Joe Hockey has again attacked wind farms as "appalling" and says they are "ruining" Australia's beautiful landscape.
The federal Treasurer was asked if he would repeat controversial comments he made earlier in the year that he found wind turbines around Lake George, on his drive from Sydney to Canberra, to be "utterly offensive" and a "blight on the landscape".
"Yes, I would," he told a Bloomberg event in Sydney on Tuesday.
He stressed that renewable energy was "hugely important" and "a part of the fabric of the development of diverse energy supply right around the world".
"But we've got some beautiful landscapes in Australia, and frankly, putting up those towers is just to me quite appalling in those places," Mr Hockey said.
"For all the greenies in the audience, if they built a huge coal-fired power station there, I'd be equally appalled."
Mr Hockey's comments adds weight to expectations that the government might be set to cut back on renewable energy programs.
