China will use wind farm cameras to spy on people, cows and crops, say opponents in new conspiracy theory

So here is another conspiracy theory to add to the rapidly growing list on why wind farms should not be built in Australia: China will apparently use cameras mounted at wind farms to spy on Australian people, cows and crops, and this should not be allowed, according to one group of opponents.

The claim was included in the latest newsletter to subscribers and posted on the Facebook page of one anti-wind group.

It said the rollout of long range cameras, ostensibly mounted to identify and capture the flight of eagles or brolgas to enable turbines to be switched off, are being used for nefarious purposes, and it pointed to projects in Tasmania and in Victoria, where cameras are also being used as fire spotters.

“Woolnorth Renewables, or essentially the Chinese Government, is planning to install cameras on its wind farm under the pretence of watching the Brolgas and Eagles,” the post said.

“The cameras will need to cover many kilometres to capture the flight path of Brolgas and Eagles. (At least 5km – 10 km out to capture the Brolga).

“Most wind farms are owned by the Chinese, or will eventually be owned by the Chinese.

“Does that mean the Chinese Government, or some other foreign government, will be installing cameras over 70% of Victorian (sic) to watch us, record our faces and our movements, or monitor when we sell our stock and sew our crops?”

“They must think us country folk are dumb or somth’n.”

Or something.

The post was one of many over the past few days, citing projects in Tasmania that are heavily involved with China wind companies, including Cattle Hill that is using Goldwind turbines, and Woolnorth which is 75 per cent owned by a Chinese energy company and 25 per cent by the Tasmania government owned Hydro Tasmania.

Another post warned about “Pano” cameras mulled by the proposed Delburn wind project which may be amid a pine forest in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley to aid in bushfire detection.

It’s difficult to know how to respond to any of this, but some of the more outlandish and conspiratorial statements made on social media, and even in mainstream media, are often heard at community meetings, in the homestead in discussions with landowners, and continues to have an impact on development prospects. Patience can be tested.

The group reposted another FB video that claims one in 300 wind turbines catch fire (not true), and that one fire could “destroy the entire great dividing range.” Curiously, such posts remain on FB, although Meta is removing Renew Economy articles because they “breach community standards.”

Just for the record, Identiflight says its cameras can detect and classify birds within a 1.3 km radius depending on species size, and that it can quickly distinguish if the detected object is a bird, turbine blade, animals on the ground, a vehicle, or a person.

“IdentiFlight captures and records objects that the system classifies as an avian species of interest and masks the rest of the image by removing objects not identified as birds,” it notes on its FAQ page.