A massive wind turbine project proposed for pine forest areas in Queensland has been dumped by the state government, and the Queensland government will repeal the laws that made the proposal possible.
By Owen Jacques, Johanna Marie and Jennifer Nichols for abc.net.au, August 31, 2025
Residents have welcomed news a 1,200 megawatt wind farm that was proposed to deliver enough energy to power nearly 500,000 homes will be dumped by the Queensland government because of community concerns.
The Forest Wind project was slated to build up to 226 wind turbines, as tall as 265 metres, across Queensland state forests in Gympie, Maryborough and the Fraser Coast.
The former Labor government passed the Forest Wind Farm Development legislation that allowed the turbines to be built in state forests.
On Monday, Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said the government would repeal that legislation.
He said the act was “creating fear and anxiety in local communities”.
“The Crisafulli government is ending years of uncertainty for the local community by repealing the special purpose legislation introduced by Labor designed to steamroll the local community in their reckless rush for renewables,” he said.
Wide Bay Residents Against the Forest Wind Farm Project said its 2,000 members were “elated” that the proposal had been axed.
“I think we’re all a bit in disbelief – it’s been five years,” spokesperson Sue Natho said.
The deputy premier’s office initially said the proposal’s 226 wind turbines would have been around 160m tall.
Ms Natho described that as a “furphy” and said that once the rotors were added the towers would have been significantly taller.
Asked about the discrepancy, on Monday afternoon the deputy premier’s office confirmed the towers could have been as high as 265m.
Gunalda resident Bruce Turner said the decision was “good news” considering the potential impact on native birds and wildlife.
“We have a very high list of bird species through this area here,” he said. “We’re not against green renewables, but the trouble with wind turbines is they have a tendency of killing birds.”
Mr Turner said locals were concerned about how much forest required clearing.
“It was a massive project and to get the wind turbines in place would have been horrendous,” he said.
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Wind Concerns is a collaboration of citizens of the Lakeland Alberta region against proposed wind turbine projects.