry, as well as government at all levels, should take heed: I will not cease to advocate for the protection of the property rights of individual landholders in my electorate until an immediate moratorium is called and these seven points I have put forward are appropriately addressed.

The more I look into this issue, the more I find the deceit, the misinformation and the lies that are endemic within the wind turbine industry. I have made a very personal commitment to ensure all of those negative matters are raised on a regular basis so that the community at large can see how they have been conned by what is perceived to be and is accused of being one of the most efficient generators of electricity in the country. (Time expired)