Former prime minister Tony Abbott has continued his crusade to protest against renewable energy, and this time he has targeted wind farms. And yes it’s true, he recently labelled wind turbines as, and we quote: “dark satanic mills of the modern era”.
In a discussion on 2GB between Abbott and Alan Jones, Abbott was asked:
“How are they going with the wind turbines in your former electorate? Is Zali Steggall sticking them up there?”
This comes after Tony Abbott lost his Warringah seat in the recent election.
Abbott responded:
“I think there’s been a lot of wind but not too much action, and thank God, because the last thing we want is what I regard as the dark Satanic mills of the modern era spoiling our landscape.”
Listen to the interview snippet here.
The opinions of the two infamous Australians seems to be around the fact that wind turbines are distracting, ugly, and detrimental to the health of the landscape/people around them.
However, there are no known health risks that have been found with wind farms or turbines.
Regardless of your views on the great debate between coal and renewable energy, there really is no harm to having wind turbines, they generate electricity whenever there is air creating movement. Win-win really.
In the interview, Abbott goes on to say:
“We’ve got more and more wind and solar flooding into the system, and that’s great when the wind’s blowing and the sun’s shining, but it doesn’t always blow and it doesn’t always shine.”
Abbotts now-famous line, however, seems to be a reference to William Blake’s poem ‘Jerusalem [And did those feet in ancient time]’. Here’s the line in question:
“And did the Countenance Divine / Shine forth upon our clouded hills? / And was Jerusalem builded here / Amond these dark satanic mills?”
Turns out our former Prime Minister, despite his interesting opinions, is quite the poet.
Watch Tony Abbott’s speech after losing his seat below:
