The Examiner, Page: 14
Friday, 30 June 2006
Federal Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran's swipe at wind farms should hardly be taken seriously. They should also come as no surprise. In a move that will no doubt anger many in Tasmania, Mr McGauran took a swipe at wind farm technology this week. He said the benefits of wind energy claimed by its proponents were fraudulent.
He also claimed wind farm turbines devalued land without producing measurable amounts of energy. His antipathy to wind farms makes more sense with some background. Tasmanian wind farm development has been torpedoed by the Federal Government, which decided not to extend its Mandatory renewable energy Targets. That decision derailed further Tasmanian wind farm developments planned for Musselroe Bay in the North-East and on the West Coast.
They are now on the backburner, at least for the short-term. The Government's decisionwas also backing for Australia's coal industry, which provides for much of the country's power needs. Unlike wind farms, coal-fired power stations are major greenhouse polluters. Mr McGauran is therefore following a simple formula of deriding the wind farms to support his Government's case.
But his comments also smack of a fair bit of political self-interest. Tasmanians will remember Mr McGauran as a critic of the Basslink project because overhead power lines went through his electorate of Gippsland. He's again looking out for his electorate. Gippsland includes the La Trobe Valley towns of Traralgon, Morwell and Moe: home to some of Victoria's major coal-fired power stations and coal mines.
It's a bit rich for him to speak about wind farms devaluing land when he lives next door to some of Australia's major greenhouse polluters. Mr McGauran's electorate might love him for the support, but his views on wind farms don't count for much.
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