Social and Economic Impact of Rural Wind Farms – Prof. Warwick Anderson NHMRC

Hansard – Professor Warwick Anderson, AM, CEO National Health & Medical Research Council, oral testimony at Public Hearing before Community Affairs References Committee, 31 March, 2011

Professor Anderson’s testimony includes:

“… we are very aware that the high-quality scientific literature in this area is very thin. That is why we were at pains to point out that we believe that a precautionary approach should be taken to this, because, as you would understand, the absence of evidence does not mean that there might not be evidence in the future; it is just that, at the stage when the review was done, it was not there. So we have kept an eye on the literature during the period of time, and we are aware of some papers that have since been published.”

“We regard this as a work in progress. We certainly do not believe that this question has been settled. That is why we are keeping it under constant review. That is why we said in our review that we believe authorities must take a precautionary approach to this. That is what we do say in medicine anyhow, but this is very important here because of the very early stage of the scientific literature.”

The Waubra Foundation notes that many wind developers, politicians and bureaucrats quote the Statement in the NHMRC 2010 Rapid Review that: There are no direct pathological effects from wind farms and that any potential impact on humans can be minimised by following existing planning guidelines. Nowhere are Professor Anderson’s comments (above) referred to.

Download an Extract of Professor Anderson’s Testimony →

Download Hansard of the Senate Inquiry hearing in Perth WA 31 March, 2014 →