Victorian Farmers Federation blast Victorian government over renewables plan

Victorian farmers have lambasted the Allan government for forcing regions to carry the burden of its renewable energy targets and blatantly ignoring concerns its transition plan will compromise food security.

Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano.

Victorian farmers have lambasted the Allan government for forcing regions to carry the burden of its renewable energy targets and blatantly ignoring concerns its transition plan will compromise food security.

Government agency VicGrid has released a draft of its Victorian Transmission Plan Guidelines, identifying sites the state intends to analyse to determine suitability to host potential future renewable energy zones.

Significant stretches of Western Victoria, including Ballarat, Swan Hill, Horsham, Warrnambool and Hamilton, have been deemed suitable for investigation, with the areas categorised as “tier 1” and “tier 2” sites.

The Victorian Farmers Federation slammed the draft guidelines, with president Emma Germano labelling the sites of interest “totally inappropriate”.

She said the government should have considered soil types and rainfall when selecting sites.

“We told them ‘don’t bring a transmission line on soil that only exists in one part of the state that’s highly productive and fertile’. For example, the soils that are in Ballarat where we’re seeing Western Renewables Link go, they’re red terra soils … it’s particularly good for growing potatoes,” Ms Germano told The Australian.

“We’ve just seen the government keep coming out and kind of steamrolling any attempt for there to be any proper processes of where these transmission lines go, how they go about acquiring the land, what the compensation you pay to farmers, which we believe is fundamentally unfair.”

The VFF boss expressed concern for areas such as the Goulburn Valley and Gippsland being targets of renewables projects, and said the Victoria-NSW Interconnector West, Western Renewables Link, and the wind farm development in the Moyne Shire were “particularly problematic”.

“They are proposed to be overhead power lines. From a VFF perspective, we’re saying they should be underground where possible,” she said.

“These guys will miss their targets on the fact that they’ve not planned, I think (the projects) will be grossly undercosted and probably a lot more expensive because they haven’t acknowledged the cost of compensation properly.

Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio. Picture: NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

“I’ve had farmers say to me ‘if they would only underground this Western Renewables Link and put it down the side of the farm, we’ll help them dig the trenches to do it’.

“We’re seeing a spaghetti bowl of transmission and distribution lines across the state.”

The projects are part of Victoria’s push to shift the power grid away from coal and reach a 95 per cent renewables target by 2035.

VNI West and the Western Renewables Link is expected to unlock at least 3.4 gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity and more than $7bn in investment in regional Victoria.

Ms Germano said the state Labor government was “out of their depth”.

“I don’t get a huge sense that the government knows what it’s doing in regards to its transition,” she said.

“You’re asking individuals, businesses and regions to carry the burden of a target that most of the community don’t seem to really be believing in anymore.”

She said the cost to agricultural production was not yet known.

Victorian opposition energy spokesman David Davis said prime agricultural land should be protected and not overrun by a process directed from Melbourne.

“An arrogant Labor government is pushing ahead with its proposals to cover rural Victoria with renewable energy zones and massive and impactful long-distance transmission lines without genuinely consulting with Victoria’s country communities,” Mr Davis said.

According to a VicGrid community summary document, the heart of the plan’s approach will be “meaningful partnerships” with First Peoples, landholders, communities and industry.