May 26, 2026
Two years ago, ABC-TV’s Four Corners highlighted the “Wind Wars” dividing regional communities, featuring conservationist and wildlife photographer Steven Nowakowski.
Last Thursday night, it was Kumbia’s turn with Mr Nowakowski addressing a large audience in Kumbia Memorial Hall concerned with the spread of renewable energy projects in the South Burnett.
The meeting was organised by the South Burnett Regional Council with Mayor Kathy Duff personally paying for the hire of the hall.
Mayor Duff admitted the decision to hold the session had attracted a backlash on social media but she said there were a lot of people in the region who did not support renewable energy projects.
“I’m not a supporter of renewables but some in our Council team are … it has divided communities,” Mayor Duff said.
“Do we want our region to be covered in wind towers and solar farms? I believe as leaders of our community we need to show both sides.
“The developers of the wind farms, solar farms and battery storage have come into our region uninvited. They have just rocked up and started doing all these things and we, as a community, have just had to wear it, accept it and try to deal with it … as leaders we need to show the other side, the impact.
“We owe it to our community to at least bat for the other people that actually don’t want our region to look like a sea of wind and solar and batteries.”
Mayor Duff said the State Government had “virtually” taken the projects out of councillors’ hands but Council could at least advocate for better outcomes.
She said farmers were concerned about underground water and salt levels rising and one multi-generational farmer had told her he was considering selling up and leaving the region because he was so frustrated about what was happening.
Mr Nowakowski, a former Greens candidate, said he believed climate change was real and had been a supporter initially of renewable energy projects.
However, that all changed after he saw the damage the wind farm industry was causing to pristine remnant rainforest in the wet tropics of North Queensland, levelling hilltops, cutting wide tracks to cater for large construction machinery and destroying habitats which were supporting endangered and vulnerable flora and fauna.
Mr Nowakowski, who showed graphic photos to illustrate his talk, said wind farms had negated all the good work that organisations had been doing to revegetate remnant areas, reconnect riparian zones and connect National Parks and protected areas so wildlife could move between them.
He said it took five years to revegetate 3ha of forest but wind farms were clearing 1000ha.
At first, he accepted the need to sacrifice the Mount Emerald Plateau (on the Atherton Tablelands) “as this was the price we needed to pay” for renewable energy to power 90,000 homes.
However, the area where he used to bushwalk, which was home to five endangered plant species and a viable population of northern quolls, was now an “industrial landscape carved up by roads, wind towers, transmission lines and sub-stations”.
“It was far more brutal than I imagined it would be,” Mr Nowakowski said.
And then work began on a second project nearby …
Since then Mr Nowakowski has mapped every renewable project he could find in Queensland, locating 319 renewable projects with 5175 wind towers, 154 solar farms and 91 BESS projects plus unknown kilometres of new transmission lines.
He said the economics of “net zero” did not add up, which was why he could not support projects even on areas that were already cleared such as farmland.
He described the push to net zero as “the biggest policy failure of our lifetime” and the current trajectory “unsustainable” because of the amount of land that would be required, but he said the Labor Party was afraid they would lose face – and support from inner-city voters – if they turned the policy around.
Mr Nowakowski also alleged the Greens and conservation groups had been “compliant” in ignoring the destruction being wrought across Australia, questioning the ultimate source of millions of dollars of funding being funnelled into groups to support climate action.
His solution to climate change?
Mr Nowakowski, who has accompanied Member for Flynn Colin Boyce at public meetings, said Australia should keep its current coal-powered generators running (or even build more) until nuclear energy could take over.
External links:
- The map prepared by Mr Nowakowski, published by the Australian Biodiversity Alliance after the original Rainforest Reserves Australia folded.
- Wind Wars – video and transcript of the Four Corners episode first aired on June 10, 2024
Footnote: Does anyone have any information about the “Kayola Moa” renewables project shown near Kingaroy on Mr Nowakowski’s map? If so, please contact us by email
