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Tuesday 19 July, 2022
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Vol 16 No 28
Over 110 vehicles and tractors converged on Lydiard Street Ballarat last Friday, in protest of the AusNet and Western Renewables Link project. Photo courtesy ABC Rural Jane McNaughton
Getting traction
By Lachlan Ellis Dozens of tractors and hundreds of angry locals rallied on the streets of Ballarat last Friday, demanding that the controversial Western Renewables Link go underground. A long list of speakers addressed the crowd, including actor and comedian Stephen Curry, Liberal Party candidate for Melton Graham Watt, Victorian Legislative Council member for Western Victoria Bev McArthur, and Hepburn Shire Mayor Tim Drylie, urging them to continue to fight and speak out against the current proposal. AusNet Executive Manager Stephanie McGregor, AEMO CEO Daniel Westerman, and Victorian Minister for Energy Lily D’Ambrosio were also invited, but did not make an appearance, instead represented by empty chairs near the stage on Lydiard Street. Mr Curry said the damage caused under the current plans would be “irreversible”, and would put communities along
the 190-kilometre proposed corridor under serious fire risk. “There’s a better way to do it, and we know what it is. It’s go underground. We don’t want to be the next victims of this conglomerate. This project will place our communities in the path of the next fires. And we know when the next fire comes – and it will – we won’t be able to rely on the brave volunteers of the CFA,” Mr Curry said. “The CFA volunteers, these heroes that protect our homes and properties, have told the State Government, who continue to pass this off as a Federal issue which it is not… they have told them, when the big fires come, they will not be able to respond to fires on, above, or around the proposed high-voltage power lines. We will be on our own.” Ms McArthur said the Western Renewables Link would be a “prototype” for similar projects, and “we’re going to have to get it right not just for this election, but for the next hundred years. “Farmers are the best environmentalists going around. They
care about the environment, they fight for it every day, and they do not want their farming communities and their land impacted by this project. It is unsustainable in its present form,” she said. “If we’re going to have green energy, we’re going to have to have green transmission.” Chair of Stop AusNet’s Towers, Emma Muir, thanked the community for backing the cause, admitting that she thought she “couldn’t keep going” last week, but was “pumped up” by the energy that the group’s members continue to show. “You guys are what made this today (Friday), and it’s people power that will win this. The politicians say this isn’t an important issue, well I’m telling you it is a big issue for the election this year, and we’re not going to vote for anyone that doesn’t have a different policy on this issue,” she said. “If we are united, I really feel this is our chance to make a difference, to tell the Government we don’t want this crap, it’s not coming here. We’ll help you, but let’s do it differently.”
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