One Nation calls for Tuan Forest wind farm plans to be dumped

The One Nation candidates for Gympie and Maryborough have called for the dumping of a planned $2 billion wind farm in the Tuan Forest, claiming the community does not want it, and it was a threat to wildlife.

Wide Bay One Nation candidates Katy McCallum and Taryn Gillard are calling for a controversial $2 billion wind farm at the Tuan Forest to be dumped saying it threatened to destroy wildlife instead of saving it.

Wide Bay One Nation candidates Katy McCallum and Taryn Gillard on Tuesday called for the controversial $2 billion Forest Wind wind farm north of Gympie to be dumped, claiming it was a threat to wildlife.

In a joint statement, Gympie One Nation candidate Ms McCallum and Maryborough One Nation candidate Ms Gillard claimed the community did not want it.

“Labor and the Greens are destroying our natural environment in a perverse effort to save it,” Ms McCallum said.

“Only in Queensland can a government get away with destroying huge areas of habitat for threatened species to accommodate a bunch of toxic wind turbines, while ignoring community pleas to dump the project.”

Forest Wind proposes to build about 200 turbines on 195,000ha in the Tuan Forest, about 40km north of Gympie and directly south of Maryborough.

Wide Bay One Nation candidates Katy McCallum and Taryn Gillard are calling for a controversial $2 billion wind farm at the Tuan Forest to be dumped saying it threatened to destroy wildlife instead of saving it.

It was originally proposed to be running by 2023 but has since stalled over environmental questions and changing ownership.

The project is now not expected to be built until 2026 at the earliest.

Gympie Labor candidate Lachlan Anderson has been approached for comment.

Incumbent Maryborough Labor MP Bruce Saunders said there was no state government money involved in the project, and any decision on its future was now in the hands of the federal government.

Ms McCallum and Ms Gillard, who are running for seats held by the LNP and Labor respectively and largely considered safe thanks to margins of 8.5 per cent and 11.9 per cent, accused Labor of not listening to regional voters.

One Nation candidates Taryn Gillard and Katy McCallum are running for seats held by Labor and the LNP respectively and largely considered safe thanks to margins of 11.9 per cent and 8.5 per cent. They have accused Labor of not listening to regional voters.

“The community doesn’t want more than 200 wind turbines almost 300m tall spreading across parts of Gympie and Maryborough like some sort of malignant cancer,” Ms McCallum said.

“This is no mere plantation area.

“It incorporates about 12,000ha of native remnant and regrowth vegetation and is home to a number of threatened species, including the critically endangered regent honeyeater and vulnerable glossy black cockatoo and giant barred frog.”

The $2 billion proposed wind farm was originally expected to be up and running by 2023, but it now not expected to be operational until 2026 at the earliest.

Ms Gillard said communities were “being kept in the dark about the Forest Wind project” but would have to live with it if built.

“The whole process has been secretive,” she said.

“A partner has pulled out, and a government-controlled corporation has stepped in.

“Laws have had to be changed to accommodate it.

“Consultation with the community has been limited, as always, to project managers just telling affected home and landowners what’s going to be done.

“The community doesn’t get a say in a matter that directly affects the value of their homes, the amenity of their community and their mental health.

“Their concerns about safety and fire risks, and about impacts on tourism and the local economy, have gone unanswered.”

Originally published as One Nation calls for Tuan Forest wind farm plans to be dumped