“Grown men reduced to tears”: the laws pushing farmers to the brink

E1853 - “Grown men reduced to tears”: the laws pushing farmers to the brink

Published: March 18, 2026

Duration: 13:52

Brett Hosking is a fifth-generation grain and livestock farmer, and has seen his fair share of heartache and hard times.

But this time, it’s not a natural disaster or a foreign war that’s threatening to tip farmers over the edge, but a decision from the Victorian government.

The state has passed new compulsory acquisition laws which make it easier for energy companies to acquire farmers’ land and build transmission lines and renewable energy projects on it.

Today, Victorian Farmers Federation President, Brett Hosking, on why the government’s push to roll out rene...