March 29, 2016
Australia

Senator backs plan for new research into whether wind farms make people sick

By Charlotte King | ABC News | 29 March 2016 | www.abc.net.au

The Ballarat-based independent Senator for Victoria, John Madigan, has cautiously welcomed a new national wind farm investigation commissioned by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Two researchers are being paid more than $3 million to separately look at whether wind turbines affect health.

Last week, epidemiologist professor Guy Marks from the University of New South Wales was awarded $1.94 million to investigate wind turbine noise and sleep, balance, mood and cardiovascular health.

Sleep researcher associate professor Peter Catcheside from Flinders University was awarded $1.36 million over five years to look into the impacts of wind turbine noise on sleep.

Senator Madigan said there had not been enough research done in Australia into whether proximity to wind turbines made people sick.

“I hope that the research will be conducted in an open, transparent way, there for the public to view, so that the public can have confidence that it’s addressing the concerns of people in rural and regional Australia who are living adjacent to wind farms,” he said.

“Government owes people a duty of care to protect their health and well-being.

“We need to have good, independent, eminent, multi-disciplinary research to get to the bottom of what it is people are complaining about.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2016/03/29/senator-backs-plan-for-new-research-into-whether-wind-farms-make-people-sick/