After reading about the planning permit being granted to the Meadow Creek solar project, my emotions included amazement, extreme disappointment, despair but most of all, anger.

How could this happen?

The Rural City of Wangaratta Council doesn't approve, our local state government MP doesn't approve, the local community doesn't approve, the wider community involved in agriculture doesn't approve, our local federal government MP has reservations about the project, so how can someone who has not even physically visited and looked at the area concerned, approve this plan?

The proponents of the proposed industrial construction claim they "remain committed to collaborating with the community to deliver a project that benefits all".

If they were ever "committed to collaborating" with anyone apart from those who will receive a financial gain, the project would never have gone past the drawing board stage.

We are not against solar - we have solar panels on our shed - but deplore the desecration of prime agricultural land and the subsequent loss of food production.

And before the NIMBY comments start, we do not live in the area - we just believe it is very wrong for the land in question.

My husband and I are both in our ninth decade, so this project won't affect us much, but we are concerned for our grandchildren and their offspring when the 'powers that be' can get it so wrong.

Val McMonigle, Glenrowan

Questions over Nationals' 'fair' energy plan

Senator Bridget McKenzie raises many topics for discussion in her letter, published in last Friday's Wangaratta Chronicle (7 November).

I would like to respond to two connected ideas: doing “our fair share to reduce global emissions”, and the price of energy.

In the last three years Australia has suffered from inflated, record-high coal and gas prices.

The Climate Council last year showed that four of the most severe power price spikes in the past seven years were driven by unplanned coal outages.

We are exposed to overseas markets when most of our gas is shipped offshore.

As coal comes to an end, the necessary grid modernisation is expensive due to long-term interest rate increases.

And let’s not forget that farmers are now the beneficiaries of generous returns for hosting renewables infrastructure.

Ms McKenzie does not acknowledge that renewables are putting downward pressure on prices, and this trend is expected to grow, particularly as battery storage becomes widespread.

If we can agree that we must do “our fair share to reduce global emissions”, how would the Coalition’s proposals in any way reduce emissions to a “fair” level when it advocates more coal, more gas and the fantasy of nuclear some time in the 2040s?

Fiona Colin, Malvern East

Treaty Bill raises concerns over accountability, equality

The Allan Labor Government’s Statewide Treaty Bill 2025 undermines transparency, accountability, and the principles of equality before the law.

This legislation represents one of the most significant changes to Victoria’s system of government in history.

It creates a separate system of law and regulation based on race, and that should concern every Victorian.

The proposed statutory authority, Gellung Warl, would operate independently of Parliament and Ministers, with the ability to set its own rules and standards while being exempt from key accountability measures such as ministerial oversight and freedom of information laws.

The bill gives sweeping powers to an unelected body with little public scrutiny.

Key terms remain undefined, oversight is limited, and there are exemptions from taxes and transparency laws that should apply to all.

We all want to see stronger outcomes for Indigenous communities, but this legislation divides rather than unites.

True reconciliation comes from working together and delivering real results in local communities, not by creating separate systems.

I and my Nationals’ colleagues will oppose the Treaty legislation and are committed to repealing it if elected to government.

Tim McCurdy, Nationals' MP for Ovens Valley