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The Moorabool News – 15 March, 2022 Page 11
Protesters tell AusNet they’re dreamin’ By Lachlan Ellis More than 300 members of the Stop AusNet’s Towers group, along with over 25 tractors, gathered at State Parliament in Spring Street last Tuesday, bringing awareness to their ongoing battle. Joining the farmers, landowners, and others concerned about the planned Western Victoria Transmission Network Project (WVTNP) were a range of big-name speakers. The Australian actor Stephen Curry, Chair of the Ballarat Potato Growers Association Chris Stephens, and politicians Louise Staley, Bev McArthur, Stuart Grimley, and Tim Quilty all addressed the crowd, backing their fight to get the power lines put underground. There was a buzz about the rally, with the kilometre-long convoy making its way to Parliament’s front steps and doing several laps around Parliament, with speeches beginning at around 12:30 pm. During his speech, Stephen Curry “revived an old chant”, getting the crowd to chant “Lily”, a play on Australian cricketer Dennis Lillee and Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio. Chair of Stop AusNet’s Towers, Emma Muir, said she was happy with how the event was run, and how much awareness the group had generated. “We’re really pleased with how the rally went, we had in excess of 25 tractors, 10 or so extra vehicles, and between 300 and 500 people. The majority of those people that came had never been to a protest before,” she told the Moorabool News. “We were very grateful for the Ballan CWA ladies who provided a great lunch, we had giveaways from the Greendale Sunflower Farm, Allendale Nursery gave us things too. There was just fantastic support from the community, from babies to the elderly. “We’ve got a lot of momentum, we feel Melbourne has certainly heard about us and knows what we’re doing now.” The main reason for the protest, Ms Muir added, was to “tell the people in Parliament to stop AusNet’s towers”. “We want to talk; we want to discuss the project. Our main message is, we want it sent back to the drawing board. We want a safe technology that we can all exist with. We don’t want
our beautiful communities wrecked by this huge easement, massive towers, and massive terminal station which will attract more of these towers to the Mount Prospect area,” Ms Muir said. “None of the Labor representatives came out to speak to us, which was hugely disappointing…I did invite all the politicians along the corridor. That was the main reason we went to Parliament House, to say ‘we’ve come to see you, because you haven’t come to see us’. We landowners have never been a part of the process. “We’re also very disappointed with the comments from Dan Andrews’ press conference in the morning, regarding the project not belonging to the State Government…that’s a complete and utter fabrication. They can determine what happens with this project,” she said. The rally also attracted main stream media attention in daily newspapers, television and radio networks.
“Be clear” when submitting to the EES By Lachlan Ellis The ‘EES review’ for the Western Victoria Transmission Network Project (WVTNP) is still a way off, but a DELWP staff member and an experienced barrister have provided a range of tips on how to prepare. DELWP Senior Impact Assessor Jack Krohn and barrister Louise Hicks spoke at the latest online community session hosted by Moorabool Shire Council on Wednesday 9 March, titled ‘Preparing a submission to an Environment Effects Statement (EES) public review’. As the title suggests, once AusNet completes its EES, the community will be asked to submit any concerns or queries they have about it. Mr Krohn said that in a sense “we’re getting ahead of ourselves” by discussing the review already, but it was important to talk about it now to “demystify what comes ahead”. “I stress that authorisation for exhibition is not in any sense either the Department or the Minister expressing a view about whether the project is a good project, or the right project…it’s simply about whether this is an adequate response to say ‘yes, this should go out and people should be given the opportunity to comment on it’,” he said. “Ministerial guidelines say an EES will usually be exhibited for 20 to 30 business days. In August 2020, the Planning Minister specified an exhibition period for this EES of 30 business days, that may be reviewed at his discretion.
“The exhibited EES is a package, it will include a Main Report, commonly 2 to 3 volumes, Technical Appendices which are the final reports of the various specialist consultants…all of the substance ought to be in the Main Report. You may also wish to look at any attachments such as a mapbook.” On participating in the submission process itself, Ms Hicks encouraged those who wished to make submissions to be brief but thorough. “The core of the submission has to be relevant to the nature of the inquiry...you get that from the terms of reference. Keep that by your side when you’re writing your submission and think, what has the inquiry been asked to consider?” she said.
“Another bitterly learnt experience from my years of writing submissions is, for goodness sake, be clear. A point isn’t made better with expressions or provisos. Cut through all the nonsense and be clear on the point. You can often practically achieve that, by putting headings in your submission.” Following Mr Krohn and Ms Hicks’ statements was a live Q&A, with questions sent in both prior to the meeting and in the text box on-screen. A vital point for anyone wishing to make a presentation at the hearing for AusNet’s EES – which will most likely be held online – was to make a submission to Engage Victoria. “You can make a submission and you don’t have to choose to be heard, but if you don’t make a submission, you will not have the opportunity to be heard,” Mr Krohn said. “If you have not made a submission, you will not be invited to speak at the hearing.” Mr Krohn also encouraged people who are curious about how the EES review process works to check out the ‘Suburban Rail Loop East’ project on Engage Victoria’s website, which is currently undergoing an EES review. “On the Engage Victoria platform there will be a timetable that says who will be speaking each day and which witnesses they’ll be calling. You will be able to find out, right, I know when my submission’s going to be, because that’ll be stated in the timetable,” Ms Hicks added. Missed the meeting? View the 90-minute recording of the meeting, visit the Moorabool Shire Council YouTube channel and click ‘Preparing an EES submission community session recording’.