The Albanese Labor Government must act on cost-of-living and stop foreign corporations’ gouging of struggling energy customers by halting Victoria’s Transmission Plan, Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster said today.

Dr Webster has been on the attack after the Victorian Government Transmission Plan mapping revealed her electorate is being targeted in ‘tier 1’ to bear the vast majority of wind turbine and solar panel installations, underpinned by the proposed VNI-West transmission line.

“Prime agricultural land in Mallee is on the line. I’m at the Speed Machinery Field Days this week and local farmers are dismayed, some came to me in tears in recent weeks over the intimidating behaviour of energy proponents to get access to their land,” Dr Webster said.

“Today I read a report that struggling Victorian families are forking out an estimated $200 million per annum to foreign wind-turbine operators, largely collected through charges on household bills. That $200 million price tag will be even higher if Victorian and Federal Labor succeed in their scheme to turn Mallee into a spider’s web of transmission lines, wind turbines and blanket solar panels.”

Today’s report estimates that between domestic and foreign wind turbine & solar panel generators, Victorians already pay $620 million in large-scale generation certificates (LGCs) annually to subsidise their energy factories. Australians collectively pay an estimated $1.6 billion in issued LGCs for wind, solar, hydro-electricity and biomass projects.

“The Albanese Labor Government must prioritise cost-of-living pressures and call their Allan Labor Government colleagues to hit pause on the Transmission Plan rollout.  Halting the transmission plans are the only way to rebuff the divisive wind and solar leeches looking to attach to the VNI-West transmission line artery,” Dr Webster said.

“As I said in June, the dunkelflaute start to winter demonstrated the unreliability of Labor’s renewables-only approach to Australia’s energy future. Gas has a role in our future energy mix, with Geoscience Australia reporting this month we have an estimated 17 further years of gas production with current, known gas reserves. The Federal Coalition has committed to nuclear energy joining our energy mix by 2050. The Coalition’s plan will deliver reliable, affordable energy for all Australians, connected to existing infrastructure at former coal power plant sites, slashing the eye-watering cost and community devastation from aggressive new transmission line and generation rollouts.”

For further comment please contact Rikki Lambert on 0427 310 770