Carey Brennan, The Buloke Times

More than 100 farmers attended the recent VFF community meeting held by the St Arnaud branch on Thursday, April 9, to listen to legal experts speak about the effects of the new Victorian Treaty Act and the land acquisition procedures for transmission lines, all of which will adversely affect farmland in this district.

Melbourne Barrister, Lana Collaris, spoke at length about the Victorian Treaty legislation which has fundamentally changed how we are governed in Victoria. This new legislation has created a third tier of governance which will sit above the democratically elected Government of Victoria. This means all new legislation must be examined and have an accompanying statement of compatibility from the 34-member Assembly that is created with the Treaty Act.

All State Government departments will have guidelines on how this consultation will affect them, this will include areas like health, education and justice. With the transference of powers to the Assembly it is expected there will be more treaties to come.

Gellung Warl has several parts, an indigenous assembly, a justice system and a truth telling/education arm that mandates indigenous history according to the Assembly is taught to school age children, from prep to year 10.

The cost of this Indigenous level of parliament will start at $26 million and increase to $78 million by 2029. Parliament cannot reduce or alter the amount of money given to this body nor do they have any control over it. This money will be paid by the Victorian tax payers through additional taxes possibly through land tax and Council rate payments.

The 34 people elected by 1 per cent of the Victorian population will have complete control, setting electoral rules and creating an electoral roll as well as deciding who is of indigenous heritage and able to vote. Cultural safety guidelines and procedures are set by the Assembly but much of this will be kept secret.

The Mabo decision extinguished native title over private land through the High Court of Australia. This new Treaty legislation will affect every land owner in this State as it seeks to erode private property rights, this is indicated by the Government calling land owners “land holders”. Ultimately this means tax payers will pay with increased power bills and land taxes.

Ms Collaris’s opinion was this Act is highly divisive and will not improve life for indigenous Australians as well as reducing all Victorians democratic rights.

Land rights

Dan Minogue, from Renick & Gaynor, Solicitors, spoke at length about how land acquisition would be carried out by VicGrid on behalf of the State Government to erect not only transmission lines but batteries, solar panels and wind turbines, if there was a reluctance of farmers to accept contracts from foreign companies.

During the discussion on how the new legislation works, farmers were advised to find a specialist valuer and a very good lawyer who understands how farms work. If the owner continues to deny access to VicGrid authorized officers, they do not have the right to enter the land, but can fine farmers for refusal. VicGrid must commence land acquisition and can do this at

any time, but there are no guidelines on how this will be done, except that permission must come from the Governor in Council. Even then, once they do acquire the land, an Environmental Effects Statement must still be completed and either accepted or rejected by the Minister.

If you sign an option of easement for transmission lines you are giving VicGrid the right to place a caveat on your land. This in turn affects your ability to sell or alter that land in any way. The advice was DO NOT sign these documents in their current form.

VNI West costs have blown out from $3.6 million to $11 million already as materials and fuel increase. The cost of all this will be borne by power users, which will see further increases to our power bills.

Land values

Geoff Brown from LAWD valuers, advised details of how land is valued for these projects and the way compensation is calculated. He agreed that the transmission towers cause a diminishing value to the land they sit on, but also impacts the adjoining properties. Cropping land is reduced in value to grazing land only. Banks are devaluing land by approximately 25 per cent just on the proposal of projects affecting its viability.

Properties for sale are stalling due to proposed projects on or near the land. Currently there are no transmission lines over 80 metres in height in Victoria. VNI West will be the first to have 85 metre high towers with 28 lines attached.

Farms impacted

A number of farmers directly impacted by VNI West transmission lines stated they don’t want the lines on their farms and no amount of compensation will change their minds. The lines will impede their ability to farm efficiently, in some cases cutting paddocks into unusable sections.

The average height of broadacre cropping machinery means anything over 5 metres in height will require permits and “spotters” checking the wire clearances to enable farmers to crop the ground in and around the transmission towers. The lines affect the use of GPS, autonomous machinery and drones, interfering in their reception from the satellites which give them their commands.

Once again the Victorian State Government is attempting to remove property rights from farmers. We are being inundated with Renewable Energy Zones and projects that will take 10 to 15 years to build that won’t keep the lights on in this State and will reduce the amount of food produced.

The destruction of important Victorian farm land is for no real purpose, as this proposed intermittent weather-dependent energy system is doomed to failure. Farmers can see this and it is backed up by peer reviewed independent studies that this Labor State Government has chosen to ignore. Sadly, the Victorian tax payers are expected to continue to pay for this “monumental mistake”.

This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 16 April 2026.
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