Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

This debate is not about sensible, sound evidence based policy. This debate is not about noise from wind farms. This debate is about an organised campaign by the fossil fuel sector using astroturf organisations running around being anti wind farms and anti renewables. They have added solar to it now, you will be pleased to know, so next year we will probably have the blinding impacts of solar farms out here talked about as a major impact. This debate is about a group of fossil fuel interests around the world organising an anti-renewables campaign and focusing in particular on being anti wind farms.

Just this week, for example, the fake grassroots campaign against wind has been exposed in the United States. It has been funded of course by the Koch brothers, as you would expect, because they always do provide funds for the oil industry, for the coal industry, for the gas industry. The whole tactic has been exposed of what you do to get stuck into renewable energy because the fossil fuel sector knows that renewables are coming on at scale and are challenging the base of the fossil fuel sector. That is what this debate is about. It has got nothing to do with noise from wind farms.

Let me tell you some of the activities that have been revealed with this leaked strategy from the fake grassroots campaign. It is associated of course with the Heartland Foundation, and the American Legislative Exchange Council—and our very own Senator Bernardi is the Australian representative of the American Legislative Exchange Council—whose job it is to bring up template legislation to put into state legislatures around the world to do away with anything that the fossil fuel industry does not want. They are bringing in template legislation around the United States to do away with renewable energy. So no doubt Senator Bernardi will be right across this fake grassroots campaign against wind because the organisation for which he is the Australian representative and spokesperson will be providing him with all that information. Previously, we had here Family First, Senator Fielding, who went off to the Heartland Foundation. They are one of the leading think-tanks of global climate sceptics. This is organised by people who want to delay and not address climate change, and it is the most bogus and disgraceful campaign running around the world.

But they are having extraordinary success. The Baillieu government's decision in Victoria to do in wind in Victoria is completely and utterly a result of this bogus campaign being run by the fossil fuel sector. I am terrified when I hear Senator Birmingham giving the Waubra Foundation equal status with the scientists. Can you believe it—in this place the coalition actually standing there saying that a balanced debate with the Waubra Foundation on one hand and others on the other! It is not a balanced debate.