WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Victoria farmers face $50,000 fines if they refuse to have wind turbines installed on their private property.
OUR VERDICT
False. Refusing to have a wind turbine installed on private property will not incur a fine in Victoria.
AAP FACTCHECK - Victorian farmers do not face $50,000 fines for refusing wind farm projects on their property, despite claims online.
Landowners can choose to host wind turbines and are not penalised for refusing development.
The false claim appears in a May 10 Instagram post that received hundreds of likes and comments.
"The Treasurer of Victoria Jaclyn Symes has signed off on allowing armed police to enter privately owned Victorian farms and threatening landowners and farmers with fines of up to $50,000 if they refuse the installation of wind turbines on their private property," the post said.
However, the government has not passed any laws allowing this.
VicGrid is a statutory corporation responsible for planning renewable energy projects in Victoria.
A VicGrid spokesperson told AAP FactCheck that landowners can choose whether to negotiate with developers about having renewable energy infrastructure on their property.
"In Victoria it is up to landholders to decide whether or not they want to host solar, wind or battery projects," the spokesperson explained.
Developers cannot enter properties without permission and cannot force landowners to host these projects, they added.
Existing legislation allows authorities to acquire land or easements for projects with a public purpose, often to build roads, railways, transmission lines or pipelines.
Landowners are compensated, and the process can be undertaken voluntarily, but compulsory acquisition powers also exist.
The Victorian government's online guide to the state's planning system states compulsory acquisition powers may be used only under certain conditions, including when land is "required for the purposes of a planning scheme".
In August 2025, the Victorian government also passed a bill allowing VicGrid "authorised officers" backed by police to access private land earmarked for transmission line projects.
Among other projects, the law applies to VNI West, a proposed 500-kilometre transmission line project connecting renewable energy zones in Victoria and New South Wales.
The project plans to cut through private farmland, and more than 170 landowners have provided access to allow VicGrid to conduct surveys, according to the authority, but others have refused and staged protests against the project.
Property owners can be fined for refusing access, but the amount is not "up to $50,000" for private landowners, as claimed in the Instagram post.
A VicGrid spokesperson said that where access for work on transmission lines is impeded, authorised officers "may issue warnings, directions or fines of $800 for refusing, obstructing or unreasonably delaying entry".
The legislation states that if the issue is taken to court, a magistrate may impose a harsher penalty of 30 Victorian penalty units, or around $6000, on a person who unreasonably hinders or obstructs "authorised activity" related to VicGrid projects (p148-149).
The maximum fine under the legislation is 240 penalty units, or approximately $49,000 (section 68B).
However, the 240 penalty unit fine applies solely to body corporates that provide "false or misleading" information in "compliance with a market information instrument", which is a notice or order to provide information issued by the regulator.
This penalty does not apply to farmers or private individuals and does not relate to wind farms.
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