Federal government delays decision on controversial Tasmania wind farm until after election

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The federal government has delayed its decision on approving a controversial wind farm in north-west Tasmania, pushing it back by several months. This follows a pattern of environmental issues being deferred until after the federal election.

Transcript

00:00This is a very large proposed wind farm on Robbins Island, which is off the northwest

00:07tip of Tassie in that circular head area. It's one that has been trying to proceed for

00:14several years and has been subject to a lot of protest and concern about the impact it

00:19would have, particularly on the bird life in that part of the world. Now, at the end

00:23of last week, the federal government said that it needed just a little bit more time

00:28before coming to a final decision on its environmental approval. So it was expected to be announced

00:35around now whether or not that final hurdle for the wind farm to go ahead would happen.

00:41But that now won't happen until at least the 9th of May and we'll either be voting the

00:46day after or at least in a caretaker period by that time. So this is now something that

00:51won't be decided upon by the federal government until after the election.

00:57Yes, so one of the other big environmental issues in that part of the country is the

01:02future of salmon farming. Will there be a decision on that before the election?

01:06Well, no, there won't for that one either, in particular for what the future is for Macquarie

01:12Harbour. Now, we know that the Federal Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek, has been considering

01:19the push to reassess the environmental approvals for salmon farming to continue in Macquarie

01:26Harbour, where the Mogollon Skate, an endangered fish species, has been struggling to survive

01:32with the low oxygen in the water that's largely attributed to the salmon farming industry

01:37affecting the water quality there. Now, there's been a lot of scientific research going on,

01:42but no final decision from the minister on whether or not the environmental approval

01:47should change. We did have the Prime Minister intervene and write a letter to the salmon

01:52industry saying that he would introduce legislation specifically concerning the salmon industry

01:58to ensure its future survival, particularly given efforts to progress environmental law

02:04reform haven't really gone anywhere. But it shows that the election timing here certainly

02:09seems to be having an impact or at least a coincidental timing that means many of these

02:15crucial issues for Tasmanians and in other parts of the country aren't going to be resolved before

02:21polling day. Mel, how much of an impact will these environmental issues have in the Federal

02:26election? Look, when it comes to these ones in Tasmania, these are really big issues that

02:31resonate beyond the communities where these specific industries or proposals are. They're

02:38certainly big issues across Tasmania. But this is a much bigger issue because what we have is a

02:44really good example of how environmental laws aren't working. And we know they aren't working

02:49and everyone agrees they're not working. Environmentalists and business groups alike say,

02:52look, it isn't working because either it's not protecting the environment or it's taking too

02:57long to get clarity on projects. This is an example of how failure to reform those laws means

03:03we're just continuing in this situation. But it's even worse than that because in some projects

03:08where we are seeing progress, so for example, we've had the Federal Government deliver

03:14feasibility licences to a number of offshore wind companies. In that case, we're seeing

03:20offshore wind companies sit back and not want to proceed too much because they're eyeing the

03:25election timing too, concerned that the regulatory environment might change if the Government changes

03:31at the Federal election. So in some cases we're seeing environmental approvals being deferred and

03:37taking incredibly long periods of time to happen. And in other areas we're seeing development

03:41licences or feasibility study licences to be approved. But even then there's still problems

03:48because of the uncertainty about the differing points of view of the major parties. So it shows

03:52how much change and reform is needed in this area. But at the moment, there doesn't seem to be any

03:57progress in that front.

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