"I do take your point about the potential health impact of these things. When I've been up close to these windfarms, not only are they visually awful but they make a lot of noise," he told Jones. The "offending" wind turbine on Rottnest Island. Credit:Shayne Hill Xtreme Visuals On Friday, Mr Abbott said he had formed this view after cycling around Rottnest Island, a popular tourist destination off Perth, a few years ago. He warned Australia would have seen an "explosion" of turbines had the government not clamped down on the industry. "Well, I was on Rottnest Island a few years ago and I cycled around the island most mornings and my path took me almost directly under the big wind turbine which has been on Rottnest Island for some time," Mr Abbott said.

"Now, up close, they are ugly, they are noisy and they may have all sorts of other impacts which I will leave to the scientists to study." The wind turbine on Rottnest Island The wind turbine on Rottnest Island was a $4 million project jointly funded by the Howard and West Australian governments and opened in 2004 to power the island's desalination plant. A spokeswoman for the Rottnest Island Authority said the turbine produced about 30 per cent of the island's power needs and had resulted in savings of around $350,000 each year. Asked how many people on the island had complained of health problems due to the turbine, the spokeswoman said: "None that we know of." Illustration: Ron Tandberg

Mr Abbott said state governments should increase the required distance between wind farms and housing. "It's right and proper that we are having an inquiry into the health impacts of these things and, frankly, it's right and proper that we have reduced the renewable energy target because as things stood, there was going to be an explosion of these things right around our country," he said. The wind turbine on Rottnest Island. Credit:Rottnest Island Authority Now, up close, they are ugly, they are noisy and they may have all sorts of other impacts which I will leave to the scientists to study In Victoria the state Labor government recently reduced planning restrictions on wind farms, meaning households must now be within a kilometre, instead of two, to veto a project.

In Melbourne, Environment Minister Greg Hunt was pressed on whether he agreed with the Prime Minister that wind farms could cause health problems. In response, Mr Hunt pointed to an ongoing senate committee inquiry and another assessment by the National Health and Medical Research Council into wind farm noise and said he would not preempt their findings. Asked whether Mr Abbott had himself preempted those inquires in his comments the day before, Mr Hunt said: "I don't think that is an accurate representation." In previous assessments the research council has found no reliable and consistent evidence connecting low frequency sound emitted from wind farms and human health problems. Mr Hunt was also asked what damage the Prime Minister's comments had had on the wind power industry to which he responded "none."

When pushed on the Prime Minister's comments suggesting that cutting back the renewable energy target had been about stopping the roll-out of wind farms, Mr Hunt instead said the move had been about addressing problems of "phantom credits" in the scheme that emerged under the previous Labor government. In reference to Mr Abbott's comments that he found wind farms "visually awful", Mr Hunt added "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Opposition environment spokesman Mark Butler said it was hard to believe that Tony Abbott could find a less sophisticated argument against renewable energy than the one the Prime Minister offered on Thursday. "He must have had nightmares last night about that one wind turbine on Rottnest Island," Mr Butler said. "No other world leader would show such recklessness towards one of their own industries."

Energy companies Infigen, ACCIONA, Trustpower and CWP Renewables told Fairfax Media Mr Abbott had not visited any of their wind farm projects but was welcome to. "CWP Renewables manages two wind farms in NSW – Boco Rock and Taralga – neither of which Tony Abbott has attended. This Sunday we are having a community open day at the Taralga Wind Farm which we would warmly welcome the Prime Minister to attend," CWP's head of development Ed Mounsey said. Loading with Steve Lillebuen Follow us on Twitter