Greg Mirabella (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Victorian government and AusNet's contentious Western Victoria Transmission Network Project. This project seeks to construct an electricity transmission network through 190 kilometres of western Victorian farmland. I recently met with the CEO of the Moorabool Shire Council, and he succinctly explained the impact that this project would have across the shire. And this is only one shire facing these problems. The residents of Moorabool Shire acknowledge and are supportive of the efforts to connect and power western Victoria with renewable energy; however, the shire believes that the current plans will pose destabilising and ongoing effects to the environment and economic livelihood of the region.

Importantly, the agricultural industry across Moorabool Shire generates $260 million in exports per annum, which equates to a third of the shire's exports, and supports 800 jobs. The direct loss of prime agricultural land due to the acquisition, construction and placing of easements for the project would jeopardise the lifeblood of the region. Seeking to improve the plans, the residents have commissioned an independent review of the project and, as such, believe that these transmission lines can and should be placed underground.

I must note that the member for Ballarat has previously voiced her concerns about this project. I, too, like the member for Ballarat, would like to see this issue surrounding the wider project resolved. However, it appears that the member's comrades on Spring Street are not willing to listen to the voices of the affected communities, and this has real consequences—the destruction of the environment, the destruction of livelihoods and, once again, the destruction of rural representation. It cannot be clearer. What is needed is a workable and practical solution that incorporates the input of the affected shires and farmers, not the expedient dictates of the Victorian Labor Party. The project must be re-examined and redrawn as a matter of urgency.