France owes Australia details on war grave

France owes it to Australia to release the details of a planned wind farm to be built on top of World War I graves, a former defence minister believes.

Brendan Nelson, now Australian War Memorial director, said the proposal to build wind turbines near the village of Bullecourt demanded clarification.

"I think the first thing the French government owes to us is at least give the Australian people a very clear understanding of what is proposed," he told ABC radio on Thursday.

"Anyone in our country who thinks that it's appropriate to put a wind farm on this site simply has not been there and has not yet come to the position of understanding of what it means to be an Australian."

Thousands of Australians were killed during WWI in the fields between Bullecourt and Riencourt-les-Cagnicourt.

It is now a destination for many Australians who travel there to pay their respects.

"Let us express our views formally on whether this violates the commemoration and memory of not only the Australians who remain there but of course the British and Germans who remain there as well," Dr Nelson said.

"At least give the Australian people a very clear understanding of what is proposed, the impact it will have, where it will be, and its precise proximity to the battle site itself - which is today a mass grave."