The Nationals Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland has stood with local residents at Saturday’s solar rally in Benalla, reaffirming her commitment to putting regional communities and landholders back at the centre of Victoria’s renewable energy planning.
“I made a simple commitment to the Benalla community: we will put your rights back in your hands,” Ms Cleeland said.
“For years, Labor has silenced regional communities and stripped away their ability to challenge decisions that fundamentally change their farms, their businesses and their communities.
“International companies should not be able to come onto your property without your permission, cut locks and fine you in the process. – that ends under a Liberal and Nationals Government.
“This is your land, your business and your community — and it’s time Labor treated it that way.”
Ms Cleeland said the rally showed people were not opposed to renewable energy, but wanted a genuine say over what happens on their land.
A Liberal and Nationals Government would restore VCAT appeal rights for renewable energy developments, give local councils a real role in planning decisions, and reinstate a two-kilometre buffer to protect homes and families from large-scale infrastructure.
“We will restore your right to appeal through VCAT and make sure local councils and communities have a genuine seat at the table,” she said.
“It is your land and your rights that will be central to these decisions.”
Ms Cleeland said the plan was not about stopping renewable energy, but about locating it properly.
“There are enormous opportunities for solar on warehouses, factories and commercial rooftops. We should be putting renewable energy where the power is needed, rather than continuing to put pressure on the productive farmland that feeds Victoria.”
That is why a Liberal and Nationals Government will establish Urban Solar Parks and undertake a full review of Victoria’s transmission plan and Renewable Energy Zone framework — including scrapping VNI West and pausing major transmission projects until that review is complete.
Ms Cleeland said farmers should not have to fight project-by-project while no one assessed the cumulative toll on their land.
“Farmers should not have to negotiate project by project while nobody looks at the cumulative impact on their farms, roads, fire preparedness, water, biosecurity and the long-term productivity of their land.
“Once productive farmland is lost, it is very difficult to get back.
“I stand here as a farmer, as a mother, and as someone who grew up just down the road to say, enough is enough. We can build the energy Victoria needs without taking away the rights of the people who have to live with it.”
