Wind Of Change: Tony Abbott Doesn’t Like ‘Visually Awful’ Wind Farms; Possible Health Risks Being Examined

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has criticised the Howard government’s stance on implementing the Renewable Energy Target (RET) policy. He also considers wind farms to be “visually awful”.

Speaking to the Sydney radio host Alan Jones, the Prime Minister said that he understands the potential health risks involved with such farms, and besides being visually unappealing, they also make a lot of noise.

Mr. Abbott shares a similar view with Treasurer Joe Hockey in this matter, who described wind turbines as "utterly offensive" last year. Meanwhile, when the National Health and Medical Research Council examined the link between wind turbines and health risks, it didn’t find any convincing evidence against wind farms. However, the council admitted that further research is still required to nullify a link.

Meanwhile, a committee formed by several independent senators is also studying whether a link exists.

"I would frankly have liked to reduce the number a lot more but we got the best deal we could out of the Senate," said Mr. Abbott. "And if we hadn't had a deal, Alan, we would have been stuck with even more of these things," he added.

The target was initially created in 2001 by Howard Government and later strengthened by Labor party to "at least 20 per cent by 2020", accounted to be 41,000 gigawatt hours of electricity at that time. However, definitions of energy efficiency have seen a sea of change since then.

Even as Greens’ deputy leader Larissa Waters criticised Mr. Abbott's comments, saying it could harm the energy sector, the Prime Minister said he would have preferred the Howard government had never created the RET in the first place.

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