Ramsay's wind farm backflip

www.weeklytimesnow.com.au
12 Jan 2012

THE about-face of State Liberal Simon Ramsay over his attitude to wind farms is hard to swallow, writes Greg Barber

Six years ago, Simon Ramsay wanted to be part of the wind industry, to diversify and drought-proof his farm. It was smart because while the price of agricultural commodities seems to move downwards, the demand for zero-emissions electricity grows.

Mr Ramsay is now one of the most rabidly anti-wind MPs (Weekly Times, November 30) in a government that has all but killed off new wind farm proposals in Victoria. He derides subsidies to wind farms, by which he means the Renewable Energy Target, a target his Liberal colleague Greg Hunt wants to claim credit for. He says all the jobs are in China, where the turbines are made.

So are the major components for coal-fired power plants. So are Mr Ramsay's underpants, quite likely. Most of the thousands of Australian jobs in the design, construction and operation of wind farms are outside Victoria. That will continue if Mr Ramsay has any say in it. He spreads all the voodoo on the health effects of wind farms. So why hasn't his government made dramatically tougher noise rules for turbines? Because the current 35-dB limit is the right one.

I've stood underneath an operating wind turbine carrying on a perfectly normal conversation. Interestingly, we are yet to see someone suffering ill effects when they are getting paid to host turbines on their property, and those people live closer to turbines than just about anyone. Once upon a time, Mr Ramsay wanted some of that action for himself.

Despite what he tells you, his government has not introduced a buffer between wind turbines and homes. They have required a developer to get a sign-off from every resident within 2km before they can even apply for a permit. If you want to farm the wind, any one of your neighbours within 2km has a right to say no and Mr Ramsay thinks this policy will stop wind projects from dividing communities.

Under the State Government's new policy, approved wind farms not built in the next few years will lose their permits and will be back to square one. Nine wind farms face this test by the end of March. Mr Ramsay talks about the "visual immensity of these monstrosities" he once applauded. But picture this: for every two turbines you see up on the hillside, there is a full-time, highly paid, locally based job. There's also a $10,000 annual payment to the landholder. A couple thousand more paid in council rates. Green electricity for 1600 homes.

South Australia now has more than 1000 MWs of wind power. Late last year, there were times when more than 90% of its electricity came from the wind. The fuel is free so the electricity is cheap. Bad news if you are a coal-fired power station. Good news for regional communities. But it requires a consistent and coherent government policy and with Mr Ramsay, you get a political weathervane.

* Greg Barber is the Leader of the Victorian Greens