On this side of the house, our government’s expectation is that transmission companies will reach voluntary land access agreements, which normally include payments for access. Only if these agreements cannot be reached would an authorised officer go ahead and attend, but that would only be after a warning that the landholder would receive a $1200 fine. They would still have to refuse a magistrate, who would issue such an order. Sorry, when we are talking about the magistrate, it would be a $12,000 fine if the landholder did not comply with such an order. These are end-of-journey measures that we have put in place. They are measures that we hope we never have to use. The minister, who is here at the table this afternoon, has made it entirely clear publicly and also to members on this side of the house and members on the opposite side of the house that these are measures that we hope never to have to use and that agreement can be reached.

I think one of the reasons for that is because we inherently understand and empathise with the landholders who find themselves in this situation. This is not a situation that has been easy to be in for anyone. The Leader of the Nationals talks passionately about his local community. I have visited his local community. It is somewhere I have gone with my children to enjoy such beautiful countryside, and I know he does feel really passionately about his community and ensuring that they are able to maintain the benefits of their own land and autonomy. I understand that. But we also are in a situation where difficult decisions have to be made, and we are trying to make them as fairly as possible.

This bill is delivering another set of reforms. They are reforms, here in this place, to go ahead and advance our government’s bold and ambitious plan to transition our energy sector to renewable energy and to achieve net zero by 2025. It should be clear to all of us here in this chamber that Victoria has been and continues to be an absolute national leader in climate action and supporting the energy transition. The energy transition and tackling climate change is a conversation where if you are out in your community and you are visiting schools – and I am heading off to a school on Friday with none other than the Deputy Premier in my local electorate – children and young people constantly want to talk about what our government and governments are and should be doing to tackle climate change. It is on their minds. It is on their parents’ minds. It is the right thing to do.

We have been here in government for 10 years, and we have made remarkable inroads on tackling climate change and reducing emissions. Our last climate target, which was a 15 to 20 per cent reduction of emissions from 2005 levels, we went ahead and exceeded by another 10 per cent. We not only talk about taking action in relation to climate change here on this side of the house but are actually taking real action. That comes from being in government, and it also sometimes comes from having to make really difficult decisions that can have adverse impacts on some people in our community. This has been a really tricky situation. Right now the SEC is powering our government facilities and utilities, our schools and our train stations, and even this very chamber is being powered by renewable energy generated from projects the SEC has invested in, and I think sometimes it is easy to forget that. But it is extraordinary to be standing here in this place knowing that the lights that are on in this very chamber are being powered by renewable energy that is generated by investment by the SEC. This is not just something we have talked about. We have been beavering away in the background making it happen. This means that when the SEC enters the market it will do so servicing at least 5 per cent of Victoria’s energy consumption, making it the fifth-largest energy retailer in the state.

[Interjection]

It is a massive uplift, member for Point Cook – massive – and we are not stopping there. Later this year the SEC is going to actually begin offering to sell electricity to commercial and industrial businesses, helping them make the switch to renewable energy and slashing their power bills. The SEC is going to be more than just a provider of renewable energy. I just think this is tremendous. I was telling my mother this. She is not actually living in Victoria, but she thought it was a great idea. It is going to be a one-stop shop for families and folks right across Victoria looking to save on their energy bills. I feel like it is a one-stop shop that will tell you everything that you need to know about our Solar Homes program, batteries, solar panels – you name it – hot-water systems, where it is made, good reliable installers, the products. It has got everything that you need to know to make the switch to renewable energy. It is also the one-stop shop that will help you save on your energy bills, which is equally important. It is a one-stop shop, but it is also serving as a bit of an education tool for our community to better understand their options, what it all means, how it all connects together, how it is lowering power bills, how it is reducing our emissions and how that is good for tackling climate change.

This is a one-stop shop and has tremendous benefit for folks in our community.

Our Victorian energy upgrades program is making sure that households can upgrade their appliances, heating, cooling and hot-water systems with the most energy-efficient products. As I said, you will be able to check this out on the one-stop shop. You know, every time I am out and about in my local community, particularly the outer west, I see they absolutely love this program. I feel like every single person has got the solar panels, has got the battery, has got their hot-water systems. They are now driving around in electric vehicles. People always thought whether people in the outer west would take up electric vehicles – yes, they are. That is how the SEC is going to work, lowering power prices for households and businesses in a stronger, more competitive market that thrives on renewable energy.

A lot of work has gone into this bill. I think that with the consultation there has been a lot of really good outcomes in relation to powers that, yes, do need to be in place but hopefully will never have to be used. These are not powers that are just implemented here in Victoria. They are in South Australia, New South Wales and, I understand, Tasmania. It is not something new. They are there, and hopefully we do not have to use them, but they do need to be there because we do need to build these transmission lines, and we are trying as hard as possible to reduce the burden on and anxiety for the landholders that are caught up in this. I really do wish that those opposite, who a lot of them I do know feel passionately about this and feel protective of their community, would start to reveal some of the more factual things about this bill and about this situation in trying to make headway into having a mutual agreement to move forward and ways in which we can take those extra steps. Fearmongering never gets anyone anywhere in this state, and it certainly does not get them elected. I commend this bill to the house.