Why Stephen Curry joined protest against AusNet’s west Victorian transmission line

Stephen Curry, who played Dale Kerrigan from The Castle, is fighting to protect land belonging to west Victorians — and he’s not giving up without a fight.

Life is imitating art in western Victoria where actor Stephen Curry – Dale Kerrigan from The Castle – is fighting for autonomy over properties in the region.

But there’s a twist: in the 1997 film, Dale’s dad finds power lines near the family home “a reminder of man’s ability to generate electricity”.

In reality, many homesteads in the state’s west are now in the path of energy company AusNet’s renewable transmission line towers, and Stephen does not share his fictional father’s fond outlook.

Hundreds of protesters, Mr Curry among them, rallied in Ballarat last week in the view the Western Renewables Link plan as it now stands would be detrimental to agriculture, the environment, and the visual appeal of the proposed route.

Stephen Curry and kids. Picture: Submitted

The Curry family has owned a property in Gordon for 60 years.

The current proposed power line route does not cut into that land, but Mr Curry said his dispute had to do with “the principle of the thing”.

“Wiping out an entire swath of forest in the name of sustainability - we think it stinks,” he said.

“Not only is it that the bushland is going to be wiped out, a huge part of Victoria’s food bowl is going to be compromised here.

“We think that the lines should go underground: the technology’s there, it’s been used in parts of Victoria already and around the world.”

Mr Curry called the project an “absolute environmental disaster waiting to happen, all in the name of saving money”.

He said if the towers were installed on the property north of his family’s, it would require felling thousands of trees.

“We understand that our chances are pretty slim, but there’s no reason why we shouldn’t fight it and at least put out how unsustainable this project is,” Mr Curry said.

The Curry family. Picture: Supplied

Western Renewables Link executive project director Stephanie McGregor said project workers and ecologists had spent nearly two years determining the most environmentally-appropriate route for the transmission lines, and that any native vegetation that could not be avoided would be offset by planting.

She said putting the lines underground would have its own negative effects.

“Late last year an independent investigation into underground construction found overhead construction is the most appropriate for the length of the 190km project because it causes less ground disturbance compared with trenching,” Ms McGregor said.

“A larger disturbance footprint and less flexibility to avoid sensitive areas means undergrounding also has impacts to vegetation, biodiversity, and agriculture and other land uses.

“The report also found overhead construction was more appropriate for electricity system availability and reliability, proven delivery over this distance, and the ability to deliver more quickly and at less cost for Victorian electricity consumers.”

When asked about subsidising the cost of putting the lines underground, a Victorian Government spokeswoman said the transmission project had been referred to an independent Environment Effects Statement, which would consider the various effects of the plans later this year.