Bill: National Electricity (Victoria) Amendment (VicGrid Stage 2 Reform) Bill 2025

BILL:

NATIONAL ELECTRICITY (VICTORIA) AMENDMENT (VICGRID STAGE 2 REFORM) BILL 2025.

Tuesday, 31 July 2025.

James NEWBURY (Brighton) (14:56):

I rise to speak on the National Electricity (Victoria) Amendment (VicGrid Stage 2 Reform) Bill 2025.

The coalition is opposed to this outrageous Bill, this outrageous attack on Victorians – on Victorian farmers, on regional communities and on the property rights of landowners in this State.

We know how dangerous the proposed powers that are contained in this Bill are by the fact that the Government has refused to debate this Bill. They have simply refused to debate this Bill until the wee hours of a Thursday afternoon, knowing how many people want to speak on this Bill. We have some 2 hours until Parliament finishes. We have had the Government debate one Bill for three days and yet shelve this one so that Members will not have the opportunity to speak. So, I say that Members on this side of the Chamber, to ensure that all of us get an opportunity to speak, will speak in a truncated way to ensure that our colleagues get the chance to put their contribution on the record. I would hope that the Government do the same and allow as many colleagues as possible an opportunity to speak, because it is disgusting that a Government would not only push a Bill through but try and push it through in a way to not even allow Members an opportunity to speak. It is an even more pernicious attack when you do not allow Parliament an opportunity for enough time to have their democratically elected Members speak, and that is what has happened with this Bill.

What does this Bill do? This Bill shows that the Government has completely lost control of the energy system and the energy transformation of this State – completely lost control. We see it just today in a report from the Australian Energy Market Operator showing that the Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector West has blown out in an extraordinary way in cost because of that lack of control, from $3.9 billion to $7.6 billion. It could soar up to $11.4 billion because of a basic lack of control and partly because of a decade of lack of preparedness, because you need to do more than release press releases if you are going to transform an energy system, as we have seen in Victoria. So not only have we seen an incredible delay and lack of preparedness, we have also seen a lack of preparedness to work with industry effectively. That has been called out by the entire sector. I do not think there is any question or debate anymore.

Thirdly, this is a Government that is driven by ideology over good policy outcomes and practically implementing their plans, and that is what is shown by the energy market operator’s report today, that huge, huge explosion in cost. What does that cost blowout mean, and what does it show? It shows that the Government does not understand what it is planning to do and how it is going to deliver it. What does this Government do? It says, ‘We are going to step in. We are going to ignore property rights. We are going to remove the right of the community to have a say over their own land, and we are going to tell them what
we are going to do on their land.’ This is not just a regional thing. Often people say this is an issue for farmers, but this is not an issue for farmers, this is an issue
for Victorians. To bring a Bill into this place that says you no longer have the right to decisions in relation to the land you own is shocking, and to do it in such a blanket way is appalling. It is absolutely shameful. No wonder the Government has hidden this bill until the end of the day, to not allow Members the chance to speak.

It is not just decision-making on your land, as we know. This Bill will allow forcible entry onto your land, so it is not just Government in Spring Street which now has a say over what happens on your land. And we know when it comes to planning, the planning decisions that have been made to cut the community out of what happens in their local surrounds no longer exist. We know that. And we know that earlier this year, the Government, when it comes to renewable energy, changed planning systems to ensure that local communities did not have a say. If a project is proposed, guess what, Spring Street decides. But this Bill is worse. Who could have thought it would be possible for it to be worse, but it is worse, because this Bill does not just say Spring Street decides what happens in your community, in your surrounds. What this Bill does is it says people in Spring Street can come out to your property and forcibly enter your property to enact the decisions they have made and then fine you for it. They can forcibly enter your property on an individual basis, dish out $12,000 fines – or to body corporates, almost $49,000 fines – if you disagree with what the Government has decided on your own property. It is not possible to imagine a more disturbing change in a public policy position at such a grand scale than what is contained in this Bill.

What we have seen over the last year has been a shift in the taking away of rights from people in having a say in what happens around them, which we have been opposed to. This goes one step further because the government have completely lost control and have decided the only way to get back control is to take it away from the people who own the property, the people who built the communities, and say, ‘Spring Street knows all; not only will we decide, we are going to come into your properties now. We can break our way in, and we’ll fine you for it.’ Can you imagine a more outrageous public policy decision than that? That is why the coalition so strongly opposes what is being proposed. I know how many Members on this side of the Chamber want to speak to the Bill, so I would ask the government to please consider how many Members want to speak to this Bill on both sides of the Chamber and allow all Members the opportunity to represent their communities, because we want it so clearly on the record how deeply opposed we are.

This Bill includes a provision for so-called community benefit – moneys raised going back into a community – but then the Bill includes a get-out provision whereby the Treasurer can take money out of that fund and put it back into consolidated revenue. Well, we know that the community benefit funding is actually just one big lie – that is what it is – and we know that that money will be ripped out of the fund, as is allowed in this Bill, and put back into consolidated revenue. It is a giant hoax. But more than that – because it is not just about that community funding, which we know is nothing more than a hoax – what we are so deeply concerned about is that now communities no longer have a say in what is built around them. Those powers were lost, and those rights have been lost over the year. What this Bill does is say Spring Street decides and will now come into properties. They have the right to come into your property, and they can fine you: $12,000 for the individual and $49,000 for the body corporate. We oppose this wholeheartedly. It is wrong. It is wrong in principle, it is morally wrong, and every single member of the Government should be ashamed of themselves this afternoon when they support this Bill.