Originally published by Matthew Kelly of Newcastle Herald
07.04.2026
The Upper Hunter is a critical juncture between the New England REZ and the state’s power grid interface at Bayswater Power Station.
The government’s energy corporation has been accused of taking a no-prisoners approach as it engages with landholders over the creation of a corridor between Walcha and Muswellbrook.
But more than 100 landholders have pushed back, accusing EnergyCo of relentless bullying, misleading behaviour and disregarding the project’s environmental impacts.
“Three EnergyCo staff misrepresented themselves to landholders as water borers,” Upper Hunter Responsible Infrastructure Group chair Allison McPhee wrote in an email to Energy and Environment Minister Penny Sharpe.
“Only when challenged did they identify themselves as EnergyCo representatives.
“This behaviour has fundamentally destroyed community trust.”
Several Lower Hunter landholders who were impacted by the path of the HTP have made similar complaints.
Mr Layzell told State Parliament the New England REZ team’s behaviour had gone from “bad to worse”.
“The way that they have been treating the local people is awful,” the Nationals MP said.
“They have been pressuring landholders and going undercover driving around looking at various properties, all while pretending they have nothing to do with EnergyCo.
“They are going into local cafes and criticising some of our local identities quite openly, as if that does not get around the local town.
“The townspeople are absolutely up in arms about EnergyCo’s behaviour. I cannot believe that the senior executives of EnergyCo are not stepping in to deal with the problem.”
He singled out project director Doug Parris, who he said was responsible for the team’s culture.
“Doug Parris’s position as project director is absolutely untenable. He needs to be held accountable for the rotten culture and poor behaviour of his team. We need someone who can manage that, because he is obviously not capable of it.”
In response to questioning from Nationals deputy opposition whip Wes Fang during a parliamentary inquiry into the impact of renewable energy zones, EnergyCo chief executive Hannah McCaughey said an EnergyCo employee had been sacked following a complaint that they had made disparaging comments about a landholder in a Scone cafe while other landholders were present.
“We let that individual go,” she said.
An EnergyCo spokeswoman said the corporation had a zero-tolerance approach to behaviour that misrepresented EnergyCo or was disrespectful of anyone in the community
“Our team members are engaging with landowners in parallel with ongoing field work and technical investigations as we refine the transmission corridor. This approach ensures local knowledge and property-specific information is considered in the refinement process. Engagement in this process is entirely voluntary and at the discretion of the individual landowner.”
“Any work on or over private land occurs only with the landowner’s agreement and in accordance with property-specific access arrangements and biosecurity protocols.”
Concerns about staff conduct are reviewed through EnergyCo’s formal complaints process.
Ms Sharpe, who will meet with affected Upper Hunter landholders this Friday, told State Parliament she had made it clear to Ms McCaughey and EnergyCo’s board that landholders should be treated with respect.
“My expectations are very clear … everyone who is working with affected landowners is to work with them with respect and be honest and to provide them with the information that they need,” she said.
