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

BILL:

‘NATIONAL ELECTRICITY (VICTORIA) AMENDMENT (VICGRID STAGE 2 REFORM) BILL 2025: COUNCIL AMENDMENTS’

Tuesday, 9 September 2025.

James NEWBURY (Brighton) (16:54):

The Coalition has said since day one this Bill is an absolute disgrace. It is an absolute abomination. As the Minister just said, the Government is pushing ahead with a steamroller the transition of our energy system. But in doing so it is taking away the property rights of Victorians.

You saw only the other day at the bush summit the feeling of regional Victoria. Not only is regional Victoria outraged by the new taxes that are being imposed upon them – and those are incredible burdens – but you also heard them talk about the renewable projects being forced onto people’s properties. No longer will those Victorians have a say in what is happening on their own property. And they know it is true – Victorians now know it is true. That is why the attendees at the bush summit had nothing they could do other than try and use that opportunity to have their voices heard, because their voices are not being heard. You saw the Premier attend with her script. Imagine waking up in the morning and needing a script to read into the record, not even being able to talk about your own life without a script. Nevertheless, the community saw how fake, false, and lacking any empathy the Premier and this Government are when it comes to the regional communities of our State.

And what did we see as a result? We heard the Mayor of Ballarat speak out bravely. Very rarely are people able to speak out, but the Mayor in that instance spoke out. The mayor of Ballarat Tracey Hargreaves spoke out and said that the community’s passion was a reflection of just how deeply people care about their region and care about issues like this VicGrid Bill, this abomination of a Bill, which attacks the rights of regional Victorians on their properties. The Mayor spoke out in support of their passion and their right to have a say. And what did we hear from this Government?

We heard the Member for Wendouree describe people’s passions and them putting their views on the record. She was ‘disgusted’. She was disgusted by her constituents. ‘Disgusted’ is what the Member for Wendouree said. Imagine speaking about your own constituents that way.

Members interjecting.

James NEWBURY: That was a direct quote. When I am finished, I am more than happy to make the article where those quotes were directly lifted from available for the Members of the House. The Member for Eureka attacked her constituents as well, as did the Member for Ripon. I mean, the Member for Ripon – wow. Talk about talking out of both sides of your mouth in this place and then out in the community. We will see what happens at the next election in the seat of Ripon.

Talking about those attendees’ behaviour, you cannot attack your own constituents for voicing their views on what the Government is doing to these communities. It is wrong – it is simply wrong. Not only is this Bill wrong, not only are the taxes that are being imposed on the community wrong, but for the Government to attack people for having their say is an absolute disgrace. How can you attack thousands of your own constituents? It was extraordinary to see that. Those three Members did it, which has been reported in their own local papers. It was a bizarre, unhinged attack on communities that only adds insult.

What these Amendments do not do is make this Bill better. You heard from the Minister that a number of Amendments have been agreed to. On some of these Amendments, the Coalition will be opposing them. We would ask of course, considering the package of Amendments, that the question be split, because this package of Amendments is significant. It is 21 items on my read, and it is reasonable that the question be split.

In relation to those Amendments, there are some that reduce the personal fines that are going to be imposed on people who do not comply with the Government turning up to their House and telling them what happens on their property. In principle we oppose those fines, let me make that very, very clear. The Coalition opposes those fines, full stop – fines that initially were $14,000 and almost $49,000. The Council has amended, through Amendment, a number of those fines to reduce them. We oppose them in principle. However, those Amendments –

Michaela Settle: Acting Speaker, on a Point of Order, I take offence at the comments made by the Member for Brighton regarding my comments in the Courier about the bush summit, and I do not believe that he reflected them correctly. I am more than happy for him to quote on the record –

James Newbury: What’s the point of order?

Michaela Settle: That I have taken offence at your comments because they are incorrect. I take offence at your comments, because the article does not say what you said. I would like you to withdraw it.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Paul Mercurio): Member for Eureka, I do apologise. I am not sure if I was in the chamber or I was swapping over, so I did not hear the comments. I would suggest possibly talking to the Speaker about it, but I cannot rule on it at this moment because I did not hear it.

James NEWBURY: I will continue. I have never seen a Member so concerned about what was reported in their own public paper, where they report their own comments attacking their own constituents. How bizarre.

Michaela Settle: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, I take offence at the comments. If the Member would like to read my comment from the Courier, at no point did I attack my constituents. I said that events of the day had crossed a line. If you would like to read the quote, Member for Brighton – I take offence that he is suggesting that I am criticising my electorate.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Paul Mercurio): Member for Eureka, I stand by my earlier comments. If you have the opportunity to debate this Bill, you will have the opportunity to –

Members interjecting.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Paul Mercurio): Thank you, Member for Eureka.

James NEWBURY: Bizarre. That just goes to show how much the comments which were reported in the media have upset those Members. Every Member can talk, and every Member is perfectly entitled to get up on these Amendments and put on record whether they used words like ‘disgusted’, which are in the media.

In relation to the Amendments, as I was saying, we oppose the principle of a fine. However, the fine is being reduced, so we will not be calling a division on that particular Amendment, though in principle we oppose strongly these fines that are going to be applied to hardworking Victorians because they do not allow people to have a say over their own property. You can see it when it comes to renewable energy in relation to planning more broadly, but this specific VicGrid Bill is part of the broader suite of changes this Government is bringing about.

What this Government is doing is saying, ‘We are going to build what we want where we want – not just in regional Victoria but in Melbourne too. We are going to build what we want where we want, and you do not have a say about what is built where you live because this Government knows better than everyone else.’ You can see with the feedback towards the Premier and the Prime Minister –

The ACTING SPEAKER (Paul Mercurio): Through the Chair.

James NEWBURY: Acting Speaker, you can see with the feedback towards the Premier and the Prime Minister how strongly the community feels about that. Why should they not have a say about what is built on their land? Why should they not have a say over who can go onto their property? Of course they should have a say. What this Government is doing is saying, ‘You should thank us because not only were we going to introduce fines but we are reducing the fines we were going to impose. That is what these Amendments are all about, so say thank you.’ You are still up for thousands of dollars – or, in terms of businesses, tens of thousands of dollars. They are just not as big as what was once being proposed. What a disgrace – this Bill is a disgrace. And you can see that regional Victoria can see quite clearly through what this Government is doing in relation to this Bill, in relation to planning more broadly, in relation to the imposition of renewables onto people’s land and also in relation to the imposition of taxes that are being imposed across the community. You could see that at the bush summit. You could see so many people say that they –

Members interjecting.

James NEWBURY: The yelling and screaming from that side of the Chamber does not in any way show respect to their community. And every Member on that side –

Members interjecting.

James NEWBURY: I do not know who this is. Who is this? This is clearly not

Danny Pearson. Who is this? His photo looks nothing like this.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Paul Mercurio): Member for Brighton!

Danny Pearson: On a Point of Order, Acting Speaker, this is a workplace, and I feel my hearing is being damaged by this unhinged rant from the Member for Brighton, who is clearly auditioning to replace the Member for Gembrook.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Paul Mercurio): There is quite a lot of noise in the Chamber and I would like to take it down. Maybe use your inside voices for a while.

James NEWBURY: Quite clearly a stranger is in the house. I am absolutely sure –

The ACTING SPEAKER (Paul Mercurio): Are you reflecting on the Chair, Member for Brighton?

James NEWBURY: Not at all. A stranger in the house – it is a parliamentary term. The Members on that side of the Chamber can scream, they can shout and they can abuse their own constituents. They can say they are disgusted, which has been reported in their own newspapers. They are going to be held to account by their own constituents. At the end of the day, those communities are unhappy, rightly, with their rights being taken away. They are unhappy with the imposition of projects onto their own communities without a say. They are unhappy about the big Government coming in and saying they can access properties or fine you otherwise. They are unhappy that this Government, under a claim of supporting emergency services, is taxing the community again and again and again. The Government can say there is nothing going on here, but when the Premier stood up at the bush summit we all saw what regional Victoria thinks. When the Prime Minister had to flee the event, we all saw what regional Victoria thinks.

These Amendments, which we will oppose in part, are simply a reduction in a number of bad fines. We do not support the fines; I say that very, very clearly. But a reduced bad fine is better than a higher bad fine. Simply because we do not have the choice to knock it out completely anymore, we will not cause a division on those items, but otherwise, in principle we could not be clearer. We could not have been more clear on this issue. We could not have been stronger on behalf of our communities.

I know that the National Party Members who are speaking after me have been unbelievably strong in terms of representing their communities on these issues, and all of the whingeing and moaning from that side of the chamber about their own constituents only reflects on them. If you cannot work out that you should not attack your own constituents, you do not deserve to be here. So, in relation to this package, we are seeking a split of the Amendments, and in certain instances we will oppose them but in others we will not.