The second meeting of campaigners opposing the proposed Bulla waste incinerator and power plant saw around 50 people pack a small meeting room at Sunbury Library on Thursday 18 September.
Joining them we’re campaigners from Geelong who gave a short talk about their ongoing battle to stop a waste-to-energy plant being built in Lara (20k north-east of Geelong’s business district) and to share lessons learned.
The proposed Lara incinerator is being designed to burn 400,000 tonnes of waste a year. The one earmarked for Sunbury Rd, Bulla, could burn almost double that (750,000 tonnes annually). The Lara campaign has seen three of the city’s politicians come out and argue against the incinerator.
Chairing the meeting was Sunbury school teacher Adam Bremner who set the agenda for the evening, managed a short debate among attendees, and organised various sub-committees to manage different aspects of the campaign. These included organising petitions, raising awareness by door-knocking across Sunbury, and getting posters printed.
David Ettershank MP (Legalise Cannabis Party, Western Metropolitan) has raised the issue of waste-to-energy power plants in Parliament, and gave a short talk at Thursday’s meeting. His office will send letters to every household in Sunbury and Bulla telling them about the proposed plant.
Addressing the room, Mr Ettershank said: “The prospect of having more new incinerators in Victoria than in the rest of the country combined is deeply concerning.
“Somewhere between eight and eleven incinerators are being planned for the state – and the fact that nobody even knows the exact number shows how ridiculous this is.
“This is also the price of not fighting. The price of not fighting is that some communities will resist and succeed, while others will be left to put up with it. We mustn’t be in that second category. Sunbury is already seen as a dumping ground for Melbourne. But this is people’s homes, livelihoods and communities – it is worth fighting for.”
Pressure points
Mr Ettershank said his Party is pushing “at every possible point” to highlight the issue of waste-to-energy plants.
“We’ve already asked questions in parliament, met with the environment minister [Steve Dimopoulos] and submitted questions on notice.”
Mr Ettershank said parliamentary petitions are an important tool adding that every petition forces a debate, “…and that means the government must defend its position”.
He also reminded campaigners that 2026 is an election year, a time “when governments are most vulnerable to community pressure”.
“Recently, we succeeded in getting a resolution for a parliamentary inquiry into incinerators,” he said. “This inquiry will give us a platform to cut through industry spin and lies, and to question whether this is appropriate technology – especially when there are no minimum standards in place.
Election
“The next state election is in November next year (2026), just over 12 months away. Between now and Christmas, we need to make an impact – to show the government and Labor members that there is strong resistance.
“From February through to August, the parliamentary inquiry will run, giving us a further opportunity to keep the issue alive. By then, the election campaign will be underway, and we want to be at maximum campaign strength.
“This is especially important because many of the affected communities are in safe Labor seats. These electorates are usually taken for granted, but they can be made vulnerable if politicians fail to stand up with integrity and courage against this proposal.”
Last year a community campaign against a massive chemical storage facility at Little River (Geelong) succeeded after just three months of active campaigning, said Mr Ettershank.
“We can achieve the same here, but only if we put in the effort and work together,” he said.
Sunbury’s political representatives are listed here.
The next meeting of the campaign group is Thursday 2 October, Sunbury Library, 5.30pm.