General News
14 January, 2026
Petition seeks veto rights for Victorian farmers as projects expand
Landholder rights in Victoria have attracted scrutiny in recent years as the number of renewables and mining projects increases across the state.
Victorian landowners have realised they do not have the same veto rights as farmers in other Australian states and are petitioning the government for change.
The petition has been extended for another six months after its launch in July 2025.
The extension gives organisers until July 11, 2026, to attract more support for the petition.
"A minimum of 10,000 signatures is required to advance the petition for discussion in parliament," organiser Jospehine Johns said.
“The petition outlines changes to the relevant Victorian agricultural legislation that would align it with other states, where farmers have certain veto rights over their land," she said.
If the required number of signatures is reached before July, the Legislative Council would call on the Government to amend the rights of all farm title owners to veto proposed farm entry or land access arrangements if they reasonably believe these activities would harm food and fibre production, pose a safety or biosecurity risk, or reduce their financial return from their farmland.
The petition claims that this change is necessary to maintain and safeguard the food security of the Australian Food Bowl.
The Johns family farm at Dooen in the Wimmera has been in the family since the 1880s, and most of it will be impacted by the proposed 3640-hectare Avonbank mineral sand mine.
"My father's final resting place is on the family farm, and we have no rights to protect this sacred place," said Josephine Johns.
"His last wishes were to have his ashes interned in the family farm, and my mother to join him there when it is her time.
"Mum [Jo Johns] is devastated."
Ms Johns said she wanted people to consider how they would feel if it were their family member’s ashes, and asked why it is that other cultures' burial sites are respected but her father's resting place is not.
"We are all equal at birth, so why are my father's ashes any less important?"
Ms John's father, Donald Johns OAM, died on June 6, 2017, and his ashes were interred on the family farm on November 4, 2017, with a Uniting Church minister officiating.
His ashes were not scattered; they lay in the soil on the family farm, but if the mine goes ahead and his ashes are removed in the mining process, the devastated family say they will no longer know where their husband and father is.
The late Mr Johns was a former mayor of Horsham. He served three separate terms as mayor and 18 as a councillor, and the many successful projects he implemented during his terms on council have been well documented.
According to her mother, Ms Johns is her father's daughter and is just doing what he would have done, by going to the top to make this change for all Victorians.
Regardless of the impact on her family, Ms Johns said she wants to make a change for all Victorians, not just her family and the farmers impacted by the proposed mine at Dooen.
"This is much bigger than just our backyard, and we have a platform to advocate for the whole state, and that is why I initiated his petition," she said.
Learning that her family didn't have the same veto rights as other states has motivated her to speak out, because, in her words, staying silent was to be complicit.
The proposed Avonbank mine at Dooen will impact some of the Wimmera's prime agricultural land.
In late 2025, farmers across the region systematically denied access to their land to transmission line workers who attempted to access the farms by forming blockades at their gates.
So far, this tactic has been successful.
Recent changes to the legislation permit access to private land without the owners' permission, but they say they want changes to the legislation to support the agricultural industry as a whole.
The Australian government also implemented fast-track measures for renewable energy projects in 2025, saying they would enhance Australia's clean energy infrastructure and help meet its renewable energy targets.
Still, Ms Johns said she disagrees with the government's strategy.
"Nothing good has ever come from fast-tracking," she said.
"Why should Victoria be the guinea pig?
In her opinion, fast-tracking reduces due diligence and people's rights.
"Australia has an abundance of barren land that is unsuitable for agriculture, and many of these projects could be implemented there without destroying the small percentage of suitable arable land we have in this state," she said.
"Many of our farmers, if not all of them, are facing heartache of some sort, either from wind and solar projects, powerlines, or mines, or they know someone who is; the mental health of the whole industry is being impacted.
"They feel as if they have no say over the land they work, the businesses they have built, or the families they represent."
"Why can't farmers receive the same respect as other professions?"
She hopes that by speaking out, it will help people understand what is happening not only in their own backyard but across their state, and that they will be encouraged to sign the petition.
Details about the Legislation Council Petition #673 are available on Victorian Land Rights https://sites.google.com/view/victorianlandrights/home.
Signatories can remain anonymous.