Hundreds of farmers protest controversial new energy laws at Victorian Parliament
A sea of tractors and angry farmers has surrounded Parliament House as the Allan government persists with controversial new energy laws.
Victoria
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Hundreds of farmers have descended on the Victorian Parliament to protest the controversial new energy laws which will pave the way for the mass roll out of solar and wind farms and hundreds of kilometres of new transmission lines across regional Victoria.
Protesters and tractors lined Spring St in front of Parliament House on Wednesday morning as the state government prepared to debate the National Electricity (Victoria) Amendment (VicGrid Stage 2 Reform) Bill 2025.
Farmers held signs and placards calling on the Allan Government to abandon the move.
The legislation will introduce more powers for energy companies to force projects on farmland by removing the right of farmers to block transmission companies entering their land.
This includes introducing fines of up to $12,100 for obstruction.
The bill will also create renewable energy zones across Victoria to fast track the rollout of renewable energy projects.
Mr Andrew Weidemann AM, Rupanyup farmer, said regional Victorians are against the Allan Government’s move.
“If this bill is passed, it’ll feel like we are absolutely behind bars, because that’s what the pressure they’re putting on farmers and families right around Victoria at the moment feels like with their stupid energy push towards this renewables agenda, a renewables energy agenda that’s actually going to send this state broke.
“If I don’t allow you to come on (my land) we get fine of $12,000.
“I don’t give them a name, that’s $4000 and if I hang a sign on the fence like you’re seeing here today, that’s another $1,200 fine.”
Victorian Nationals leader Danny O’Brien said the Coalition opposed the bill and would be scrapped under a Collation government saying it was “a complete lack of respect for regional Victorians and particularly for farmers, the people that provide our food to this state and this great nation”.
“We are absolutely committed to opposing this bill in the Parliament this week and when it comes back to the upper house in a couple of weeks.
“But more importantly, if we are elected next year, we will repeal it all together.”
Liberal Leader Brad Battin slammed the bill and said regional Victorians “were sick and tired of not being heard.”
Ahead of the protest Premier Jacinta Allan defended the bill on Wednesday morning saying it brought “certainty” to Victoria’s energy network.
“There does need to be clarity around how these projects are going to be delivered, and that’s what this bill does.
“It provides the authority to VicGrid with the opportunity to have those discussions, to be able to access land.”
“It is about providing support for landowners as we go through the roll out of providing transmission that connects to our renewable energy sources that are all about providing cheaper, secure energy for all Victorians.”
When asked if the new fines and enforcement powers were too harsh Ms Allan said the bill simply expanded on the rights that already exist for transmission companies.
But she conceded that future compulsory acquisitions of farmland were likely.
“It is very similar to how we already deliver projects. And indeed, again, the acquisition, that acquisition you refer to, is already the power that private companies have access to.”
Libertarian MP for the Southeast Metro David Limbrick called for the state to abandon the net zero targets warning they were driving the state into the ground.
The protest comes after VicGrid released maps in May signposting where wind and solar are best suited in Victoria, mainly in areas where thousands of farmers and residents had raised objections.
The report also outlined the locations of hundreds of kilometres of new transmission lines.
‘Voices ignored’: Labor MP wants govt’s renewable energy zone plans for western Vic to be dumped
A Labor MP has sensationally called for some Victorian communities to be spared from the rollout of controversial new renewable energy zones proposed by the Allan government that will pave the way for massive solar and wind projects.
Martha Haylett, who holds the marginal seat of Ripon in the state’s west, has written to VicGrid – the government agency in charge of planning the state’s ambitious renewables rollout – urging them to dump proposed zones in the Grampians and Wimmera regions.
In the letter to the VicGrid CEO Alistair Parker, seen by the Herald Sun, Ms Haylett called for the new zones to be “reconsidered,” warning that the community opposing them feel “their voices have been ignored”.
“It is critical that the renewable energy projects have social licence to proceed, and it is clear that the communities of Marnoo, Rich Avon East, Wallaloo, Morri Morri, Joel Joel, Navarre, and Paradise object to being included in the Grampians Wimmera REZ,” she said.
It comes after VicGrid released maps in May signposting where wind and solar are best suited in Victoria, mainly in areas where thousands of farmers and residents had raised objections.
The report also outlined the locations of hundreds of kilometres of new transmission lines.
The Allan government is currently pushing a bill in parliament to introduce the new zones, but also to give transmission companies new powers to enter private property without consent, with any landholder obstructing access facing a fine of $1221 or a penalty of $12,210 if they go to court.
The legislation and the renewable rollout has enraged communities across regional Victoria, with hundreds of angry residents expected to attend a rally on the steps of parliament on Wednesday.
Mr Andrew Weidemann AM, Rupanyup farmer and meeting co-ordinator, urged anyone affected to attend.
“This legislation is a step too far,” he said.
“It shows no respect for farmers, for privacy, for biosecurity, for family life … The Victorian government appears to be taking away our rights to private property, whereby anyone can enter our family farms, our paddocks, our backyards, front yards, and courtyards without our consent.”
Originally published as Hundreds of farmers protest controversial new energy laws at Victorian Parliament
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