Council
10 July, 2024
MP raises wind farm concerns
AT least 24 CFA brigades have proposed strike action to combat the Victorian government’s reckless renewables expansion, according to Member for Western Victoria Bev McArthur.
The brigades, which largely appear to be in the north of the state, say they will not fight fires around renewable powerplants and transmission lines, including the Victoria to NSW Interconnector West (VNI West).
Mrs McArthur raised the matter in Parliament saying such projects put the lives of CFA volunteers at risk and compromises their ability to control wildfire.
“These brigade volunteers come from communities which will bear the brunt of the government’s rushed, incompetent efforts to implement its 95 per cent renewables target by 2035 and of its inexplicable attachment to the Victoria to New South Wales interconnector,” she said.
“The Australian Energy Market Operator’s own figures show this target will cause Victoria to become dependent on importing power from New South Wales.
“Will the Minister for Emergency Services simply acknowledge, as the brigades demand, that high-voltage lines are potentially lethal in wildfire scenarios, that they jeopardise firefighter and community safety and that powering down 500 kilovolt transmission lines during wildfire events is not a realistic protection mechanism?”
Volunteer firefighters have sent a letter of demands to the Victorian Labor Government calling for an immediate halt to all current and proposed renewable and transmission line projects.