Victoria knew rare birds at risk from Hastings wind terminal

Victorian government sat on damning environmental report for six months while pushing ahead with doomed Hastings wind terminal that threatened rare waterbirds.

Farmers drive tractors around Parliament House in Melbourne to protest against the proposed legislation. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

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The Victorian government was warned by its own consultants that as many as 26 species of endangered water bird could be affected by the doomed Hastings offshore wind terminal, more than six months before the project was blocked by then federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek on environmental grounds.

The consultants’ report is part of a tranche of documents tabled in state parliament on Wednesday, almost 18 months after they were sought by the opposition under Freedom of Information.

The revelations of the extent to which the government was alerted to major threats to the key plank in its renewable energy agenda came as farmers converged on state parliament to protest against proposed legislation aimed at quashing landholder opposition to new transmission lines.

In December 2023, Ms Plibersek officially vetoed the Hastings infrastructure – which is key to Victoria meeting its target of 95 per cent renewable energy by 2035 – citing a “clearly unacceptable” risk to internationally significant local wetlands.

The documents made public on Wednesday include a May 2023 government-commissioned study by environmental consultancy Nature Advisory, which found the area set to be affected by the Port of Hastings development, southeast of Melbourne, is home to 115 waterbird species, including 26 listed under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

Victorian opposition spokesman for energy and resources David Davis at the rally. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Another document includes a powerpoint presentation from Insight Acumen, which bills itself as a “niche professional services company” providing “decision support”, in which the author concedes they “don’t know ‘boats’, and that “my model of Port of Hastings Terminal (PoH) is 100 per cent based on open source references and ‘guesstimates’.”

Insight Acumen admits it has “no SME knowledge of renewable energy processes, configurations, delays, business rules, etc.”, despite being commissioned by the government to produce a model of the project.

Opposition energy spokesman David Davis sought the documents in February 2024, during the first sitting of parliament following Ms Plibersek’s decision. While 23 documents have been provided in full, two have been provided in part, and 12 have been refused on grounds of “executive privilege”.

Those the government has refused to release include the Port of Hastings’ business case for the offshore wind terminal, dated January 2023, an “assessment of Victorian ports to support offshore wind electricity generation” dated August 2022 and produced for the government by consultancy firm Jacobs, and cultural heritage assessments.

Mr Davis said government claims that these documents could not be released were “deeply unimpressive”.

“In fact, the 17-month delay points to bad faith and an attempt to cover up the government’s failed strategy on Hastings,” he said.

“Jacinta Allan and her ministers are secretive and embarrassed by the contents of many of these documents, given the government’s failure to progress its offshore wind objectives.

“It’s time the Premier levelled with Victorians, admitting the government’s offshore wind strategy and timetable is in trouble.”

Hundreds of farmers meanwhile rallied on the steps of parliament to oppose legislation that would result in landholders being fined up to $12,000 for refusing to allow representatives of the government’s renewable energy transmission agency, VicGrid, onto their land.

Liberal leader Brad Battin told the crowd the opposition would repeal the proposed legislation, arguing it would give the government power “to bulldoze through your communities, your personal properties, to ensure they can deliver what they want to deliver in a dictatorship style.”

Ahead of the protest, Premier Jacinta Allan claimed the legislation was intended to provide farmers with “clarity”.

“We know that for many landholders, that there does need to be certainty, there does need to be clarity around how these projects are going to be delivered, and that’s what this VicGrid bill does,” Ms Allan said.

“It provides the authority, VicGrid, with the opportunity to have those discussions, to be able to access land, that I know is of concern to many land owners, and it provides the opportunity to VicGrid, to do this in a way that I must say is consistent with the delivery of other projects.”