Global wind energy developer Vestas has rejected claims by former federal Nationals leader, David Littleproud, that wind testing masts on its proposed Tara wind farm posed a “dangerous situation” for aviators in the Queensland region.
Littleproud, now a federal opposition backbencher, posted to Facebook on Tuesday claiming the lives of men and women in helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft were in danger because they couldn’t see the masts. In a video attached to the post, he claimed there were near-misses, a circumstance he dubbed an “absolute atrocity”.
“A dangerous situation is unfolding right now near Tara,” Littleproud said, referring to the location of Vestas’s proposed Tara wind farm, located about 350 kilometres west of Brisbane.
“Approval was given on the condition [the masts] were placed in a certain position with proper safety features,” the member for Maranoa said. “That approval has been ignored in every sense. The towers weren’t properly marked. They weren’t properly lit.
“These are the men and women flying low, producing the food and fibre this country relies on every day, and their lives are being put at risk by a company that couldn’t be bothered getting proper advice or following its own approval conditions.”
Littleproud said he had written to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
“The people of Western Queensland deserve to be protected, and Vestas needs to be held to account,” he said.
However, Vestas dismissed Littleproud’s claims that there was any ongoing issue.
“The matter regarding the visibility of the wind monitoring masts to aviators were addressed more than 12 months ago,” a spokesperson for Danish maker of turbines said.
“Vestas is confident that the monitoring masts are lit and marked to industry best practice and comply with the relevant approvals,” the spokesperson said.
Littleproud helped lead the federal Opposition’s ditching of the net zero emissions target by 2050, a goal the Liberal-Nationals Coalition had introduced when it was in government. Last month he called on the state LNP government to “call in” and stop the already approved 436 MW Tarong West wind project in his own electorate.
He campaigned hard for nuclear energy in the run-up to the 2025 election but had not always been an outspoken critic of large-scale renewable energy.
“I believe the climate is changing. Whether it is manmade or not, I don’t really care,” Littleproud told the Guardian in 2018. “The reality is we are seeing disruption, particularly with renewables, and we are going to see cleaner air.”
“I try not to live in cities, you do feel the effects … so it’s a good thing that renewables are coming on,” he said in an interview. “In fact, in my own electorate I’ve got all of the above.
“I’m about to have one of the largest solar farms in the southern hemisphere, one of the biggest wind farms in the southern hemisphere,” Littleproud said, calling the shift towards renewable energy “exciting.”
Renew Economy contacted Littleproud’s office for a response to Vestas’s comments.
According to the company’s website, Vestas proposes to construct and operate a new wind farm with as many as 130 wind turbines in the Western Downs region, capable of generating up to 950 megawatts of power.
The project, which would also include a large battery, was expected to bring investment of about $3 billion to the region, and create as many as 400 jobs during construction and up to 20 long-term jobs, Vestas said.
The wind farm would also substitute for fossil-burning energy sources, avoiding about 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions each year.
Renew Economy also sought comment from the Queensland LNP government.
The ATSB told Renew Economy it had recently received correspondence Littleproud “regarding the risk to aviation safety of wind monitoring towers at Tara, and has received a number of reports about this concern through our aviation safety reporting mechanisms”.
“The ATSB is currently gathering further information to determine the most appropriate means to address these concerns in a timely manner,” a spokesperson said.
For its part, CASA said it did not “have authority to approve or prohibit these structures or enforce compliance with marking recommendations”.
“These responsibilities rest with the relevant land use planning authority,” a spokesperson said. “CASA previously provided advice to the relevant planning authority regarding the potential aviation safety risks associated with the masts and appropriate obstacle marking.”
Most of the comments on Littleproud’s post were anti-renewable energy. A poster, though, remarked: “If they affected aircraft operators then Air Services would had to have signed off, let alone all the other approvals & signatures required from a construction perspective.”
“If what you’re alleging is accurate then a lot of people across several organisations didn’t do their job,” the commentator said. “The Minister has the ability to find out all this but, by all means, make it political.”
