HON ROBIN CHAPPLE(Mining and Pastoral)[9.52 pm]: I rise tonight to refer to an email that many members received. It is an email from Mr Shannon Hewitt in relation to the Fremantle wind farm. I wish to read the email by way of then introducing some other matters. He wrote to a number of people including Hon Peter Collier, Colin Barnett, Troy Buswell, Brad Pettit and a number of other members, which were included in the email. It reads —
I am writing to you to encourage the fastest possible transition to a fully renewable energy system in Western Australia
I encourage the Western Australian Government, Department of Transport, Fremantle Port Authority and Fremantle Council to fully support and issue all the necessary planning and regulatory approvals to allow the Fremantle Wind Farm to be built in North Fremantle, WA.
The debate on climate change is clearly over within the scientific community and action needs to be taken immediately to mitigate the major climatic effects we can expect to experience due predominately to the burning of fossil fuels.
In 2010, Perth experienced a ‘once in a decade’ storm event whereby 150,000 homes lost power and at the time, Colin Barnett said the cost of the storm would run into the ‘hundreds of millions of dollars’. Last night, just two years after, Perth experienced another ‘once in a decade’ storm event with 161,000 homes losing power and many people already reporting that the costs will exceed that of the 2010 event. The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting —
This was last night —
yet another ‘once in a decade’ storm tomorrow night, and BoM have already suggested that the damage is likely to be worse …
Thank goodness it was not and it was not nearly as bad. The email continues —
… and storms are only one type of weather event we can expect to increase due primarily to anthropogenic climate change. We cannot continue to ignore the reality of climate change for our own political and short-term financial reasons. We need to act now.
He goes on —
The costs to do nothing will far outweigh any climate change mitigation efforts.
The first thing your government can do to mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure the easiest transition to a 100% sustainable energy future is to approve all aspects of the Fremantle Wind Farm and to encourage investment and growth in the renewable energy sector.
Please be aware that climate change and sustainability are by far the most important issues facing humanity today on local, national and international levels. We must act now to limit the amount of greenhouse gases we expel into the atmosphere and protect our environment and wildlife.
The Fremantle Wind Farm will not only decrease our overall greenhouse gas emissions, but it will encourage further investment into the local and state economy, increase jobs and attract tourists to the area, not to mention the other social and community benefits it will bring.
My vote in next year’s WA state election will be based entirely on the sustainability ethics of each political party. My friends and family will all be voting the same way and I will continue to do everything I can to encourage other voters in my community to vote in the same way. The best way you can show your acceptance of these issues is to do everything in your power to allow the Fremantle Wind Farm project to go ahead without delay.
Please do everything you can to ensure that the Fremantle Wind Farm project goes ahead without delay, and please ensure that any other investment in renewable energy in WA gets your complete acceptance.
That leads me into the dialogue that my office has been having with the Fremantle Port Authority and, indeed, with Hon Troy Buswell, MLA, Minister for Transport. We are very aware of the issues that Mr Shannon Hewitt has been raising. My office recently called for a briefing on this project from the Minister for Transport; Housing; Emergency Services. We have been advised that the decision not to support the development of the wind farm was largely made by Fremantle Ports post the conclusions and recommendations made by a consultancy. Hon Troy Buswell states —
I am advised Fremantle Ports has given detailed consideration to the possibility of facilitating the development of a wind farm in the port area, at either Fremantle or Kwinana. As part of this work a consultant was engaged to undertake a study of various wind power development options. The Fremantle Ports’ Board deliberated on the consultant’s report and determined that it is not in the Ports best interest to support a wind farm development within the Port.
He advises us that we need to go back and speak to the port authority because he does not want to be involved in the process. What has happened down there? It is really quite interesting that the first time we met with the port authority, it basically said that it did not think it wanted a wind farm, notwithstanding the fact that several corporations had been negotiating for several years to have access to the port and had at one time been approved. When we asked why not, the comment was that it thought that the shadow of the blades that would be cast over the port area might distract the workers. Many of the places around the world that have really good wind farms are port authorities, and it does not seem to affect the development anywhere else. But I will move on.
As part of the process, the Fremantle wind farm consortium sought under the Freedom of Information Act to get a copy of the study that Fremantle Ports had utilised. When it got the elements of the report, literally hundreds of pages had been redacted. When we went through the report, we could not find out the environmental or social impact reasons for that decision because they had all been blanked out. When we actually looked at it, I think we established that about four pages out of about 100 had not been redacted. In a very short time the minister will be meeting with the port authority again, and we would hope that there will again be some discussion about reinstating a project that was accepted and passed until the ownership of the project changed. Once the ownership of the project changed, the support of Fremantle Port Authority changed. I take this opportunity to say to the minister—it can be passed on by his colleagues in this chamber—that I hope he will start a meaningful discussion with the port authority about reinstating the ability of the wind farm to use the vacant crown land that exists on the port authority.
Hon Simon O’Brien: Can you just indicate to me by way of interjection, when you have referred to “we looked at these matters”, who is “we”?
Hon ROBIN CHAPPLE: There are two types of “we”; there is “I”—our office. Our office has looked at it and has met with the port authority, and has requested meetings with the minister that have not been forthcoming. The other “we” is the wind farm consortium that has submitted the freedom of information requests and presented us with the information it got. We have seen the documents.
Hon Simon O’Brien: Are they a commercial concern?
Hon ROBIN CHAPPLE: Yes.
Hon Simon O’Brien: And, if I may briefly, is the chap whose email you introduced us to in your opening remarks associated with that consortium?
Hon ROBIN CHAPPLE: No.
Just quickly, as I am touching on renewable energy, in the past two days two major international reports have come out. The first one was from the United Nations program, and the second one was from the International Energy Agency. I wish to put on the record in the time available to me that, according to the United Nations, the total renewable power capacity worldwide exceeded 1 360 gigawatts last year—up eight per cent. In respect to how we feature in this in comparison with the major countries, the report stated that European Union installed 17 gigawatts, and China edged past the United States and added another 2.1 gigawatts; and the report also noted that South Australia was now generating 20 per cent of its power by renewable energy, and was actually the only state holding Australia up.
