Aidan Curtis
OPPONENTS of a proposed offshore wind farm near Port MacDonnell have more work to do following a meeting with the federal energy minister in Canberra on Wednesday.
Members of the community flew to Canberra during the week to meet with Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen and raised concerns around proposed offshore renewable energy projects.
The delegation, organised by Member for Barker Tony Pasin, spoke on the potential impacts an offshore wind farm would have on local industry and the environment.
Southern Coast Ocean Care committee chair Chris Carrison said “it was a tough gig”, but he thought Mr Bowen certainly took their concerns on board.
“He spent more than his allocated time with us and he was receptive to our responses to him,” Mr Carrison said.
“He wants more data, which is going to be difficult for us, we’ve got a big project ahead of us now, but he’s made it quite clear where we have to go from here and what we have to do.
“He made the point that he’s not interested in creating new jobs by costing old jobs, so that’s a good head start for us.”
Mr Carrison said the next step was to gather scientific evidence around the potential environmental impacts of installing wind turbines in the waters off Port MacDonnell.
“I’m going to head down the path of trying to get our committee to gather scientific evidence to get back to the Minister before public submissions close,” he said.
“He said we don’t get another bite, but he did say we can be late with our submissions, so that’s something.
“We have to be solid with our evidence from here on.”
Also forming part of the delegation was District Council of Grant mayor Kylie Boston, who said they also wanted to make it clear they were not against renewable energy.
“We’re certainly not against green energy and understand there has to be that energy mix out there,” Ms Boston said.
“It was good to be able to talk about the importance of the Bonney Upwelling and that effect on our whole environment.
“We were hoping Minister Bowen would get to understand a little bit about why we’re all saying what we’re saying.”
Following the meeting, Mr Pasin said he was indebted to the community members who travelled to Canberra at their own expense, but there was still heaps left to do.
“I just want to really make sure people understand that attending a meeting is excellent, but under the departmental processes, it won’t be taken into consideration,” Mr Pasin said.
“In order for people’s views to be taken into consideration, they must make a submission.
“Jump online, send an email, make sure the department understands what you as a community members thinks about this proposal.”
People can make submissions supporting or opposing the proposed Southern Ocean renewable energy zone via the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water (DCCEEW) website.
Submissions close at 11:59pm on Thursday, August 31.
