Alliance brings legal action against State Government in the Supreme Court of Victoria
Update on the Alliance’s legal actions and a call for donations
IT IS ALL SYSTEMS GO!
The Supreme Court trial for the action that we commenced against the Victorian Government on 21 April 2023 is set for the 7-8th and 11-12th of September 2023. We should hopefully have judgement by the end of the year.
An enormous amount of work has been done to get us here, but our expert legal team still have a great deal of work to do. The date is fast approaching!
To make sure we get there, the Moorabool and Central Highlands Power Alliance Inc. (MCHPA) – which is trading as the Regional Victoria Power Alliance (RVPA) – needs you and everyone along the VNI West and Western Renewables Link transmission line corridors to dig deep and help continue to fund our shared fight against the Victorian government to force these projects back to the drawing board.
THE TIME IS NOW OR NEVER! We have momentum, and we have an enormous, hard-won chance to break these two projects right now.
See at the end of this Newsletter for details on how to donate and how to become a member in the fight.
WHAT IS HAPPENING AND WHY?
On behalf of all the landholders, communities and businesses impacted by the Victoria – New South Wales Interconnector (VNI West) and the Western Renewables Link (WRL), the MCHPA began its action in April 2023 by challenging the “VNI West and WRL Ministerial Order” which was published by the Victorian Government on 20 February 2023. The MCHPA’s legal team has recently incorporated into our action a challenge to a second “VNI West and WRL Ministerial Order”, which was published by the Victorian Government on 27 May 2023.
Both Orders were signed by the Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources, the Hon. Lily D’Ambrosio, but they were made in consultation with the Victorian Premier and Treasurer, and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).
The MCHPA is seeking a judgement by the Supreme Court that the two Orders ought to be quashed (set aside) because of flawed reasoning and incorrect application of the law by Minister D’Ambrosio. The legal action does not challenge the merits of either project.
The Government is using the two Orders to fast-track the construction of two integrated high-capacity 500kV double-circuit overhead transmission line projects which the Government and AEMO propose to run from Sydenham to Bulgana (WRL) and Bulgana to Kerang and then to the Murray River and into NSW (VNI West).
In Victoria, these projects will consist of some 400+ km (around 200 km for each project) of 500kV high voltage transmission lines and 80m high steel towers that will push their way through our districts and impose themselves on our land, or on our neighbour’s land, impacting all of us and our environment in many ways.
The specific and final proposed route for VNI West has not yet been determined by TCV (AEMO’s new subsidiary for VNI West) – the corridor for Option 5a was only decided in late May this year. As will happen with WRL, it will run through prime agricultural land, as well as environmentally sensitive land. Furthermore, as will also happen with WRL, neighbours, townships, communities, and businesses will also be widely impacted.
The VNI West Option 5a also has extensive implications for WRL. While it is positive that the proposed Mount Prospect Terminal Station is no longer proposed to be built in that location, the route that is presently proposed by AusNet will not materially change (except around Waubra) and the originally proposed 220kV lines in the western half will be uprated to 500kV. A bigger impact!
The Orders have undeniably revealed how inextricably intertwined both projects are, and that the Victorian Government has now taken full ownership of them. That is why we are taking Minister D’Ambrosio to Court.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?
We need everyone to continue to donate and support the legal action – THE TIME IS NOW OR NEVER!
Over two years of legal and expert work (including for our original legal action against AEMO which has had to be put on hold to take this present action against the Victorian Government), plus thousands of volunteer hours, have brought us to this crucial point. It has only made possible by some $500k already generously donated by landholders, communities, and businesses along, and outside of, the WRL corridor and more recently by those along the VNI West corridor.
We need to make sure we have at least that much again in our legal fighting fund. We are getting there but your serious donations are now more crucial than ever.
When you consider how much to donate, please have a think about how much impact and financial loss you will directly or indirectly suffer, how much impact your community will suffer, how much the environment will be adversely impacted by every stage of these projects from construction and decades into the future.
As a guide, we are proposing all directly affected landholders along the 400+ km of WRL and VNI West consider a $5,000 donation each, with any adjacent landholders to consider $2,000 each. As some communities are already doing, we’d also encourage landholders to approach key suppliers in your area to meaningfully support the cause with dollar donations.
These projects will adversely impact and forever change our lives!
We appreciate that in these “high cost of living” times, some can afford less, and some can afford more.