- The bill confers unprecedented powers on a new class of unaccountable and faceless officers to invade private land by force.
- The bill violates rights to property and privacy recognised in the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities.
- The bill facilitates the destruction of agricultural land that will undermine Victorian food security and exporters.
The National Electricity (Victoria) Amendment (VicGrid Stage 2 Reform) Bill 2025 (“the bill”) authorises the Victorian government, via VicGrid, to compulsorily access and utilise private land for the construction of new transmission infrastructure, as part of Victoria’s alternative energy transition strategy.
To meet state and national renewable energy targets, Victoria must connect more wind and solar projects to the electricity grid by 2030. This will require extensive transmission line construction across regional Victoria. Nationally, it is estimated 28,000 km of new transmission infrastructure will be needed to link renewable energy sources to the grid.
This rollout has been met with extensive opposition from rural communities who do not want to host the transmission lines and towers on their properties due to the destruction that the infrastructure will bring to their land. This has added costs and delays to the infrastructure needed to deliver the government’s net zero agenda.
It is in this context that the Victorian government has introduced the bill. The state government already has the power to acquire land for public purposes, but these powers are subject to reasonable judicial oversight and restraints on potential abuses of power. The bill circumvents these protections by expanding the powers of the state to acquire and use land without the landowner’s consent.
Even if one accepts the premise that net zero is a worthwhile policy goal, the method of achieving it in the extraordinary and unprecedented manner proposed is unjustifiable. The power to use or acquire property must be limited by the rule of law, which demands clear lawful authority, and fair, transparent, and proportionate processes. The extraordinary powers and limited accountability provisions in the bill fail to meet these key rule of law standards.
