Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I can only grieve and identify with the member for Bendigo in relation to the lack of water in Bendigo and Ballarat, in his district, the continuing drought across northern Victoria and the shortage of water across southern parts of Victoria. Every member of this House is concerned when it comes to the livelihoods of people affected locally by drought up and down the east coast of Australia and towards the West—right across the nation. Rain is needed, and we look forward to a return of the rainfalls that we are used to.

My contribution to the grievance debate today is about the environment, particularly the environment of parts of South Gippsland that is so dear to the hearts of so many down there, those who have gone out of their way to protect the environment for future generations who will move from Melbourne to the promontory through South Gippsland and who will enjoy the beauty of the region and the glorious nature of the migratory and other birds that inhabit that area.

Recently an application to build a wind farm at Bald Hills was knocked back. There has been much ado about the orange bellied parrot and the minister’s reasons for refusing the application. I would like to begin by reading a letter from constituents of mine, Beverley and Ken Walker, which says:

RE The Orange Bellied Parrot and other Birds at Venus Bay Wetlands.

I would like to thank you on behalf of the Orange Bellied parrot [OBP] whose habitat (rocket and beaded glasswort amongst others) is present in abundance on the Venus Bay Wetlands and the shoreline of Anderson Inlet at Venus Bay in South Gippsland Victoria. It was previously present at Screw Creek (15 kms from Bald Hills) but apparently has been recently cleared by machinery after approval was given to build a retirement village on the Saltmarsh on Anderson Inlet at Inverloch.

From where I sit now at my desk I am staring straight at Bald Hills. It has been with heavy hearts that we watched the many other flocks of birds flying towards potential risk of harm from these intended inappropriate wind towers. There are large numbers of wader and water birds which use this farm land at Venus Bay as habitat. This land is Evergreen Wetlands on Anderson Inlet. The peat and acid sulphate soil laced land which has adapted over the last century to previous Evergreen landholders’ interventions such as digging drains and installing levee banks has become a functioning wetland.

A haven from the cold winter storms and rising waters of Bass Strait.

Authorised bird watchers came at our invitation recently to record hundreds of Grey and Golden Plovers. We have photographed the occasional Great Egret and myriads of other birds over time which have used Evergreen as habitat. These bird watchers told us recently they had sighted and recorded the OBP on the Venus Bay Wetlands ... There are other birds such as the Ground Parrot, the Great Egret and the White-bellied Sea Eagle listed and sighted within our time here. These 3 birds plus the OBP are also variously listed under JAMBA and CAMBA agreements.

Beverley and Ken Walker

... Venus Bay Victoria ...

People have put their heart and energy and, for some, their relationships on the line so that the Bald Hills wind farm would not go ahead. These are local people whose love of their land and whose tenacity in the face of adversity I do so admire. There is Tim Le Roy, the Tarwin Lower Coastal Guardians, the Prom Coast Guardians, the O’Sullivan, Chapman and Gelbart families and Don Fairbrother and his mother Dorothy—to name a few, because hundreds of people turned up to meetings besides the one held at Foster.

At the Foster meeting, I am reminded that the South Gippsland community had one very good friend, one politician, who for no benefit to his own electorate but who, for his concern about Gippsland and his associations in the area, put in a lot of time before the last election campaign and met with the South Gippsland people time after time. He was then the opposition’s planning spokesman; he is now the Leader of the Opposition in Victoria—Ted Baillieu. South Gippslanders have no better friend than Ted Baillieu, the leader of Her Majesty’s opposition in Victoria. He will be a friend of Gippsland forever.

There are proposals for further wind farms in South Gippsland. I note in particular the proposal for a wind farm in the hill area around Dollar. The other day I visited the site of three eagles’ nests that would be threatened by the Dollar wind farm. The state government has already knocked back a wind farm at Yaloke, and today I would yoke Rob Hulls, the planning minister, to the Yaloke decision. He should understand that, since he has made the decision on Yaloke, an equally fair decision on Dollar should be made to stop the wind farm from going ahead.

Before the last federal election, Kelvin Thomson, the member for Wills, on receiving a letter from a constituent said:

Thank you for your letter received by fax early today regarding the federal ALP’s position on protecting endangered species. I can assure you that the federal ALP supports both protection of threatened species through application of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and adherence to the CAMBA and JAMBA treaties.

The ALP were in absolute opposition to any wind farms going ahead in South Gippsland—and so, too, was the then member for McMillan, Christian Zahra. I am not one to refer to the past, but in this context it is important. At the time the member for McMillan’s newsletter, in an article headed ‘Don’t spoil our coast’, said:

Over 90 per cent of people living on the South Gippsland coast believe that the growing number of wind power turbines will damage the beauty of the coast, according to a survey conducted by Christian Zahra recently.

Proposed wind energy developments in South Gippsland have been vigorously opposed by local residents and lobby groups such as the Prom Coast Guardians, who argue that these types of developments will destroy the landscape and lifestyle values of the coast.

Christian Zahra says:

“I’ve been contacted by many residents of coastal towns in South Gippsland who are extremely concerned about how wind energy developments will impact on their local area.

“I sent out this survey to give local people a chance to have their say about the future of their district and received over 1000 responses. That tells me that people are very concerned about these huge wind turbines being placed in coastal areas.”

He goes on to say:

“Wind power stations are large industrial developments and it is my strong belief that local communities should have a say about where they are located. I’m not against wind energy at all. I just think these developments should be located in areas where the local community wants them.”

The article continues:

According to Christian, the results of the survey show that an overwhelming majority of people living along the South Gippsland coast believe that wind power stations will have a negative impact on the beauty and amenity of these coastal areas.

So the Labor Party were on board and committed to not having wind turbines in our local area.

I would like to list a number of people who have been determined in protecting their local community and who have put their heart and soul into doing that. I say on their behalf that we will not stand by idly while the Victorian government desecrates the South Gippsland coast on the altar of renewable energy. Local communities have been ignored and wind farms have popped up all over the country. If people want them in their area, take them; but they should give some thought to comprehensive planning panels and impact studies, because the federal government will watch closely that any proposals for the development of wind farms stick to the letter of the law. (Time expired)

See this speech in context