Landowners in western Victoria are locking gates and refusing access to authorised officers surveying routes for the 240-kilometer VNI West transmission line, which aims to connect renewable energy zones across states to support net-zero goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under Section 93 of the Electricity Industry Act, companies like Transmission Company Victoria can enter private land without permission after notice, but farmers organised under Farmers Fightback call it corporate overreach that risks prime agricultural land, biosecurity, and property values amid the project’s $7.6 billion cost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nFarmers are HOLDING THE GATE, and the video is going viral for all the wrong reasons. A corporate rep from the $11.4 billion VNI West power line project rocked up to a family farm in regional Victoria. Not police. No warrant. Just a high-vis employee demanding access to destroy 6th and 7th-generation farmland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the farmer stood silently behind his own fence, the rep pulled out the script: Section 93 of the Electricity Industry Act. Then the chilling line, \u201cAnything you do or say may be used as evidence.\u201d Peaceful. Lawful. On private property. Yet threatened like a criminal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the reality for farmers across Western and Central Victoria. Farmers Fightback\u2019s Hold the Gate campaign started at a kitchen table and now has 25,000+ signatures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
oIt\u2019s not just about one power line, it\u2019s about whether anyone still has the right to say NO on their own land. Watch. Share. Stand with them.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n