In the regions at the forefront of the renewable energy transition community backlash against offshore wind farms appears to be growing. A petition calling for a ban on wind farms off the New South Wales south coast was called out for including fraudulent signatures.
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00:00 It was a petition meant to represent the community's opposition to the Illawarra offshore wind zone,
00:07 but all was not as it seemed.
00:09 An analysis revealed nearly 200 of the 11,000 signatures were duplicates.
00:16 The federal government says it's also aware of financial incentives offered for submissions
00:21 opposing the proposal.
00:23 And there are concerns about misinformation infiltrating the debate.
00:27 I'd be very disappointed if that was the case.
00:30 It's really important for us as a group and for us as the Illawarra that the petition
00:36 is taken seriously.
00:38 Respected editor Quentin Hennig was shocked when a Facebook post referenced the study
00:43 claiming to be sourced from his journal Marine Policy linked wind turbines to whale deaths.
00:49 My reaction to it is just frustration with misinformation like that.
00:54 Exploiting and manipulating valid concerns.
00:58 Public consultation on the Illawarra offshore wind zone wraps up on Wednesday.
01:02 The federal government says they will be considering submissions based on the merits of the issues
01:07 raised rather than the number of people supporting or opposing the proposal.
01:12 We don't want to see those wind turbines killing birds, killing whales and even just affecting
01:21 the marine life.
01:23 The current scientific understanding is that there's no significant impact of wind farms
01:27 on whales.
01:29 One thing they both agree on is that the debate should be based on facts.
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