By DAVID BRAITHWAITE
A LAST-MINUTE government amendment to a bill, which farmers fear could green-light power companies to compulsorily acquire their land for transmission lines before environmental and planning approvals were even finished, has gone through parliament.
According to the Victoria Farmers Federation, the amendment to the Energy and Other Legislation Amendment (Resilience Reforms and Other Matters) Bill 2026 created a direct bypass around the state’s environmental protection laws. It allows, the VFF claimed, the government to force through transmission easements while an environment effects statement (EES) is still underway.
The state government said the changes would not affect the EES process.
VFF president Brett Hosking said the federation was “gutted that parliament has backed laws allowing farmers’ land to be taken for transmission lines before the environmental assessment is even finished”.
“This will pour fuel on the anxiety and uncertainty already gripping communities at the heart of the energy transition,” he said.
“Families now face the shadow of compulsory acquisition hanging over them while they are still trying to understand what a project means for their homes and livelihoods, as well as provide comprehensive information to the EES process.
“It tells us that those in charge don’t genuinely understand the sentiment on the ground. It sends a clear and devastating message to regional Victoria that getting towers in the ground matters more than delivering a robust environmental effects statement and treating people with dignity.”
Before it was adopted, Mr Hosking warned the amendment would damage perceptions of the EES process and strengthen the hand of power companies which are already treating communities with contempt.
A state government spokesperson told the Express the bill would bring laws around transmission infrastructure in line with major transport projects and other states like New South Wales.
The changes do not impact the EES process. Any requirements, conditions or environmental management measures determined through the EES process must be met before major works can begin.
“Only Labor will build the energy infrastructure needed to keep the lights on and lower bills,” the spokesperson said.
“The faster we can build new transmission lines, the faster we can connect renewable energy to the grid and the cheaper our energy prices will be.
“Jess Wilson’s Liberals want to block laws that would help lower power bills for Victorian families – the very laws Nationals MP Emma Kealy called for.”
The government spokesperson pointed to comments Ms Kealy, the shadow agriculture minister, made last year in parliament.
“I call on Premier Allan: please, if you care about regional people, go out and do compulsory acquisition, as you would for a Melbourne project, and let our people deal with this, because the uncertainty is dividing families,” Ms Kealy said in parliament.
Member for Gippsland South Danny O’Brien said the government was showing contempt for farmers and regional landholders.
“They’re not even pretending to care about consultation, process, or a fair go now. The government is just going to try and ride roughshod over people’s lives and farms and force their projects through,” Mr O’Brien said.
“We opposed this legislation in the parliament strongly, and we will repeal it if elected to government.
“These amendments are a slap in the face to regional people and cannot be tolerated.”
Meanwhile, the Liberals and Nationals last month pledged to introduce strict new independent audits and economic impact assessments on new energy developments if they win November’s election.
Under a Liberal and Nationals government, independent agricultural and economic impact assessments will become mandatory as part of the approvals process for major renewable energy projects and transmission developments to ensure prime farmland is protected.
Mr O’Brien, who is also the state Nationals leader, said protecting Victoria’s food and fibre production must be a priority.
“Our farmers are the backbone of our state, and the Liberals and Nationals will stand up to protect the prime agricultural land that underpins our food security and regional economies,” he said.
“Victorian families rely on our farmers to put food on their tables and clothes on their backs. We must get the land-use balance right so farmers can continue to do what they do best.”
Mr O’Brien said communities had been left frustrated by the government’s failure to properly consult or consider the cumulative impact of large-scale developments across regional Victoria.
“Renewable energy projects and transmission lines have highlighted the growing concern that Labor is steamrolling regional communities and putting productive farmland at risk,” he said.
