Thursday, 12 September 2024

Northern Victoria Region

Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (13:00): (1126) My constituency question is for the Minister for Climate Action. Northern Victoria is home to a number of wind farms. Whilst a great initiative for the environment and one that is crucial for our future, it is local birds that are paying the ultimate price, flying into the blades and plummeting to their deaths. But it does not have to be this way. Smøla farm in Norway has provided the solution. In their experiment just two-thirds of a single blade was painted black on four turbines. Incredibly, they found that there was a 70 per cent reduction in bird fatalities from just these four turbines. There was also a 100 per cent reduction in white-tailed eagle fatalities. Since then various energy companies in Spain and America have been trialling the painted blades, following this huge success in Norway. My constituents want to know if the minister will trial this life-saving initiative in Northern Victoria too to save the lives of our birds.

Sitting suspended 1:01 pm until 2:02 pm.