Media release – BirdLife Tasmania, 31 July 2020
Marinus link – the death knell for Tasmania’s Wedge-tailed Eagles
BirdLife Tasmania today described the fast-tracked approval for the Marinus cables as the death knell for Tasmania’s Wedge-tailed Eagles.
“How can you possibly approve the Marinus link without any Environmental Impact Assessment? It’s putting the cart before the horse.”
“Approving before assessing means that no matter what the environmental impacts may be, the project goes ahead – clearly this is inappropriate and utterly at odds with best-practice procedures.”
“All of the proposed windfarms in Tasmania rely on the Marinus cables to send their power to the mainland; none of the power produced by these windfarms will end up in Tasmania” Dr Eric Woehler, Convenor of BirdLife said today.
“The cable won’t see cheaper prices for power in Tasmania as all the power is going to Melbourne and Sydney so they can run their air-conditioners while we shred our eagles for their convenience.”
There are more than 500 turbines proposed for Tasmania, including the massive 120 – 150 turbine wind farm for Robbins Island in the northwest.
“Windfarms kill Wedge-tailed Eagles – they have done since day one. Eagles are killed by wind farms world-wide – sadly, Tasmania is no different,” Dr Woehler said.
The Robbins Island wind farm proposal is situated in the middle of the largest collection of migratory shorebirds in Tasmania – a site recognised internationally for its significance for numerous Critically Endangered and Endangered species.
“Robbins Island is the last place in Tasmania for between 120 and 150 wind turbines,” Dr Woehler added. “These ‘cables of death’ will destroy internationally-significant wetlands and the Critically Endangered shorebirds dependent on them” Dr Woehler noted with deep concern.
“Australia is already in an extinction crisis – acknowledged even by the Federal Government – yet here we have a proposal that is environmentally destructive and contributing to that crisis.”
“No renewable energy can be ‘green’ while it kills Endangered Species such as Wedge-tailed Eagles and pushes them towards extinction” Dr Woehler concluded.
Image Wedge-tailed Eagle ©Eric J Woehler
