The Australian Energy Market Operator [AEMO] has refused to attend an energy infrastructure consultation meeting in western Victoria after hundreds of people arrived to protest the project.
Tractors, utes and more than 300 community members drove through the streets of St Arnaud yesterday to protest the proposed VNI-West transmission line, during a scheduled meeting with the market operator.
The controversial project would deliver a 500 kilovolt overhead transmission line to connect the Western Renewables Link at Bulgana to New South Wales near Echuca.
AEMO was meant to make a presentation to the community at the meeting as part of its consultation process — but the organisation did not attend, citing "altered plans".
Community angst
Protest organiser Jason Barrett said the community did not want the overhead transmission lines in the region.
"We understand that this state needs to have good ways of transmitting power, but it's been [recommended] by experts that this is not the right route," he said.
He said it would go through valuable farming land.
"It would be a lemon going through our properties that we don't want or need," he said.
"We want to know what we can actually do underneath the powerlines, we've tried before to get consultation with [AEMO], but they [never give us details]."
Mr Barrett said AEMO not attending the meeting denied farmers their right to understand the impacts the proposed large infrastructure would have on their properties and businesses.
"Once again they've left us high and dry with no answers," Mr Barrett said.
"It's been our constant problem from day one to get consultation with them, and they have rejected us every time.
"They just think they can get away with rail-roading this through without any consultation and minimal questions."
AEMO responds
AEMO group manager of Victorian planning, Nicola Falcon, told the Victorian Country Hour her organisation did not attend as the format of the meeting was altered from original plans to be hosted at the local football club.
"The original plan was a different format than what ended up resulting in the town hall," she said.
"We want to be able to consult and engage with as many stakeholders as we can on the process, and we did offer other ways to do that in an [alternative] environment."
She said conducting consultation with large numbers of people made it difficult to "target a number of different consumers and talk to number of different landholders".
"There were a number of people that turned up to St Arnaud, we understand that, but that was a different format to what we'd agreed," she said.
Ms Falcon said although AEMO did not attend the community meeting in St Arnaud, her appearance on the radio program gave her the opportunity to speak with the community.
"All consumers want affordable and reliable electricity, and we really do want to be able to explain to as many different people as possible that VNI-West will help share that low cost."
'Disingenuous' consultation
In a statement provided to the ABC last week, an AEMO spokesperson said "we've run a transparent and collaborative consultation process since 2019 to identify a preferred option that maximises consumer benefits while meeting the power system needs for all Victorians".
When asked why there was no mention of landholders or farmers in that statement, Ms Falcon said AEMO "acknowledged it's a complicated and drawn out process".
"It means that at this stage we need to boost up a viable project in the interest of consumers, we don't even know currently where the route will be," she said.
"Once we know roughly the area of interest we will be engaging with landholders and communities to work out the best way for that line to go."
Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano said AEMO told her organisation the operator did not attend consultation meetings over the maximum capacity of 45 people.
"The community I don't think have said that they wanted their questions answered via the radio," Ms Germano said.
"It's very disrespectful to that community ... it's certainly not how you do consultation.
"A radio interview is one-way communication, not two.
"This just demonstrates the disingenuous approach to consultation."
