THE State Government’s energy transition risks alienating the very communities it needs most, the VFF said this week.
President Brett Hosking said the transition was being derailed by poor planning, worrying rhetoric, and alarming legislative proposals including the VicGrid Bill Amendment, which would allow police-enforced access to farms and fines of up to $12,100 for landholders who resist.
“Farmers are not opposed to renewable energy. We know the world is changing and we’re part of that change, but we won’t cop being steamrolled in the process,” he said
“The VicGrid amendments are deeply troubling. Allowing police to enforce access and slapping hard working farmers with fines for simply wanting to protect their land is not how you build trust, it’s indicative of how trust has been lost,” Mr Hosking said.
Mr Hosking said the Government’s determination to press ahead with major transmission projects without genuine community consultation including the Western Renewables Link and VNI West was undermining both public confidence and the project’s viability.
“The WRL and VNI West are both failed projects and they should be scrapped entirely. Both have been mismanaged from the start, and communities have made it clear they won’t accept it being forced through their paddocks. “These projects are too important to get wrong and the Victorian Government is risking a smooth renewable energy transmission by attempting to ram these projects through. Acknowledging the mistakes and starting again is the only way to deliver a smooth transition.”
The VFF has written to Premier Jacinta Allan and MPs asking them to vote down the proposed new laws.