Hundreds of angry farmers have converged on the Victorian premier's home seat in a protest over proposed renewable energy infrastructure.
Premier Jacinta Allan was in the central Victorian town of Bendigo for a Rural Press Club event where she announced $20 million in grants for tiny towns.
But she arrived to scores of farmers who do not want transmission lines, mega batteries and mines in their backyards.
Sharon McEvoy, from the Kiewa Valley in the state's northeast, travelled almost 300km to attend and speak at the rally.
"There are communities all over the state of Victoria fighting wind turbines, mining, solar factories, battery installations, everything," Ms McEvoy told AAP.
During her address to the club inside the All Seasons Hotel, the premier said regional communities, primary producers and farmers were "the most exposed to the challenges of climate change".
"Part of the answer to that is delivering more renewable energy," she said.
According to Ms McEvoy, the premier did not address the crowd on her way out of the event.
"She just ducked out, got into a car and drove off," she said.
"We were totally ignored by our premier, who's supposed to care about all people in her state."
The Dederang farmer is fighting against the construction of two battery energy storage systems in her town; one on a neighbouring property next to two bushfire management overlays and backing directly onto bushland.
Battery storage system fires, like a 2023 incident in Rockhampton in central Queensland and another near Geelong in 2021, often burn for days.
Protesters from towns such as Donald and St Arnaud, in western Victoria, came to voice their concerns about plans to build the Victoria to NSW Interconnector West and AusNet's 190km Western Renewables Link across their farmland.
Amid growing frustration in the regions, the state government announced in March it would fast-track designated renewable projects, which would not be subject to appeals in the state's administrative tribunal.
Ms McEvoy said she and other regional families would keep writing their letters to ministers and the state planning department, as she headed home after the rally.
"You keep fighting," she said.
But she said she accepted the road ahead could be a long one.
"I never thought I'd be that lady who would lay across the road to stop a bulldozer or something entering a property," she said.
"But .. that might be me, so watch this space."
