By Jeremy Cook
Southern Downs MP James Lister has rebuked a federal Coalition proposal to build up to seven nuclear power plants across Australia, including in Queensland.
Under the plan, which was unveiled by Coalition leaders Peter Dutton and David Littleproud at a press conference on Wednesday 19 June, Queensland would host two of seven nuclear reactors at the existing Callide and Tarong coal-fired power stations.
The sites would form part of an “energy mix” alongside renewables and gas, Dutton said. Littleproud claimed it would reduce “the need for as much industrial scale renewable energy”.
“That’s a good thing for regional Australia, particularly when we’re going to be the ones that host it,” the Nationals leader and Maranoa MP said.
Though spruiked heavily by the Coalition as a cheaper alternative to Labor’s all-in renewables transition, talk of nuclear has not been received as warmly by the party’s Queensland caucus.
Asked whether he supported the proposal from his federal counterparts, Lister questioned its priority.
“I’ve rejected Labor’s Pioneer Burdekin Pumped Hydro because there’s no business case, no approvals, no local community consultation, and a price tag expected to be tens of billions of dollars of borrowed money,” the LNP backbencher said.
“The speculation about nuclear in recent days is exactly the same, so why would I prioritise it over the fight right now to fix the hospitals and the roads, to build more houses and dams, and to lock up the crooks?
“I have a coal mine and a power station in my electorate, which employs hundreds of people, keeps the lights on when the wind doesn’t blow, and keeps the town of Millmerran alive.
“I’m very happy with that thank you.”
Speaking at a press conference in Cairns late-last week, Queensland’s LNP Opposition leader David Crisafulli maintained his stance on nuclear power remained unchanged despite Dutton’s announcement.
“My position has been consistent, it remains and will remain consistent … it’s not part of our plan,” Crisafulli said.
The Coalition’s plan has been widely panned by federal and state government MPs alike, as well as energy experts over claims it lacks detail on costs, construction timeframes and won’t meet the country’s climate targets of net-zero by 2050.
The CSIRO’s latest GenCost report estimated that if built, the first fully operational power plant would come online “no sooner than 2040”, at a potential cost in excess of $17 billion.
Dutton said he would work with premiers to overcome state bans on nuclear power generation which has also been banned federally since 2000.
Given the time needed to overturn those bans, chief executive of Australia’s Smart Energy Council John Grimes estimated “a very optimistic operational date” of 2047 for the country’s first reactor.
Premier Steven Miles, who faces a tough re-election bid ahead of October’s state election, said he would “use every tool that we have to block Peter Dutton’s plans to build nuclear reactors here“.
“They would leave us with dangerous nuclear waste to manage, and we don’t need it because we have a good, costed plan that’s recognised globally,“ Miles told reporters last week.
