Farmers to rally in Bendigo: Confront Premier Allan in her own electorate

Farmers are preparing to confront Premier Jacinta Allan in her own electorate next week over the damage transmission lines, renewables and mines are having.

Wallaroo sheep producer Ben Duxson has joined other farmers in organising a Reset Victoria Rally in Premier Jacinta Allan’s Bendigo East electorate.

Farmers are preparing to confront Premier Jacinta Allan at a rally in Bendigo next week over what they say is “the contempt” her government has shown them.

Organiser and Wallaloo sheep producer Ben Duxson said the Reset Victoria Rally was timed to coincide with the Premier’s Rural Press Club lunch at Bendigo’s All Seasons Resort Hotel on Friday August 23, in a bid to try and get her to listen to farmers.

One of Victoria’s biggest grain growers Andrew Weidemann said his message to the Premier at the rally would be to stop “dismissing farmer frustrations” over wind and solar factory rollouts, as well as the carve-up of productive land with massive transmission lines and sand mines.

He said Labor’s revolving door of agriculture ministers – four in the past six years – made the situation worse.

“People believe they’re not taken seriously and feel like they’re being treated with contempt,” Mr Weidemann said.

Country Victorians have had enough, taking their message to Premier Jacinta Allan at their Reset Victoria Rally in Bendigo on Friday August 23.

Kiewa Valley farmer Sharon McEvoy said there seemed to be a failure on the part of the Allan government to realise the value of agriculture to the state’s economy, and its productivity was at risk.

In January Treasurer Tim Pallas announced Victorian farmers and food manufacturers had boosted the state’s export revenue by 7 per cent, to a record $19.6 billion.

Yet Ms McEvoy said the government then turned around and stripped farmers of the right to lodge third-party appeals against renewable projects that were carving up productive farmland.

Asked what her message to the Premier would be, Ms McEvoy said it was “take a pause” on the renewables and transmission line rollouts and “take a look at what it’s doing to our state”.

Kiewa Valley farmer Sharon McEvoy says Premier Jacinta Allan needs to listen to farmers on how renewables are destroying rural families operations and undermining agriculture.

She said people in Melbourne had no idea of the scale of what was being built in regional Victoria to get generate and deliver renewable power – from 400km of transmission lines to 230m wind turbines.

“They (city people) have this warm fuzzy feeling about it all,” Ms McEvoy said, but that’s not the reality.

Mr Duxson said his message to Ms Allan was “enough is enough, let’s get the state where it should be”.

He said anyone who wished to get involved in the rally should contact him on 0427 354 535.