Jacinta Allan has exposed herself as being a danger to the environment, a risk to industry, overseeing a collapse in the State Government’s self-lauded renewable wind strategy, and having no personal grasp of detail.
Yesterday, the Premier stated repeatedly that the Victorian Government’s proposal to assemble offshore wind turbines in Western Port had passed Victoria’s environmental assessments.
The Premier got it wrong. And got it wrong badly.
As has been reported, the Planning Minister referred the project for environmental assessment on 11 October 2023 because of “significant environmental effects”, as it may impact a wetland listed under the United Nations’ Ramsar convention.
Contrary to the Premier’s assertion, that assessment has not been completed.
The Shadow Minister for the Environment, James Newbury, said: “Jacinta Allan is lobbying Canberra to overturn a Federal decision that her own Government hasn’t approved. And embarrassingly, the Premier has been lobbying without even knowing that she has got her facts wrong. Victoria deserves a Premier who is actually across the detail.
“Environmentally minded Victorians are now rightly asking, if the Federal Environment Minister and State Planning Minister are concerned about the environmental impacts of the project, why isn’t the Premier?”
The Shadow Minister for Energy, Affordability and Security, David Davis, said: “The Labor Government’s renewable wind policy is now in tatters, which will significantly impact upon our broader energy security and will in turn drive up the cost of energy for every Victorian household.
“This project has shown industry that the State Labor Government is a basket case, where the Premier and her own Ministers don’t communicate on issues of national importance. Every Victorian should be disturbed by the behaviour of the State Government over this project.”
