Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for his question and note his very genuine concern in this area. My understanding is that the planning relating to wind farms is a state issue, but I do understand that there is concern out there in the community about the real or perceived potential adverse effects of the wind farms. Indeed, prior to the last election, we in the coalition recognised that there are concerns out there in the community, which is why we said before the last election that we would ensure that there was an independent review of potential health impacts from wind farms.

I note that the NHMRC has just released a draft report relating to this issue. I also note that there has been some concern around some of the poor quality relating to that particular report, which, as Senator Madigan would understand, was raised at the last estimates committee hearings. In terms of the adverse impacts that the senator has raised, we in the government are well aware of the concerns in the community surrounding this and we will be putting steps in place to determine that we are fully aware of any impacts that do exist.