Families, farms and businesses across the Euroa electorate deserve reliable, affordable energy, with the Liberal and Nationals committing to reopen conventional gas exploration and introduce a minimum power reliability standard for regional communities.
Nationals Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland said securing supply was only half the job.
“Gas helps secure our supply, but supply means nothing if the power can’t reach you,” Ms Cleeland said.
“A minimum reliability standard isn’t just an economic commitment. It’s about health, wellbeing and keeping people safe at home and at work.”
The standard would be written into AusNet’s licence, setting a guaranteed level of reliability every community must receive, as already applies in NSW, Queensland and South Australia. Current rules only allow the regional network to be maintained, not improved. The standard changes that at no cost to taxpayers, with AusNet redirecting existing outage spending into lasting upgrades.
If the NSW standard applied here today, the BN11 feeder supplying much of the region would fail it.
“We’ve had countless outages and glitches in the past year alone,” Ms Cleeland said.
“I’ve heard from a woman stuck in her powered chair, and another who couldn’t get an ambulance in time, then couldn’t drive herself because her garage door wouldn’t open.
“When the power goes, so do phone towers, water pumps, cool rooms and home medical equipment. On farms and worksites, machinery stops and staff work through the heat with no cooling. In bushfire season, it can mean being cut off entirely.”
A Wilson government would also scrap Labor’s restrictions on new gas connections within 100 days and invite producers to explore conventional gas, building on the Victorian Gas Program’s findings in the Otway and Gippsland basins.
“Let me be clear: fracking is not part of this policy. It’s banned under Victoria’s Constitution,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Energy security means having enough power and being able to rely on it. The Liberal and Nationals will deliver both.”
