A submission to list the orange-bellied parrot as critically endangered, could put an end to wind farms in Tasmania, South Australia and Victoria.

THE rare orange-bellied parrot, behind the scuttling of a $220 million Gippsland wind farm, is the subject of a $3.2 million Federal grant to protect its habitat.

THE orange-bellied parrot that played a key role in a controversial decision to reverse approval for a wind farm in Victoria has been placed on the critically endangered list. "I will be announcing today, in fact I think I'm announcing now, that I have formally signed the law upgrading the orange bellied parrot to critically endangered," Environment Minister Ian Campbell told a gathering of school children at Parliament House today. Only about 150 of the birds are left in the wild.

Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell has won a concession from the developer of the Bald Hills wind farm, with the company agreeing to move six turbines out of the potential flight path of the orange-bellied parrot. Senator Campbell blocked the wind farm in April, claiming a threat to the parrot, and the company’s move is an acknowledgment the turbines would have been on the potential migratory path of the endangered bird. The minister has agreed to reconsider the wind farm after legal action by the company. Opponents of the project said yesterday the company’s decision was an admission of guilt and showed the original proposal threatened the bird.

Melbourne Water spokesman Ben Pratt said the authority was committed to achieving the twin targets of zero net greenhouse gas emissions and 100 per cent renewable energy usage by 2018. Wind farms would help achieve these targets. However, Mr Pratt said the document listed Werribee's Western treatment plant as "a site with reservations." "We acknowledge there are some potential issues with putting wind turbines there because of the bird sanctuary," he said. "We can't rule anything in or out at this stage. "But if the feasibility study comes back and says there are some real issues with this site, then we would expect it would immediately be ruled out as an option." The wetlands are a seasonal home to thousands of local and migratory birds. Environmentalists fear wind turbines would result in the deaths of many birds caught up in the rotating blades.

THE wind farm debate took a new course last week when the Federal Environment Minister disallowed a Victorian wind farm because of the presence of an endangered bird.

The New South Wales Government has given planning approval for a wind farm at Gullen Range, near Goulburn, after putting in place measures to protect the powerful owl and the wedgetail eagle. ...Ms Keneally says the the use of some turbines will have to be restricted when the young owls are learning to fly.

TWO days into the 2004 federal election campaign, Ian Campbell was on the telephone with a message for voters in the marginal Victorian seat of McMillan.

A two kilometre buffer zone from houses would make the proposed Glen Innes Windfarm unviable according to the project's developers, however they say they are hopeful of negotiating a compromise with critics of the project.

The Federal Environment Minister, Ian Campbell, has dismissed claims he ignored advice from senior members of his department when he vetoed a windfarm project in Victoria's Gippsland region.

Victorian Nationals leader Peter Ryan says the approval of the Bald Hills wind farm in South Gippsland has divided the community. Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell has changed his previous decision to block the project. Senator Campbell originally withdrew approval for the wind farm, saying it could threaten the orange-bellied parrot. Mr Ryan says Bald Hills is an inappropriate location and it is up to the State Government to create a better planning scheme for wind farms.

The path of a threatened bird will be mapped as opposition to a big wind farm near Macarthur in south-west Victoria continues.

Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell has given the go-ahead for the $220 million Bald Hills wind farm, reversing a controversial decision based on a perceived threat to the rare orange-bellied parrot. Senator Campbell today said the wind farm had been given federal approval subject to key changes to the turbine layout and strict conditions to protect the parrot and other threatened species. But local Liberal MP Russell Broadebent and environment groups immediately attacked the reversal.

ANOTHER wedge-tailed eagle has died after being found injured on a wind farm in north-western Tasmania. The bird was put down last week after being injured at Woolnorth wind farm in the far North-West. The eagle, an endangered Tasmanian sub-species recognised as the largest bird of prey in the nation, is thought to have collided with a turbine.

THE number of wedge-tailed eagle deaths at a Tasmanian windfarm may be higher than officially acknowledged. Up to six of the endangered eagles may have been killed in the past year after being struck by turbines at the Woolnorth windfarm in the far North-West. Windfarm operator Roaring 40s, jointly owned by Hydro Tasmania and China Light and Power, puts this year's official death toll at four. However, a further two eagles found dead at the windfarm this year are not included in the tally.

A decision will be made in coming months on whether the Stockyard Hill Wind Farm needs an Environmental Effects Statement. Wind Power made the referral to the Planning Minister Justin Madden last month for its proposed 282-turbine wind farm. If Mr Madden finds the project would have a significant environmental impact, the company must prepare an EES document. Wind Power engineer Ross Richards said the company had worked with the Department of Sustainability and Environment to reduce possible environmental impacts, working out the best location for the turbines.

The Central Highlands could soon be home to the state's biggest wind farm but the endangered wedge- tailed eagle may stop the multimillion-dollar development before it begins. ...But the project faces one major hurdle that has stopped similar developments in the past. N. P. Power had identified that wedge-tailed eagles and white- bellied sea eagles inhabit the region, with two nests existing on the wind farm site.

The Tasmanian wind power company, Roaring 40s, says a wind turbine at its Woolnorth farm injured a wedge-tailed eagle two weeks ago. The eagle's wing was damaged and it had to be put down by a vet.

Dr Lloyd said the overall effect of vegetation clearance would have a more than minor effect on the area's ecology, although the clearance would not occur in a single area, but would be dispersed in small areas across the site. In his written evidence, Dr Lloyd said road construction along the alignment of existing farm tracks would have minor effects on indigenous vegetation, but the construction of turbines, new roads, and significant extensions to existing roads would result in the clearance of indigenous tussock grassland which was more than minor.

Till now the developers have implied that it would be out of sight and (they hoped) out of mind. ...But this week we have discovered that the windfarm (if they get resource consent to build it) won't be so isolated after all. It will be "west of Brooklyn and south of Karori" so it will have many neighbours. One of its biggest neighbours will be the Karori wildlife sanctuary, which is worried that native birds could be killed by the rotating blades of the Long Gully turbines.