Opponents of solar and wind farms will be stripped of the power to appeal approvals to a Victorian tribunal, as the premier blasts the federal opposition's nuclear pitch as a cartoon-inspired distraction.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Victorian government will remove the ability for third parties to appeal planning decisions for renewable energy projects through the Victorian Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
From April 1, shovel-ready renewable energy projects will be eligible for an accelerated pathway under an expansion of a development facilitation program.
The change will remove the planning panel process and third-party appeal rights at VCAT amid the rise of the not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) movement.
Premier Jacinta Allan said more than one in five planning applications had ended up in VCAT since 2015, with the overwhelming majority of the initial decisions being upheld.
"Eventually these projects are getting built but it's taking far too long," she told reporters at a wind farm in Mount Wallace on Thursday.
"We want to spend more time on projects being build and less time on it being caught up in red tape."
The premier was out spruiking the new policy to the business community within hours as she delivered her first State of the State address to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia.
Ms Allan also took the opportunity to hit out at the federal opposition's pre-election policy to establish nuclear reactors at retiring coal-fired power plants.
"I've got lots of thoughts on nuclear and they're not just formed by watching Simpsons as a teenager," she told the crowd.
Ms Allan accused the federal coalition of deliberately "whipping up anxiety" over renewable projects in their backyards and pushing the nuclear debate to "distract" from Australia's transition to net zero by 2050.
"We can see it for what it is - they're trying to shift the goalposts again when we know that we have to take action now," she said.
Victoria has an estimated $90 billion worth of renewable projects in the pipeline and is targeting 95 per cent renewable energy generation by 2035 and net zero emissions by 2045.
Under the fast-tracked pathway for significant renewable projects, Ms Allan claimed the decision time will fall to four months from when an application is lodged.
Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny said communities can still raise concerns through the usual consultation submissions process and appeal decisions to the Supreme Court.
Opposition energy spokesman David Davis said it was very expensive to launch a Supreme Court challenge and accused the state government of a power grab.
"We don't need a lazy government and lazy ministers just trying to cut corners," he said.
"These are huge, overriding powers and they should be used very sparingly."
The Victorian coalition will reinstate the right of third parties to appeal renewable project approvals at VCAT if it wins government in 2026, he said.
The Victorian Farmers Federation was similarly scathing, slamming the government's decision to "steamroll" farmers and regional communities.
"For the government to say they are genuinely listening to the concerns of these communities and then completely ignore them and fast-track the process smacks of arrogance and them being completely tone deaf," VFF president Emma Germano said.
Australian Associated Press
