The Nationals’ Member for Shepparton District, Kim O’Keeffe, has welcomed a landmark Private Member’s Bill in the Victorian Parliament this week, that seeks to protect the state’s most strategic agricultural land from being lost to poorly considered development.
The Planning and Environment Amendment (Agricultural Land and Food Security) Bill 2026, introduced by The Nationals’ and Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Emma Kealy, would ensure that agricultural in Victoria is recognised as a strategic asset, rather than being treated as another land use in the state’s planning system.
Ms O’Keeffe said landowners and primary producers right across the Shepparton District electorate deserved certainty that their land would be properly protected.
“Our region has already seen firsthand what happens when transmission projects are planned without proper regard for the farmland they cut through.
“You only have to look at the proposed Central North Renewable Energy Zone, that captures prime agricultural land between Shepparton East and Dookie that was added without consultation and wasn’t included in the original draft.
“This Bill introduced by the Nationals would ensure that agricultural impacts are assessed properly, not treated as an afterthought.
“We are home to some of the best agricultural land in the nation and we should not give in to poorly planned renewable energy projects without proper assessment that they deserve.”
The Bill would establish a framework for identifying Strategic Agricultural Land, require Agricultural Land Impact Assessments for prescribed developments, mandate consultation with Agricultural Victoria before significant decisions are made, and require agricultural expertise on advisory committees and Environment Effects Act inquiry panels.
Ms O’Keeffe said the reform was increasingly urgent given the mounting pressures on farmland from urban growth, renewable energy generation, transmission infrastructure and extractive industries.
“Landowners and primary producers deserve confidence that the long-term productive capacity of their land will be properly considered before it’s signed away.
“Labor talks about protecting Victoria’s food bowl but the reality is that their planning system continues to fail and put land at risk.
“Only the Nationals will scrap Labor’s Emergency Services Tax, repeal laws that remove a landowner’s right to say no entry on their land and give the Shepparton District its fair share.”
