Victorian Premier John Brumby and Victorian Environment and Climate Change Minister Gavin Jennings have met with representatives from the wind farm industry to discuss the future of wind farms in Victoria.
Mr Brumby and Mr Jennings said that the State Government supports wind farms and has strong planning policies in place to balance community views with the need for building cleaner energy sources.
Mr Jennings said that the Victorian Liberal Party’s policy would threaten the future of the wind farm industry.
Wind energy companies Pacific Hydro, Acciona, AGL, Suzlon, Keppel Prince and REpower have launched a campaign against the Liberal Party’s policy, producing an advertisement in The Age that states “Mr Baillieu, please don’t send clean energy jobs and investment interstate!”
Mr Jennings said “Under the opposition’s plan to put a 2 km setback for wind turbines many of our existing wind farms couldn’t exist.”
The industry would have not have been able to install a single one of the turbines in Codrington, Yambuk, Cape Bridgewater or Cape Nelson South under the Liberal Party’s policy, Mr Jennings said.
