‘He might be right’: Minns says states don’t have the power to stop nuclear

Premier Chris Minns has conceded the NSW government may not have the power to stop Peter Dutton’s nuclear proposal from going ahead if the he wins the next Federal election.

Premier Chris Minns has conceded he would be powerless to stop the creation of two nuclear power plants in NSW should the Coalition win the Federal election.

This comes after the NSW Premier joined state premiers from Victoria, Queensland and South Australia last week in rejecting the nuclear proposal, saying he would not reverse the state’s nuclear ban which would act as a barrier to the development of nuclear reactors.

In response federal Coalition leader Peter Dutton has said while he hoped to negotiate with the states, he would override them.

“Commonwealth laws override state laws even to the level of inconsistency. So support or opposition at a state level won’t stop us rolling out our new energy system,” Mr Dutton said on Saturday.

“I don’t answer to them (state premiers).”

NSW Premier Chris Minns has admitted state nuclear bans would be powerless to stop the creation of two nuclear reactors near Sydney. Picture: NewsWire/ Monique Harmer

In a change of tune, Mr Minns conceded on Sunday that the states had no power to prevent Mr Dutton circumventing state bans. He said the only way opponents of the policy could prevent it was at the polls.

“(Dutton) said yesterday he could knock over the states when it comes to nuclear bans per jurisdiction – I’ll just make the point he might be right,” he said.

“If you want to stop this nuclear project, you’re going to have to vote against the Federal opposition – you can’t rely on the states to knock it over.”

Mr Minns said if a future Peter Dutton-led government used international agreements such as the Paris Accords to circumvent state bans, it would be going against the will of the community.

“If they’re going to use external affairs powers or the Paris agreements or other initiatives in order to progress nuclear energy and therefore go against the will of state governments, local MPs, National Party MPs, local councils, the Lithgow community, or the community in the Hunter then the only way to guarantee that it won’t go ahead is to not vote for them in the next Federal election.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton said on Saturday he could override state bans on nuclear if he wins the Federal election Picture: NewsWire/ Monique Harmer

The NSW Premier also attacked Mr Dutton’s claim that the annual waste generated by a small modular nuclear reactor is equal to the size of a Coke can.

“A Coca Cola can in terms of nuclear waste is per person, so you can expect 25 million coke cans if this project goes ahead,” he said.

The World Nuclear Association claims the waste from a reactor supplying a person’s electricity needs for a year would be about the “size of a brick” per person.

Yet only an estimated five grams of that is regarded as “high-level waste”, with a typical 1,000-megawatt nuclear power station producing around three cubic metres of vitrified high-level waste per year.

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