Rubbish rebels: Labor MPs, ministers blast waste incinerator plans in their seats

The minister who first introduced Victoria’s waste-to-energy policy is opposing an incinerator in her own backyard, as the Allan government takes friendly fire from state and senior federal Labor MPs over plans to build waste-burning facilities across the state. The first in a so-called “ring of fire” of projects circling Melbourne is a large facility proposed at Lara, near Geelong, which would treat an estimated 400,000 tonnes of waste every year and generate 35MW of electricity. Lara developer Richard Bisinella and his father, Lino Bisinella, at the proposed waste heat to energy facility site.

Credit: Joe Armao Labor MPs, including Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, have written to Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny to oppose the project, which state Lara MP Ella George described as lacking “any social licence”. At the same time, documents show the proponents claim the government had pushed the environmental watchdog to approve the project. Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio is publicly campaigning against a similar project close to her northern Melbourne electorate , despite shepherding the state’s waste-to-energy strategy through parliament in 2022.



At the time, she said the move would reduce landfill and create jobs as part of the government’s “ambitious” waste and recycling agenda. Last month, D’Ambrosio, who did not respond to questions on Tuesday, signed a petition to state parliament sponsored by another Labor MP, Bronwyn Halfpenny , opposing a waste heat-to-energy proposal in Wollert, neighbouring her seat of Mill Park. “Over the past few months, we’ve been working with community to understand the way forward on the proposed waste-to-energy incinerator,” she wrote on Facebook on November 2.

“We’ve listened to the community. It is clear that residents are not supportive of the proposal in Wollert, and we’re with you.” Under the laws D’Ambrosio introduced into parliament in 2022 establishing Victoria’s waste-to-energy scheme, the amount of waste that can be burned is capped at 1 million tonnes a year.

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