29 June, 2015
On 23 June, 2015, the Senate passed the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Amendment Bill (Cth) 2015. This confirms the bipartisan deal agreed to last month to reduce Australia's renewable energy target from 41,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) to an additional 33,000 GWh by 2020.
To secure the passage of the amending legislation, the Minister for Environment struck a deal with four crossbenchers to establish a National Wind Farm Commissioner and an independent scientific committee regarding the environmental and human impacts of wind turbines, in exchange for reinstatement of the native forest wood waste as an eligible source of renewable energy. Amongst other things, the Wind Farm Commissioner will address complaints of community residents regarding wind turbines and has the power to refer complaints to state authorities about the operations of wind farms.
For further information, please contact:
Paul Curnow, Partner, Baker & McKenzie
paul.curnow@bakermckenzie.com
