Thursday, 14 November 2024

 Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (18:38): (1291) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Energy and Resources, and the action that I seek is for the minister to guarantee that Transmission Company Victoria (TCV) will not enter properties to install transmission lines without the permission of the landholder. The government recently revealed its preferred easement pathway for the Victoria to NSW Interconnector West transmission line. The line crosses the Murray River and runs south right through my electorate near Kerang. The transmission line will require an easement that is 70 metres wide, cutting a large swathe through precious farmland in northern Victoria.

There is substantial opposition to this transmission line throughout northern and western Victoria, and the community’s grievances with the way the project has been handled are fully justified. It is being forced on them with little or no genuine consultation and no attempt to address the many concerns that farmers, landholders and firefighters have. The government is determined to just push ahead with the current route, and landholders along the proposed route are rightly concerned that TCV will access their properties for on-ground works or surveys involved with the planning and construction of VNI West transmission lines without their permission. This could result in damage to crops, biosecurity breaches or stock escaping if gates are not properly secured.

Landholders and farmers in the area are absolutely committed to conserving the pristine and productive environment where they grow the food and fibre that feeds and sustains our state and nation. The last thing they want is a line of 80-metre-tall transmission towers running through productive farmland, disrupting their sowing lines and livestock raceways. The VNI West line is being pushed on rural communities because it is part of the Allan Labor government’s ideological obsession with forcing a renewables transition upon Victoria. There might be some justification for the renewable rollout if it actually made electricity cheaper for everyone, but farmers have pointed to an admission by the AEMO chief executive that there is no guarantee renewables will result in lower energy prices. The justification for imposing this transmission line on unwilling rural communities just is not there.

Last week protesting landholders and farmers were joined by 21 CFA brigades. CFA firefighters are, first of all, community members, and many are also farmers, and their priority is the safety of their community and the health of their land. Protecting large installations belonging to foreign energy companies is not their priority. The risks associated with renewables infrastructure are large and not fully understood, and small rural brigades are not adequately resourced to fight these unique fires. Twenty-one local fire brigades have told head office that they will not go onto properties to fight electrical fires in batteries or wind turbines or fires caused by transmission lines. The minister should, and must, instruct TCV to respect landholders and find an alternate route for the transmission lines if necessary.