Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I am speaking on behalf of a special constituent, a whirling white giant, whose tireless work provides more than a third of all the electricity needed at Rottnest Island, one of WA's principal tourism and holiday destinations. Of course it does so without generating carbon emissions, or pollution, or diesel particulates, or contamination of the water supply.

I am taking this opportunity to speak in defence of the Rottnest Island wind turbine, which has been verballed by the Prime Minister as ugly and noisy and slandered by the Prime Minister in making his claim that wind turbines cause negative health impacts—a claim for which there is no plausible evidence. Ugly and noisy—I guess that is a matter of personal judgement but I cannot imagine there would be many people who would join the PM in making that judgement about wind turbines as compared to say coal fired power stations, diesel generators, or massive and unnecessary new roads like Roe 8 and the Perth Freight Link.

Unfortunately, the Prime Minister's pride in the fact that the recent diminution of the renewable energy target has, in his own words, stopped 'an explosion of these things right around our country' goes to the heart of his government's dangerous irrationality when it comes to climate change and renewable energy. It is interesting to note that in the past five years alone the Liberal Party has backed 10 separate inquiries into wind power, including a current Senate investigation, while showing little interest in the health and environmental costs of coal fired power stations, exporting uranium or gas fracking. There is no doubt that the A-class reserve of Rottnest Island would be a much dirtier, noisier and unhealthier place if the diesel generators that preceded the current wind turbine were returned as the primary power source once again.

Since its installation in 2004, the Rottnest Island wind turbine has generated almost 40 per cent of the island's power. Each year this stops around 430,000 litres of diesel fuel from being transported and burned on the island and it reduces the emission of greenhouse gases by approximately 1,100 tonnes. It also powers the island's desalination plant providing fresh water that is essential to the island's self-sufficiency. There are 500,000 visitors to Rottnest Island each year, and it is my understanding that the wind turbine has not generated a single complaint.

In The West Australian on Monday, self-declared Liberal voter Gail Jenkins said, 'On this topic Abbott speaks irrational rubbish.' Indeed, Ms Jenkins said she would like to see a second turbine next to the first. And Peter Martin of The Age wrote last week in relation to numerous findings by the National Health and Medical Research Council that:

… there was "no consistent evidence that wind farms cause adverse health effects".

…   …   …

Never mind that there are other forms of power generation that actually do damage health about which we do nothing.

We can forgive the addled but well-meaning and noble Don Quixote for tilting at windmills, but the Prime Minister should know better. The Rottnest Island wind turbine is a beautiful thing, and we need more of them.