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One of Australia’s leading public health experts has delivered a scathing assessment of anti-windfarm activists, comparing them to people who believe in aliens, reincarnation and other “irrational…nonsense or faith-based beliefs”.
Simon Chapman, a professor of public health at the University of Sydney, whose research led to the development of cigarette plain packaging, had been asked to respond to a Senate inquiry into the health effects of wind farms.
Professor Simon Chapman defended his use of the term ‘wing nuts’ to describe anti-wind farm campaigners.
That inquiry, led by crossbench senators John Madigan, David Leyonhjelm and Bob Day, delivered its report on Monday, three days after its draft findings were published in News Corp. The committee recommended the government establish an independent scientific panel with powers to block new wind farm projects on public health grounds.
It follows Prime Minister Tony Abbott describing wind farms as “visually awful” in June. Last month Fairfax revealed the government had directed the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation to stop investing in wind energy projects.
The Clean Energy Council said the leak to News Corp papers showed the inquiry was “a biased political stitch-up by a small group of senators opposed to the cheapest forms of renewable energy”.
Professor Simon Chapman Photo: supllied
In his response to the committee, Professor Chapman took the same view.
He released on Monday his written responses to 62 “questions on notice” from Senator Madigan, declaring at the outset: “all but one of your committee are openly hostile to wind turbines. I therefore thought it prudent to declare that I support renewable energy, as do 82 per cent of the Australian population who in 2014 wanted the Renewable Energy Target to stay in place”.
Often barely containing his irritation at the line of questioning, Professor Chapman defended his use of the term “wing nuts” to describe anti-wind farm campaigners, which he had publicly used twice since 2009.
Senators Bob Day, Nick Xenophon, David Leyonhjelm and John Madigan. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
“In both cases, in my opinion, the utter absurdity of the claims being made by those opposing wind farms makes the expression “wing nuts” very apposite”.
Asked whether he had visited the homes of people claiming to be adversely “effected” (sic) by wind farm noise, Professor Chapman replied crisply: “No, I have not visited any such homes. Here is why. There are many people who passionately believe in things that I do not believe in. For example, every week many thousands use lottery number selection systems in the firm belief that this will increase their chances of winning the lottery; 51 per cent of Britons believe in aliens; a majority of the population believe in the supernatural and life after death; and whole religions believe in reincarnation.
“Some people earnestly believe that aircraft chemtrails are chemical sprays used by governments to “control” populations, and that mobile phones and towers, and Wi-Fi are deadly.
“I do not need to talk personally to any of these people or visit their homes in order to corroborate the information that I can obtain from a variety of sources which tells me clearly that these beliefs are irrational, and in fact either nonsense or faith-based beliefs.”
Professor Chapman acknowledged that some people who live near wind farms are distressed by the turbines and believe they are being harmed by them.
But he described this as unfounded, saying nearly every review completed since 2003 had shown that noise and health complaints about wind farms are a “psychogenic phenomenon” — having a psychological rather than physical cause.
Pointing to a family that had complained about infrasound emanating from a nearby wind turbine even when it was switched off, Professor Chapman said it said much about “the now sometimes bizarre sub-culture of complaint that has arisen among the small network of wind farm opponents in Australia”.
“Infrasound generated by mere walking has been shown to be louder than the noise of wind turbines … I assume your committee is not concerned about walking noise health impacts?”
Senator Madigan has been contacted for comment.
Windfarm "wing nuts": Public health expert takes aim at activists
