Labor's MP for the federal seat of Ballarat for the Australian Labor Party has strengthened her rhetoric against the Western Transmission Project for 190km of above-ground power lines in western Victoria, proposed by AusNet.
The AusNet project is the largest diversified energy network business in the state and federal shadow infrastructure minister King pulled no punches when it came to making her position on the project’s progress known on Flow on Monday.
“It’s still a dog of a project, frankly”.
“It’s been mishandled by Australian Energy Market operator and their preferred tenderer AusNet whose building it.”
“It’s still got a long way to go; I think the application hasn’t gone into the state or federal government.”
“It’s still got a long way to go and I think it’s really causing enormous grief to people – I think it either needs to be rerouted; certainly the transfer station at Mount Prospect is absolutely inappropriate location for it to go.”
“We haven’t got protection of high value horticultural land; we haven’t got underground in bushfire areas...I think part of the problem is that the regulatory framework that exists for energy framework that exists for energy infrastructure isn’t fit for purpose for these new transmission lines.”
Whilst expressing bipartisan opposition to the project, newly sworn-in Victorian Liberal Senator Greg Mirabella could not resist criticising King’s ALP state government colleagues' handling of the AusNet project:
“It appears that the member's comrades on Spring Street are not willing to listen to the voices of the affected communities, and this has real consequences—the destruction of the environment, the destruction of livelihoods and, once again, the destruction of rural representation.
Giving himself the moniker of a 'champion for regional Victoria' in his first speech to federal parliament last week, Senator Mirabella continued:
“It cannot be clearer. What is needed is a workable and practical solution that incorporates the input of the affected shires and farmers, not the expedient dictates of the Victorian Labor Party.”
“The project must be re-examined and redrawn as a matter of urgency.”
King responded to Mirabella’s remarks on Flow, highlighting that Mirabella's own comrades shares a role in the project's future prospects:
“I’m not aware of Senator Mirabella’s comments but given his government will have a planning decision to make that actually sits with both the federal and state governments for planning approval, I’ll be interested to see what representations he’s making then about that project.”
AusNet has been contacted for comment.
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