General News
27 August, 2025
Premier’s not a country friend
Government’s policies are working against rural Victoria, writes Dan Straub AT THIS point in time, for many it feels like every way you turn there is something closing in on you. What do you mean you may ask? Well, if you own and work on a farm...
Government’s policies are workingagainst rural Victoria, writes Dan Straub
AT THIS point in time, for many it feels like every way you turn there is something closing in on you. What do you mean you may ask?
Well, if you own and work on a farm across rural Victoria you will know exactly what I mean.
The right to farm the land you own is bit by bit, being taken from you.
Over the past few years, the current State Government and Federal Government legislation changes have shifted the balance of private land ownership rights away from the hard-working men and women farming the land to feed and clothe the world, to priorities what can only be explained as the biggest contradiction of unarchivable renewable energy policy in the country.
Sure, there are solar projects in areas of Loddon that have merit and community support because they made sense, not to take up good productive farming land and provide power directly to local industry.
Projects like these were ultimately canned with the final announcement of the new VNI-West transmission line route in early 2023.
This decision to run a new 500kva extension lead on 80-meter-high towers across multiple shires has had strong opposition ever since.
It does not stop there. First, we had pressure and the unknown regarding powerlines, then we have the foreign-owned wind turbine companies encroaching on our region and to top it off we now come under immense presser from mineral sands mining.
We have seen the steamroller approach deployed by government agencies to stifle landowners into compliance.
When this has been more challenging for the current government to achieve, they have just shifted the goal posts and made up new legislation on the spot to force submission.
Is this a government that’s really working for the people?
Or you could ask which people are the current government working for? Because it is not the hard working people of rural Australia.
I have met with and heard from many landowners in the path of one or more of these controversial and narrow sighted projects, the stress and anxiety is mounting, not being listened too, not being consulted, and told their livelihood and family farm will change for good.
I have even heard first-hand from a farming family in the path of a mineral sand mine that they will lose their house, their home, where they live and have raised their family.
But the law and government legislation on all these invasive projects, is in the favour of the companies that buy the licences and rights from the government.
We as local government (the shire) are powerless to have any authority in any of these matters, even our planning processes authority was stripped away before we had any chance of consultation.
I, along with others have taken this message from our community, of concerns and objection to both Parliament House in Canberra and Spring Street on numerous times, to fell on deaf ears.
We have stated more suitable location for transmission, and renewable projects, we have made it clear that the current location footprint is in direct competition and determent of prime agriculture.
The only one conclusion I can draw on this matter is, that the Premier of Victoria Jacinta Allan, representing the regional/rural seat of Bendigo East along with her cabinet are not friends of country Victoria.
Dan Straub is the Mayor of Loddon Shire