The Victorian Government has taken another step to accelerate the Victoria-New South Wales Interconnector West (VNI West) project at the expense of Mallee landholders.
“State Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio has used her powers to order the Australian Energy Market Operator AEMO to proceed with another new preferred route for the project, Option 5A, following weeks of tokenistic and rushed consultation that has frustrated concerned farmers and communities,” says Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster.
“This is the second time in three months the Minister has used her power to push through with a Ministerial Order to control the VNI West plan, and cynically she has done this new order on a Saturday to avoid the news cycle and any scrutiny.
“Communities were already being railroaded into what was Option 5, now at the stroke of a pen AEMO has option 5A on the table.
Absolute Mess
“Capping off this absolute mess, the energy market operator and the Victorian Labor Government have made, AEMO mistakenly published their new route on Friday night before pulling it down because it was not intended to go up at that point. How can anyone have confidence in this entire process?”
Option 5A will connect the VNI West to the planned Western Renewables Link at Bulgana in the southern part of Mallee; however, now diverts further north to a terminal station directly East of Kerang before crossing into NSW.
One of the signature projects of the Federal Government’s Rewiring The Nation Policy, the final route of VNI West will still require planning and environmental approvals.
“AEMO has said it will continue ongoing consultation as it works to refine the route,” Dr. Webster said.
“As I stated in Parliament last week, the consultative process so far has provided no social licence to the Labor Government to push forward with this project.
The consultative process has provided no confidence to Mallee constituents so far and there is no evidence, despite the rhetoric, that it will do so.
“Our farmers feed and clothe the nation, and in return their land is being treated as a dumping ground for bad policy by Labor Governments at Federal and State level, as well as AEMO.”
This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 2 June 2023.
