Western Victoria Region
Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (14:11): My constituency question is for the Minister for Energy and Resources, and I ask: will you commit to an urgent safety audit of all Victorian wind farms? Last September owners of the Labor-backed Golden Plains wind farm recommended that farmers and local CFA volunteers wear hard hats, after serrated trailing edges detached from brand-new turbines. The CFA at Rokewood have now had to close the shed and wear hard hats anywhere near it too. They have had to relocate to another farmer’s shed to operate the CFA. Tragically, a 36-year-old construction worker lost his life after being crushed by a wind turbine blade at the same Golden Plains wind farm. Now we have a collapsed turbine at the Berrybank wind farm near Lismore in south-west Victoria – shockingly, due to high winds, no less. Fortunately no workers were on the site. Given these ongoing safety concerns, the death of a worker – (Time expired)