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The windmills in our minds

By Max Rheese - posted Friday, 25 November 2011


The recent senate inquiry into the health effects of wind farms expressed clearly in its recommendations that the federal government undertake studies into the health effects of turbines.

Since then the Victorian government has amended planning legislation for new wind farms to require a 2 kilometre setback from residences and a 5 kilometre setback from 21 nominated regional towns and no-go zones in several regions of the state. Victorian premier Ted Baillieu has acknowledged the need for a health study.

While this recognition of the problem is welcome it does not address the hundreds of turbines approved under the old guidelines in the lead up to the last state elections in Victoria and New South Wales. When constructed, these new approvals will triple the number of turbines to affect 43 different communities in Victoria and 41 in New South Wales, with many of these turbines less than two kilometres from homes.

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With the benefit of recent acoustical studies and medical papers it has become increasingly clear there is a link between wind turbine operation and health effects, the only question now is to what degree and what action to take.

It is now established that there is, at the very least, a strong prima facie case that large modern turbines emit low frequency sound causing adverse health impacts to some people and governments are knowingly allowing this harm to be inflicted for the 25 year life of the wind farms.

The state has a duty of care to those who live in the communities that are earmarked for wind farms, who through no fault of their own have found their lives and health disrupted by companies intent only on profit that is significantly increased through inefficient hidden taxpayer subsidies.

The federal health minister has a moral obligation to take the 'precautionary approach' and implement the recommendations of the senate inquiry to establish health studies to settle this issue. State governments have the same obligation to their citizens to implement moratoriums on construction to abide by the maxim – 'do no harm'.

It is distressing that we can get public policy so wrong, so much of the time and then take so long to fix it. These however, are the consequences of policy decisions driven by political imperatives, green populist narratives and the resulting conventional 'wisdom', rather than facts and evidence.

This would not be lost on Samantha, who said in her email "Please do not let what has happened to my family, happen to anyone else."

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About the Author

Max Rheese is the Executive Director of the Australian Environment Foundation.

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Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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