‘They will fight to the death’: Farmers revolt at Victorian power plan
Australia hasn’t built transmission projects this large across farm country for decades. The projects are critical to the transition to net zero, but farmers say they’ve been ignored, taken for granted and patronised.
It is three years since a land access agent for AusNet Services first visited the Myrniong family farm of Emma and Peter Muir, an hour’s drive north-west of Melbourne, with a plan to run a 500 kilovolt transmission line across their top paddock in front of their home.
Anger and dismay are etched across their faces as they describe their battle against the backers of the 190-kilometre Western Renewables Link (WRL): AusNet, the transmission company building the link; the Australian Energy Market Operator, which manages transmission in Victoria; and the Victorian government of Daniel Andrews.
