Parrot safe from windmills

Herald Sun
Saturday 23/9/2006 Page: 11

A STUDY has discredited the Federal Government's claims that the rare orange-bellied parrot would be threatened by a Gippsland wind-farm development. The study confirmed fewer than one orange-bellied parrot would be killed every 1000 years by turbines at the Bald Hills wind farm.

"This is an overestimate of the likely collision rate," the report said.

Written by environment and bird experts, the report said the wind farm was not on the parrot's migratory route and its habitat was not found in the area. The study was prepared on behalf of Wind Power Pty Ltd, which has put in a revised proposal for the $220 million project.

When he rejected the initial proposal, Environment Minister Ian Campbell said the wind farm threatened a "serious and irreversible" impact on the bird. Opposition environment spokesman Anthony Albanese yesterday said the latest study proved the minister was wrong to intervene.

"The minister's dodgy science has been exposed, and the company's submission highlights that the minister's decision was only about marginal-seat politics," he said. Mr Campbell last month announced a $3.2 million grant to help the endangered parrot. That worked out to $32,000 for each of the 100 parrots in the wild.

Senator Campbell said at the time: "The orange-bellied parrot is considered to be one of the world's rarest and most endangered animals, with only 50 breeding pairs known to exist, which puts it in the same position as other iconic species such as the giant panda and siberian tiger," he said.

He described the migratory parrot as a real battler, saying it flew the equivalent of a Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race every year to breed in Tasmania. The money was to conserve habitat and control predators in Victoria. South Australia and Tasmania.