“Over my dead body”: Planning minister rejects any chance of approval for cancelled wind project

Queensland planning minister Jarrod Bleijie said the quiet part out loud last week when he told media there is nothing the developer of the cancelled Moonlight Range wind project can do to get it through the state planning system.

“Over my dead body will it ever be approved,” Bleijie said on Friday during a press conference in Rockhampton, in comments reported by the Courier Mail. “I would make the same decision again.”

Bleijie was responding to a question, one also put to him via email last week from Renew Economy, about what developer Greenleaf Renewables could change to make the project palatable to state planners. 

The latest comments infer the planning minister is willing to sidestep even his own new development rules, unveiled in April this year, to prevent the 450 megawatt (MW) wind and big battery proposal from going ahead. 

Bleijie ascended to the state’s planning ministership in November 2024 and his department conditionally approved the Moonlight Range project in December.

He then cancelled the approval six months later, claiming very high community opposition.

Renew Economy has again reached out to the minister’s office to clarify whether the minister will reject the project even if it meets the new legal and social requirements, and what this means for the industry at large. 

They were not able to respond before publication.

Queensland is now pro-coal and pro-gas, and lukewarm at best on renewable energy, a position made clear in its energy roadmap in October.

And while Bleijie is claiming to be a man of the people by rejecting the Moonlight Range wind farm, he’s also very willing to reject other protests against planning decisions when it suits.

Bleijie’s comments about Moonlight Range came in the same week as he noted “we have laws in place that will override planning, environment and local government laws, and state planning laws, to get on with the job” of building a highly controversial stadium in Brisbane for the 2032 Olympics. 

Riding roughshod?

Bleijie used the Rockhampton podium on Friday to call renewable energy developers who’d had their planning approvals taken away by the government “multi-billion dollar companies” that had been able to “ride roughshod over regional Queensland”.

But once again he didn’t explain how those companies, and Greenleaf Renewables in particular, are disregarding communities given the new planning rules came in after development applications were already in process.

On Friday, he said only that local MP Glen Kelly is opposed to the project, the decommissioning plan and workers accommodation proposals weren’t good enough, and that previously wind projects were being “developed without any community consultation”.

But Moonlight Range developer Greenleaf Renewables says it’s been talking to the community since 2021 when the project was first proposed. 

It also says community input will be central to its federal environment planning application, which it’s moving ahead with regardless of the Queensland position. 

“Community input has always been central to how we develop our projects,” Greenleaf Renewables director Tim Gregson said in the statement.

“We appreciate the open conversations we’ve had so far and encourage everyone to review the project’s EPBC Preliminary Documentation and make a submission.”

Fake news is having an impact

More worrying is the fear that Queensland’s planning process has been swayed by false and inaccurate assertions made about the Moonlight Range project. 

Bleijie formally “called in” the project for reassessment in January, saying it would be “reassessed and redecided” based on the feedback from more than 550 public submissions.

He later said that consultation revealed that 85 per cent of local residents wanted the project reviewed.

However, closer scrutiny of submissions revealed that only about 25 per cent came from people or groups local to the proposed project. Industry observers noted that “organised, politically motivated, anti-renewable lobbying” had been active in the area.

Rainforest Reserves Australia (RRA), which has actively campaigned against a range of renewable energy projects, was probed by the federal Senate inquiry last week for using fabricated or non-existent evidence in its campaign against Moonlight Range.

The concern, expressed by Labor Senator Michelle Ananda-Rajah during a hearing on Wednesday, is that this misinformation misled communities and ultimately led to the Moonlight Range planning approval revocation. 

The Senator pointed to made-up references in the organisation’s submissions to the planning department, and noted references to the Queensland EPA and a project called Oakey wind farm, neither of which exist.

On Friday, Bleijie denied that RRA’s false information might have swayed state planners.

But it’s a live and worrying issue for developers, with the Queensland Renewable Energy Council (QREC) saying views on projects must now be “verified and tested” before they sway major decisions.

“QREC is very concerned about misinformation and false claims by Rainforest Reserves Australia underline the importance of transparency in Queensland’s planning and consultation processes,” said CEO Katie-Anne Mulder in a statement sent to Renew Economy.

 “Queensland’s Energy Roadmap must be guided by evidence – not by misinformation dressed up as expertise.  

“It’s vital that all Queenslanders have the right to be heard, but it’s equally vital that views – for, against or sitting on the fence – are verified and tested before they influence major investment decisions.”

Greenleaf Renewables is already seeing the results of fake news campaigns.

“Misinformation is having a real impact on renewable energy projects like ours,” said director Chris Righetti. 

“The Moonlight Range Wind Farm has been designed through years of genuine engagement, yet we’ve seen how false claims and online campaigns from outside the area can distort perceptions and influence fair decision-making. 

“When misinformation replaces facts, local communities lose out on jobs, investment, and confidence in the planning process. All we’re asking for is a level playing field where decisions are based on evidence, not fear or false information.”

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