{"id":495786,"date":"2026-02-22T01:26:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T01:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/495786\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T01:26:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T01:26:20","slug":"state-lnp-promises-strict-new-audits-of-solar-and-wind-barnaby-promises-a-big-new-coal-plant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/495786\/","title":{"rendered":"State LNP promises “strict new audits” of solar and wind, Barnaby promises a big new coal plant"},"content":{"rendered":"

While much of Australia was distracted by the latest regime change for the federal Liberal Party, a fascinating political arm-wrestle has been playing out in Victoria between the Coalition opposition and Pauline Hanson\u2019s One Nation, as both parties court the anti-renewables vote.<\/p>\n

Last week, the Victorian Liberal Party announced that it will introduce \u201cstrict new independent audits and economic impact assessments on new energy developments\u201d if elected in the state poll in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunities across regional Victoria are increasingly concerned about the Allan Labor government\u2019s approach to rolling out renewable energy projects without properly considering the long-term impact on agriculture and food production,\u201d shadow energy minister David Davis said in a media release<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder a Liberal and Nationals government, independent agricultural and economic impact assessments will become mandatory as part of the approvals process for major renewable energy projects and transmission developments to ensure prime farmland is protected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shadow minister for agriculture, Emma Kealy, said the policy would complement the party\u2019s previously announced commitment to overturn Labor\u2019s changes that \u201cride roughshod over community consultation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead, we will give farmers their voice back by restoring their ability to challenge inappropriate developments through VCAT, rather than forcing landholders into long, complex and expensive legal battles,\u201d Kealy said.<\/p>\n

Kealy is referring, here, to the Allan government\u2019s expansion, two years ago, of the Development Facilitation Program (DFP) to include renewable energy and storage projects \u2013 a move that has, no doubt, stirred opposition in regional communities.<\/p>\n

Most contentiously, the rule change ruled out third-party appeals to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) for projects approved through the DFP \u2013 a move the Victorian Farmers Federation\u00a0said<\/a> would \u201csteam roll\u2026 farmers and regional communities, with little regard to how it impacts their livelihoods and countless generational family farms.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time, Premier Jacinta Allan said important renewables projects were regularly being tied up for years seeking approval, leading to a build-up of around $90 billion worth of project investment value in the pipeline.<\/p>\n

Indeed, a Clean Energy Council report<\/a> revealed that only four renewable energy projects were completed in Victoria in 2023 \u2013 two solar farms and two wind farms \u2013 setting the state behind on its target of 65 per cent renewables by 2030 and 95 per cent by 2035. <\/p>\n

So far, the Victorian planning department has used the DFP to fast-track approvals for\u00a022 solar, wind and battery projects. In a statement last week, state energy minister Lily D\u2019Ambrosio said record investment in renewables has helped the achieve the lowest wholesale power prices in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last year, Victoria\u2019s average wholesale price was $78 per megawatt hour, compared to $103 for New South Wales, $96 for Tasmania, $87 for South Australia and $85 for Queensland,\u201d D\u2019Ambrosio said.<\/p>\n

In his statement last week, Davis said that while renewable energy had an important role to play in Victoria\u2019s energy future, \u201cprojects must also have social and economic licence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about restoring fairness, transparency and proper community scrutiny to planning decisions that directly affect Victoria\u2019s food security and regional livelihoods,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur policy will ensure renewable energy developments and transmission infrastructure are subject to rigorous, independent assessment before they proceed, protecting farming communities and prime agricultural land.\u201d<\/p>\n

Renew Economy has emailed David Davis asking for further detail on the proposed independent audits and who would conduct them. RE had not received a response by the time of publication.<\/p>\n

But RE-Alliance, which works closely with farmers and regional communities across Australia and Victoria says that while it is hearing genuine concerns about how key pieces of energy infrastructure are being progressed, there is also a lot of misinformation fanning those concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are becoming increasingly fatigued by the division in their communities,\u201d RE-Alliance national director Andrew Bray told Renew Economy on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is incredibly hard to access locally-relevant information on the shift to renewables \u2013 and that information void is being filled by political commentary in an election year and social media algorithms that encourage division.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we see in our day to day work is an appetite among regional Victorians for a seat at the table in shaping legacy benefits like better roads, housing infrastructure and energy discounts for entire postcodes,\u201d Bray says. <\/p>\n

\u201cCouncillors, council staff, leaders of community organisations, farmers and passionate locals who want to get the best outcomes for their communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would encourage all policy decision makers in Victoria to engage with these leaders and make this change work for rural and regional Victoria.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, One Nation\u2019s Barnaby Joyce went all-in on division in his keynote address to the inaugural Across Victoria Alliance conference, which took place in the first week of February in the regional city of Horsham in western Victoria, where opposition to the VNI West transmission runs hot.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t ever call them renewables,\u201d Joyce told the crowd. \u201cThey have nothing renewable about them\u2026 They\u2019re swindle factories. They\u2019re intermittent power swindle factories. They\u2019re not going to change the temperature of the globe, they\u2019re just going to make really rich people, really, really, really rich. That\u2019s what they\u2019re going to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing here in Victoria, in so many areas, is people\u2019s rights been diminished as the state goes into bat for domestic billionaires and foreign multinationals to build solar precincts, wind precincts, transmission lines, all underwritten by a capacity investment scheme,\u201d Joyce continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe in building coal fired power stations. They hate us saying that: I believe in building coal-fired power stations. They\u2019re a really good idea, big coal-fired power stations, because I believe that we\u2019ve gotta make Australia as powerful as possible as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you would like to join more than 29,000 others and get the latest clean energy news delivered straight to your inbox, for free, please\u00a0click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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