Wednesday, 19 March 2025

Energy regulations

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (19:34): (1529) My matter for the adjournment tonight is for the attention of the Minister for Energy and Resources, and it concerns the fires that have occurred around the countryside at a number of solar and other installations. The Sungrow Australia power group has had five of its places close down, at least temporarily, and this shows there is a need for a proper, thoughtful review that ensures that facilities, batteries, solar and all of the low-emission technologies that have the potential to cause fire are properly regulated, and it is far from clear that that is the case at the moment. These facilities have already got a legal obligation to minimise risk, but this does not seem to have been properly exercised.

The Sungrow group has five locations: Raywood, Goornong, Stawell, Ledcourt and Moolort. These have been shut down by Energy Safe Victoria, and this is not the first time that these sorts of fires have occurred. What is required here, as I say, is a proper, thoughtful review with experts that makes sure that bushfire risk in particular is properly managed. We cannot have a situation where an important facility is sparking a bushfire risk. We have to have proper arrangements in place. It does appear that in some of these place with solar arrangements it has been because vegetation has not been managed properly. Fires starting, vegetation that is not managed properly – this seems to be the sort of risk that can be properly managed, and it ought to have proper regimes around it. That is not the case at the moment, and we need to ensure that it is. The minister needs to act on this and act on this quickly.