Farmers, rural Victorians protest Premier Jacinta Allan at Reset Victoria Rally in Bendigo

Angry protesters have booed and heckled the Premier at a rally in Bendigo as frustrated farmers and regional Victorians say the Allan government is treating them like “second class citizens”.

Angry protesters have booed and heckled Premier Jacinta Allan as she attended an event in Bendigo.

Fuming farmers and residents in Victoria’s west say the Allan government is treating them like “second class citizens” as they push back against plans to build renewable energy infrastructure across country communities.

Hundreds of angry regional and rural Victorians, both young and old, gathered in Premier Jacinta Allan’s seat of Bendigo East on Friday, demanding the government halt plans to run transmission lines and renewable energy projects on private farmland.

Ms Allan was speaking at a Rural Press Club of Victoria event in Bendigo.

Protesters swarmed the Premier as she left the event through a back door, booing and heckling her as she got into a car.

Kathleen and Loretta take aim at planned transmission lines. Picture: David Geraghty

Farmers push back against plans to build renewable energy infrastructure across country communities. Picture: David Geraghty

Protesters swarmed the Premier as she left the event through a back door, booing and heckling her as she got into the back of a car before she was quickly whisked away.

Moments earlier another group of protesters had surrounded two cars thought to be carrying Ms Allan and her team, chanting, “No farm, no food, no future”.

“You’re a disgrace, an absolute disgrace,” one man yelled.

Another chanted: “Allan’s a dud, Allan’s a dud”.

Protesters held up signs reading “The Allan ideology is destroying Victoria”, “No lines, no turbines” and “Labor stop the spend”, with some branding the premier “Joan Kirner 2.0”.

Waubra residents Loretta and Paul Greco said country Victorians were being treated as “second class citizens”.

Mr Greco said while the government was forging ahead with its $34.5 billion Suburban Rail Loop and major road projects, country residents were “getting nothing”.

“Country people are carrying the burden for all of this renewable stuff, I don’t see any wind turbines going through Melbourne,” he said.

“City people get all the fancy roads and the massive infrastructure projects.”

Farmers in Bendigo protest against the Allan government. Picture: David Geraghty

A group of southern Wimmera farmers. Picture: David Geraghty

Paul and Loretta Greco with Tristan Clark (centre). Picture: David Geraghty

Cattle and grain farmer Jason Barratt said the Ms Allan was ignoring country Victoria, and “pushing an ideology” on the regions.

“We are farmers and we farm food and fibre — we don’t farm electricity and we won’t farm electricity,” he said.

“We’re sick of being pushed over by the government and we’re pushing back.

“It’s beyond belief the contempt that Jacinta Allan shows for us.”

Rural Victorians say they are being ignored by the government. Picture: David Geraghty

Justin Armstrong at the protest. Picture: David Geraghty

Canola farmer Justin Armstrong, whose farmland will likely be affected by the transmission lines, said the project was keeping him up at night.

“What do I do if a fire starts? Can I go anywhere near them if a fire starts?” he said.

“Do I have to wait?”

Mr Armstrong said Ms Allan was hunting votes by funnelling taxpayer money into the SRL while country people “get the scraps”.

“We’re trying to feed the country and make a living, and we’re just all forgotten about,” he said.

A number of multibillion-dollar transmission line projects planned for Victoria are causing angst in the bush.

Jason Barratt Farmers protest against the Allan Government outside the All Seasons Hotel in Bendigo. Picture: David Geraghty

AusNet’s Western Renewables Link is a 190 km high voltage overhead transmission line running from Sydenham in Melbourne’s northwest to Bulgana in Victoria’s west.

The Victorian New South Wales Interconnector West – VNI-West – will connect Victoria and New South Wales with lines running from Dinawan in NSW to a substation near Kerang in Victoria’s north.

It will also connect into the Western Renewables Link at Bulgana.

Ms Allan told the rural press club event transmission lines were being built to protect regional and rural communities from climate change.

“Whether it’s water, whether it’s the quality of the soil… we are the most exposed to this issue in regional Victoria and part of the answer to that is delivering more renewable energy,” she said.

“We must deliver new transmission networks.”