Local MPs from opposing sides have warned Coalition leader Peter Dutton his plan to build a nuclear reactor in Collie will face stiff opposition from the community.
Local MPs from opposing sides have warned Coalition leader Peter Dutton his plan to build a nuclear reactor in Collie will face stiff opposition from the community.
Mr Dutton on Wednesday revealed Collie was among seven locations nationwide where a future federal Coalition government would build a nuclear power station.
Collie’s reactor would be built at the Muja coal plant site, 15 kilometres south-east of town, in a move Mr Dutton said would reduce power prices and emissions.
But state Liberal leader Libby Mettam poured cold water on the idea, at least for the short-term, while state Energy Minister Reece Whitby described the plan as “unicorn that will never arrive”.
It was the two local MPs appearing alongside their senior members – Liberal South West MP Steve Thomas and Labor’s Collie-Preston MP Jodie Hanns – who both said Collie was opposed to nuclear power.
“I have had nobody speak to me about the fact that they want a nuclear power plant in Collie,” Ms Hanns said.
“In fact, I have had several phone calls today from people into my electorate office and to me personally begging me to stand up against this particular plan.”
Dr Thomas, the shadow energy minister, said current nuclear technology could not replace gas in Western Australia.
“I would say the Collie community is largely opposed at this point to nuclear energy,” he said.
“So the federal opposition will have twenty years to convince them that it's a good idea.
“In twenty or thirty years’ time maybe the technology changes, but for twenty to thirty years, gas energy generation will be absolutely vital for this state.”
Dr Thomas said the nuclear debate was worth having in WA, and that today’s announcement gave clarity to the discussion.
The state Liberal policy is to build extra gas generation alongside renewables to replace coal power.
The party is not opposed to nuclear power but doubts it would be feasible in WA.
Under the federal Coalition plan, a government led by Mr Dutton would own the reactors but farm-out the build and operation to specialist nuclear companies.
Two would initially be built by 2037, however, it is not yet known whether these would be large stations or small modular reactors.
A price tag is not yet forthcoming.
“Of the world’s twenty-largest economies, Australia is the only one not using nuclear energy, or moving towards using it,” Mr Dutton said.
“A zero-emissions nuclear power plant will be a national asset delivering cheaper, cleaner and consistent energy for eighty years.
“Getting started now on establishing a civil nuclear program is the right decision for you, your children and your grandchildren.”
Business News understands O’Connor MP Rick Wilson is in Collie today to spruik the policy.
Mr Whitby said adopting nuclear power amounted to walking away from the “best renewable resource” in the world.
“In WA, on some days, we have more than eighty per cent of our energy being met by solar and wind, so what's going to happen with nuclear in the system, you can't dial it now, so it destroys the market for green renewable energy,” he said.
“This is about going after that extreme vote that doesn't believe that COVID is real, and that believes renewable energy is somehow sinister or evil.
“You are more likely to see a unicorn trotting down St Georges Terrace than seeing nuclear energy provide an affordable and reliable solution for our power, it just will not happen.”
WA opposition leader Shane Love said the state National Party was not opposed to nuclear power.
“It is a discussion that has to be had,” he said.
“Whether or not it stacks up in Collie will be something which I would imagine would be the subject of a lot of investigation and business cases to go forward.
“There is a process of two and a half years of consultations at minimum which will be undertaken before such and such change.”
Mr Love said WA’s acceptance of nuclear submarines through the AUKUS pact suggested the state was warming to the idea of nuclear power.
