Wednesday, 13 November 2024

Public Accounts and Estimates Committee

Report on the 2023–24 Budget Estimates

Tim McCURDY (Ovens Valley) (10:35): I am delighted to rise and make a contribution on the committee report, the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee report on the 2023–24 budget estimates, and in particular point 9.5.3, ‘Renewable energy generation: Transmission infrastructure and stakeholder engagement’. Renewable energy, as we know, is coming to the regions because Melbourne needs renewable energy. We all need renewable energy, but it seems like regional Victoria is the one who is going to pay the price at every turn.

A battery energy storage system, otherwise known as BESS, is set down for Dederang in the Ovens Valley, just outside of beautiful Mount Beauty and in that pristine, productive valley with the snow-capped mountains of Bogong and Falls Creek surrounding it. It really is a lovely community and environment to live in, and that is why people have come to live there. Many years ago there was a hydro scheme put through, now run by AGL, to generate electricity, and it was very successful. Way back then – I am going to say the 1960s or 1950s – this community accepted the high-voltage powerlines and the substation all in the name of progress. They accepted them, and they have done their bit; they have done the heavy lifting. But now they are being asked – well, actually being told – that there will be this BESS, battery energy storage system, placed at Dederang. As I say, they have been told more than asked.

Mint Renewables – a shelf company and one of those companies that are here today, gone tomorrow – are looking to industrialise the farming land for this BESS system. 140 containers will be sitting out in the paddock. They will hum, they will vibrate and they will change the landscape of Dederang. The government regulations talk about consulting communities. Well, Mint have not consulted. They have basically thumbed their nose at this community. Yes, they have ticked the box. If you read a report, it will say they have consulted, but they have not. In my all my years of regional living, which is most of them, I have never seen a more disrespectful or arrogant approach to consultation with the community. I think we have got to move away from consultation just that is ticking a box and saying ‘We’ve done it’ rather than actually doing it.

Emma Kealy interjected.

Tim McCURDY: As the member for Lowan says, it is being consultold, and this is what will happen here. We had the situation with Meadow Creek, which I have spoken about in this place, that is now in the hands of the planning minister. But for the people of Dederang this is just going to be another example of the heavy roller being rolled over them rather than genuine consultation. It is a quiet community with a beautiful outlook and a magnificent place to raise a family. But as I say, Melbourne thinks they know better. The Allan Labor government for Melbourne need the power. They refuse to look at things like nuclear, offsets with gas or hydrogen projects in some of our spots, and again, all Victorians have to follow this lead.

Of course we all want renewables. Do not for a moment think that we do not want renewables. But you have got to go to communities and talk to the communities that want renewables, because there are plenty out there. They have got poor rainfall, they have got average soil types and they would love that opportunity to have renewable projects, but they do not have high-voltage lines going through their property. They tend to put these renewable projects along the high-voltage lines as opposed to building the infrastructure to where these renewable energy projects should go.

John and Sharon McEvoy will sit on their verandah if this project gets up and overlook 140 shipping containers that are humming out in the paddock, and I think that is quite distressful for them and the community around them. Land values will take a dive – we know that. The real estate agents in the region said that is already happening now. I met a young mum with two young kids who is trying to sell a property just around the corner from where this BESS is going to go and who the real estate agent says has not got a hope to try and get anyone to even look at the property.

It is really quite unfair that communities like Dederang do not have a say. Their future should not be defined by the fact that they live with high-voltage powerlines through their place. As I say, they have done the heavy lifting over the years, and there are so many communities around Victoria and Australia where these projects could and should go and would be welcomed. I think we need to get the planning process better in Victoria so that plans are put in place and people know where these projects will go. People will then migrate, relocate or move to it or move away from it rather than ending up in a spot and all of a sudden you find the next door neighbour is going to do a project like this and you have no say in it. The planning process says that, even to have a Colorbond shed out in our regions, you need to make sure that it blends into the landscape, but putting 500 hectares of solar panels, glass and steel next door is out of their hands. That is quite disappointing.