Nick Duigan must be joking.

The Robbins Island wind farm has been stuck in the Tasmanian planning system for eight years. Eight years.

It is still not approved under Tasmanian law and a planning scheme his government created.

It took almost all year for the Tasmanian Liberal Government to sort out its coastal policy to head off its own Environmental Protection Agency from taking the proponent back to the Planning Commission. The case still remains unresolved despite the legislative change. 

Minister Duigan should concentrate on his job - getting a single energy generation project built and getting Tasmania out of the energy crisis we are in. 

We do not have enough power in the state to deliver new projects and support existing users. 

That said, the Australian Government’s decision to delay a decision on Robbins Island is blow to Tasmania. 

Tasmania is already the hardest place in the world to build a wind farm, with incredibly stringent state environmental laws and a Green Party and its activist groups that do everything they can to stop renewable energy development. The last thing we need is Canberra getting in the way. 

I would urge Minister Plibersek to expedite the decision and provide the federal approval Robbins Island wind farm needs.

Janie Finlay MP
Shadow Minister for Energy and Renewables