Wind Turbine Syndrome website registered by......mining resources fund?

So, I've maintained a fairly sarcastic tone since the inception of this blog earlier this year, but I feel perhaps it's time to cast away the shackles of ridiculously over-bearing irony. Let's explore one of the key lobby groups that object to wind farm developments in Eastern Australia. 

The Waubra Foundation insists that it is an independent research organisation, bravely cutting through the muck to deliver unfiltered and unbiased medical advice to communities that live around wind farms. It serves as a masthead for the proponents of "Wind Turbine Syndrome" across Australia, and is a primary resource for those objecting to wind developments on health grounds. 

More importantly, its members angrily object to claims that it has any links to vested interests in the coal and mining industries. 

As has already been established, The Waubra Foundation shares a post office box with the Lowell Resources Fund, an investment fund with interests in "Emerging mining and energy companies". Browse to their website, and you get to experience a beautiful montage of open-cut mines, oil-rigs, and occasionally, a picture of some pencils. 

The Lowell Resources Website. Seems independent. 

Sarah Laurie, the 'medical director' of the Waubra Foundation, offered an explanation for that odd post office box coincidence. 

"The Waubra Foundation is not a front for the Landscape Guardians … Peter Mitchell  … has kindly made his mailbox available for the use of the foundation, as we have extremely limited financial resources.”

Unfortunately, their need to share resources with mining investment funds goes further than you might think. Entering the URL of the Waubra Foundation into domain name registry service 'AusRegistry' returns a curious result:

Notice anything familiar? The email address 'susanr@lowell.net.au', when searched for on Google, only shows up on a submission to the parliament written by the Western Plains Landscape Guardians. The URL 'Lowell.net.au' doesn't seem to work, but tracing the domain back to its owner leads to another unsurprising result:

"LOWELL CAPITAL LIMITED" leads to this website - the 'responsible entity' for the Lowell Resources Fund. In this case, the link to a registered mining resources fund is blatant and easily demonstrable. 

Meanwhile, the Waubra Foundation continues to accept tax-deductible donations, as it is classified as a charity. Next time you hear the nervous (yet stern) insistence that the Waubra Foundation is an independent research body, it might be worth bringing up the email address under which the website is registered.