Vol. 28 No. 44
A FREE PUBLICATION FROM YOUR LOCAL RADIO STATIONS 3WM AND MIXXFM
Wednesday, May 13, 2026
ENHANCED: Western Region Highway Patrol’s leading senior constables Paul Fitzell and Garry Crawford, centre, are trialling motorcycles loaned from Bendigo Highway Patrol. Superintendent Dan Davison, right, said the new addition to the fleet expanded police capacity, and had been well-received by the community. Acting Sergeant Richard McGlade is also pictured. Story, page 3. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER.
Farm rights focus L
BY LAUREN HENRY
and rights and the protection of agricultural land will be front and centre at a forum in St Arnaud next week, expecting to attract Nationals politicians from across Australia. The ‘Defending your right to farm forum’ at St Arnaud Town Hall at 2pm on Thursday, May 21, will focus on the impact of mining and energy farms throughout the Mallee electorate. Nationals MPs including federal leader Matt Canavan, federal shadow agricultural minister Darren Chester, Victorian leader Danny O’Brien plus other state Nationals MPs and can-
didates are expected to attend the forum. It will be the new Nationals leader, who is Queensland-based, and shadow agricultural minister’s first visit to the Mallee electorate since being selected for their roles in March. Member for Mallee Anne Webster said the impact of transmission lines, renewable energy and mining projects were a hot topic in the electorate. “It’s a real opportunity for farmers who have been struggling and fighting and standing their ground against VNI West, against WRL, against renewables, in their prime agricultural area to know that they are being listened to and that actions are being taken,” she said.
“We strongly believe that prime agricultural land should be protected, and I think it’s incredibly important that our farmers and our farming communities have some hope at this point in time. “They have been deprived of hope despite their continued, excellent stand against terrible government legislation at a state level and the railroading of their communities by the Federal Government’s ambitious targets and actions funding the renewable rollout.” Dr Webster said Mr Canavan and Mr Chester were keen to attend and listen to the community’s opinions. “There are many other electorates
that are impacted. Some of those electorates are now finding their voice and finding their feet, and that is excellent, but Mallee has been front and centre of the pushback and I just think this is a great opportunity for Matt and for Darren and for farmers to be given that opportunity to speak with them directly and face-to-face,” she said. Dr Webster said the Prime Agricultural Land Protection Bill, which she and the Nationals tabled in both levels of Federal Parliament last sitting, proposed to introduce caveats to protect agricultural land in the cases where federal funding was allocated to state and territory governments. “In my legislation, they cannot con-
tinue to roll out projects and implement transmission projects, et cetera, over prime ag land,” she said. Dr Webster said she was ‘deeply concerned’ by news last week that AusNet had emailed property owners to say it had sought State Government approval to compulsorily acquire easements over their properties to construct the Western Renewables Link, WRL, transmission line. The WRL is a proposed 190-kilometre overhead high-voltage electricity transmission line that will carry renewable energy from Bulgana, near Stawell, to Sydenham in Melbourne’s north-west. Continued page 3
IN THIS ISSUE • Wait on wellbeing hubs • Education Week celebration • Netball anniversary reunion Phone: 03 5382 1351 Read it online: www.theweeklyadvertiser.com.au
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