Waubra Foundation

The Waubra Foundation was an Australian lobby that opposes wind farms and promotes the controversial wind turbine syndrome.^[1] The foundation was created by Peter Mitchell, a director of several oil and gas companies.^[1] The foundation described itself as an advocacy group for properly conducted, multidisciplinary research into alleged health problems reported by people living in the vicinity of wind turbines and other industrial uses. The foundation is named after the town of Waubra, Victoria Australia, but is not linked to it in any other way. The town is home to the 128 turbines at Waubra Wind Farm.

Pseudoscientific claims

Claims made by the Waubra Foundation relating to wind turbine syndrome and wind farm syndrome are considered pseudoscientific and are not recognised as actual diseases by any international disease classification system, nor do they appear in any title or abstract in the United States National Library of Medicine's PubMed database. Wind turbine syndrome has been characterized as pseudoscience. Since 2003, 25 reviews have been published of the scientific literature on wind turbines and health. These studies have consistently found no reason to believe that wind turbines are harmful to health.^[2]

History

The Foundation was originally known as the 'Waubra Disease Foundation' after claims that health problems reported by some residents of Waubra were caused by wind turbines. The Waubra Foundation has claimed that wind turbines have a mental and physical health impact on some people, largely as a result of infrasound. The Foundation claims the following symptoms are consistent with the impacts of wind turbine proximity: sleep disturbance, headache including migraines, tinnitus, ear pressure (often described as painful), balance problems / dizziness, vertigo, nausea, visual blurring, irritability, problems with concentration and memory, panic episodes, and tachycardia (fast heart rate).^[3] In 2009, the term Wind Turbine Syndrome was coined to encompass the broad range of symptoms described by complainants living near turbines. The Foundation has published reports from sufferers of wind turbine syndrome symptoms living as far as 17 kilometres from the nearest turbine.

In November 2013, Senator Richard Di Natale, at that time health spokesperson for the Australian Greens, and former general practitioner, lodged a written complaint with both the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) and the Australian Tax Office, questioning the Waubra Foundation's qualification as a health promotion charity, on the basis that the foundation’s claims are false and misleading, and that they might actually be causing harm.^[4][5] On 11 December 2014, the ACNC revoked the foundation’s registration as a health promotion charity,^[6] with the Assistant Commissioner saying, "It is not possible for me to find that the Foundation's principal activity promotes the prevention or control of disease in human beings".^[7] In December 2017, the decision was affirmed after a failed appeal.^[8] As of June 2024, the foundation appeared to be inactive.

References

1. Sturmer, environment reporter Jake; Waubra, Sam Clark in (7 November 2013). "Greens target prominent anti-wind farm lobby group over oil industry links". ABC News. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
2. An abridged list of articles that demonstrates the pseudo scientific nature of the Waubra Foundation's claims:

   • "Interview with Simon Chapman". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 20 October 2012.
   • Rourke, Alison (15 March 2013). "Windfarm sickness spreads by word of mouth, Australian study finds". The Guardian.
   • Simon Chapman (21 December 2011). "Much angst over wind turbines is just hot air". The Sydney Morning Herald.
   • Joshi, Ketan (8 November 2012). "The junk science of wind turbine syndrome". Business Spectator. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
   • Professor Simon Chapman (10 April 2015). "Summary of main conclusions reached in 25 reviews of the research literature on wind farms and health". Sydney University School of Public Health. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
   • W. David Colby, Robert Dobie, Geoff Leventhall, David M. Lipscomb, Robert J. McCunney, Michael T. Seilo, Bo Søndergaard. (2009). "Wind Turbine Sound and Health Effects: An Expert Panel Review" (PDF). Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
   • "Wind Turbine Health Impact Study: Report of Independent Expert Panel". Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
   • Knopper, Loren D; Ollson, Christopher A (2011). "Health effects and wind turbines: A review of the literature". Environmental Health. 10 (1): 78. Bibcode:2011EnvHe..10...78K. doi:10.1186/1476-069X-10-78. PMC 3179699. PMID 21914211.
   • Merlin, T; Newton, S; Ellery, B; Milverton, J; Farah, C (2013). Systematic review of human health effects of wind farms (PDF) (Report). Canberra: National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia). ISBN 978-0-9923968-0-0. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
   • McCunney, Robert J.; Mundt, Kenneth A.; Colby, W. David; Dobie, Robert; Kaliski, Kenneth; Blais, Mark (2014). "Wind Turbines and Health". Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 56 (11): e108–e130. doi:10.1097/JOM.0000000000000313. ISSN 1076-2752. PMID 25376420. S2CID 37462287.
3. "Symptoms". Waubra Foundation. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
4. "Greens challenge Waubra Foundation tax status". The Australian. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
5. Heffernan, Madeline (9 December 2013). "Tax office deciding if anti-wind farm group Waubra is a charity". Sydney Morning Herlad. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
6. Conroy, John (19 December 2014). "Waubra loses 'health promotion' charity status". Retrieved 15 January 2019.
7. Sturmer, Jake (19 December 2014). "Waubra Foundation, prominent anti-wind farm lobby, stripped of health promotion charity status". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
8. Hannam, Peter (5 December 2017). "'Sound judgment' strips anti-wind Waubra Foundation of its low-tax status". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 January 2019.

External links

• https://waubrafoundation.org.au/