A ‘dying’ town which was once hugely important to Australia’s coal mining industry is set to be one of the sites for a nuclear power plant if the Coalition wins the next Federal Election.
With Peter Dutton wanting Australia to go nuclear and Anthony Albanese‘s government pursuing a renewables-led energy transition, the election due within a year will pass judgment on these competing visions.
Until now, the Coalition has been very coy about where it would put nuclear plants, but Shadow Energy Minister Ted O’Brien let the cat out of the bag on Wednesday by not denying a suggestion from 2GB’s Ben Fordham.
‘You’re going to put one in Lithgow. You’ve got an old coal plant in Lithgow. You’ve got the transmission lines and it’s the talk of the town at the moment in Lithgow,’ Fordham said.
Mr O’Brien tried to deflect from directly naming the NSW town, 142kilometres west of Sydney, as being one of the first nuclear cabs off the rank, but he also didn’t deny it.
A ‘dying town’ which was once hugely important to Australia’s coal mining industry is set to host a nuclear power plant if the Coalition wins the next Federal Election. A nuclear power station is pictured
‘Whether it be (there) or elsewhere in Australia, one of the things we’ve learnt along the way is communities that have experience hosting coal plants, they have high energy IQ, they get it,’ Mr O’Brien said.
‘And they understand the importance of 24/7 base load power.’
Fordham also pushed Mr O’Brien about why the Coalition is taking so long to say exactly what its plans are and that they keep saying it will come ‘in due course’.
‘You started talking about nuclear power just under two years ago. So how long do you need to announce a policy,’ Fordham asked. ‘Is due course 2024?’
The Shadow Minister finally relented, saying there would be an announcement ‘certainly this year, I can promise you that’.
In a sign that the Coalition is coordinating its attack on Labor over net zero emissions targets, Nationals leader David Littleproud also spoke about nuclear plants on Wednesday.
Mr Littleproud said the plants will be in National Party seats and Australians would ‘know very soon the specific sites’ being proposed.
When asked if he was happy to go to the next election with nuclear power plants proposed in seats held by his party, he said ‘the answer is yes’.
‘We will be very upfront and honest. They will be in National Party seats,’ he told ABC breakfast.
‘We’ve been very clear that they will be limited to where existing coal power stations are, so we don’t need the extra 28,000 of transmission lines to plug the renewables.
‘We’re clear, there are 12 to 14 existing coal-fired power stations across the country so we can limit to that.
Nationals leader David Littleproud (pictured) also spoke about nuclear plants on Wednesday, saying many would be hosted in National Party seats
The central west New South Wales town of Lithgow (pictured) is being tipped to be one of the first locations for a nuclear power plant if the Coalition wins the next Federal Election
‘But you’ll know very soon the specific sites. We’ll look you square in the eye and be honest.’
Mr Littleproud said he and Liberal leader Peter Dutton ‘won’t hide anything’ from the public.
Mr O’Brien echoed the Nationals leader, saying ‘we are only looking at coal plants … they are ideal locations’.
‘We’ve also announced that it’s part of a balanced mix, working with renewables and gas,’ he said.