Renewable Energy (Electricity) Amendment (Excessive Noise from Wind Farms) Bill 2012

The majority voted against a motion introduced by Democratic Labor Party Senator John Madigan on behalf of himself and Independent Senator Nick Xenophon.

The motion was:

_That the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Amendment (Excessive Noise from Wind Farms) Bill 2012 be referred to the Environment and Communications References Committee for inquiry and report by 29 November 2012._

Background to the bill

The bill was introduced by Senator Madigan, also on behalf of Senator Xenophon, to provide the Clean Energy Regulator with powers to ensure that accredited power stations that are wind farms do not create excessive noise.(Read more about the bill here, including its explanatory memorandum. )

Currently, there are questions about whether the noise generated by wind farms may cause health problems.(For example, read about the divided reactions surrounding a proposed major wind farm project in South Australia here. ) However, this is widely disputed.(For example, the South Australian Environmental Protection Authority rejected the link between wind farms and health almost a month before this vote took place (see here. ) These concerns reflect similar debates around the world in communities that are affected by wind farms.(Read more about these debates here.)

References