The Hon. Annabelle Cleeland, Nationals’ Member for Euroa (Vic), Media Release, 4 July 2025
The Nationals’ Member for Euroa, Annabelle Cleeland, has slammed new legislation proposed by the Allan Labor Government that would allow government officials and transmission companies to enter private farmland without consent, and hit landholders with steep fines if they object.
The National Electricity (Victoria) Amendment (VicGrid Stage 2 Reform) Bill hands sweeping powers to VicGrid and “authorised officers,” including the right to forcibly access private property and issue penalties to landholders who resist.
“This is an outrageous attack on private property rights, and a slap in the face to every regional Victorian trying to protect their farm, their family, and their future,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Labor’s answer to community concerns isn’t consultation – it’s coercion.
“Farmers already battling drought, soaring costs, and mounting uncertainty are now being told they’ll be fined for simply standing up for their land.”
Under the proposed laws:
- VicGrid and transmission contractors could access private property without landholder consent.
- Fines of up to $12,210 could be issued for obstructing access to land.
- Refusing to provide your name or proof of ownership could attract penalties of over $4,000.
- Moving or interfering with a notice of entry would carry fines of $1,221.
Ms Cleeland said the legislation comes amid deepening unrest in regional towns like Colbinabbin, Stanhope, and Girgarre, which have already been flagged for major energy projects with little genuine consultation.
“People are rightly worried – not just about losing productive farmland, but about biosecurity risks, disrupted livelihoods, and the long-term damage to our farming communities,” she said.
“Instead of backing regional Victorians during one of the toughest seasons in recent memory, this government is threatening them with fines and bulldozing their rights.”
Ms Cleeland said that while investment in energy infrastructure is necessary, it must not come at the cost of community trust or farmland security.
“Our communities are not opposed to renewables or modernisation – what they are opposed to is being steamrolled by a government that refuses to listen.
“This is not how you build trust or deliver long-term energy solutions. It’s how you alienate the very people you rely on to feed and power the state.”
Why can’t this govt realise the almost irrepairable, long-term electoral and community damage this new initiative is causing in farming communities, the stress and anger the insistence on towerlines, is creating, and go for underground cabling instead? Yes, it may cost 2.1 times a towerline to build (AEMO 5/25), but its 3.6 times more reliable than towers (Curtin, Holmes and others), and the costs of building towerlines has risen 55% in just 12 months (AEMO). There’s already a proposal with Spring Street for a commercially-organised underground cable from near Ballaarat up to Kerang (Syncline Energy), farmers in Gippsland want underground cabling for the line from Bass Strait, and the line from the west also can be built in underground cabling – as commissioned by Moorabool council from electrical engineering consultants Amplitude. 3 out of 3 new transmission lines solved without fining anyone. Note: 2 of the 3 don’t require govt funding nor risk, they will be privately built and owned. If the govt will not budge with towerlines, then the renewable power to replace the LaTrobe Valley generators will be ready to sell their energy, but connections to the grid will not be ready. its a no brain’er.