NSW Nationals MPs vow to fight Dutton on nuclear sites

The Coalition will face a battle within its own ranks over nuclear energy, as state Nationals MPs vow to fight proposed sites in their own backyards.

The Coalition is facing a battle within its own ranks over nuclear energy, as state Nationals MPs vow to fight the federal party’s proposal.

On Wednesday, federal Coalition Leader Peter Dutton flagged the idea of building seven nuclear power plants across Australia.

His suggested sites are: Liddell and Mount Piper in NSW, Loy Yang in Victoria, Port Augusta in South Australia, Callide and Tarong in Queensland and Collie in Western Australia.

However, the plan to build a nuclear power reactor in NSW’s Hunter region could be scuttled by legislation banning the construction of nuclear power facilities across NSW.

Premier Chris Minns is bracing to fight Mr Dutton on the issue, declaring on Wednesday that his government would keep the NSW ban on nuclear reactors “in place”.

Mount Piper coal Power Station, Portland NSW.

To build a nuclear facility in NSW, the state parliament would need to repeal an almost three-decades old ban which imposes fines of $110,000 for anyone who constructs or operates a nuclear facility.

The ban has exemptions for medical research and nuclear powered vessels.

“Our ban stays in place, we’re not repealing it. I’d be surprised if the NSW Liberal and National party want to repeal it as well,” Mr Minns told Sky News.

“So I don’t know how (the federal opposition is) going to get around it. I think that’s a question for the leader of the opposition federally.

Currently NSW, Victoria and Queensland have laws in place banning nuclear reactors.

Yet under NSW law, Mr Dutton would be able to circumvent state laws without needing to remove them.

Should the Liberal leader successfully lift the federal moratorium on nuclear power, the state laws could easily be overridden as they are invalid if inconsistent with Commonwealth law.

Liddell Power Station, in Musswellbrook, NSW. Picture: Getty Images

Mr Minns also raised the issue of the cost of nuclear power.

“I just say two things about nuclear power. Firstly, it costs a lot of money. Secondly, it takes a lot of time and we don’t have a day to wait.

“And I don’t think NSW consumers can pay anymore when it comes to energy prices.”

Mr Minns questioned who would foot the bill.

“The last estimate I saw was that nuclear power generation in this state to replace coal fired power costs between $70b and $200 billion. Who are they going to send that bill to?”

The Premier said there was currently about $30 billion of private investment in NSW tied up in renewable energy.

“We should have been encouraged by both sides of state politics and both sides of federal politics over the last time I said to local firms, international firms invest in energy production in NSW. If all of a sudden you were to introduce nuclear power, those investments (are) at real risk.”

NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe warned Mr Dutton’s nuclear plan was risking $32 billion in private investment being pumped into the state to build renewable energy options like wind and solar.

“NSW has benefited from bipartisanship on the transition of our energy system. Peter Dutton has today shredded this and put the economy and our environment under threat,” she said.

“We don’t need nuclear reactors in NSW, we have a strong renewables sector, some of the best solar and wind resources in the world and a roadmap to cheaper and affordable energy that’s well underway.

“The reality is that nuclear reactors are horrendously expensive to build, take too long to construct and are too costly to run. NSW energy consumers can’t afford that.”

NSW Liberal Energy spokesman James Griffin would not say whether the Coalition would seek to overturn the ban, but said his party is “committed to working collaboratively with the Commonwealth and Federal Coalition on a forward looking energy policy that will deliver energy security, alongside clean and reliable energy to power Australia into the future.”

“As a nation we shouldn’t be scared of having a rational discussion about nuclear energy, but that should not come at the expense of getting on with the urgent job in front of us, which is rolling out the NSW Energy Roadmap,” he said.

Bathurst MP Paul Toole has vowed to fight the proposal.

Upper Hunter MP Dave Layzell.

However, NSW Liberal leader Mark Speakman said he was “open” to lifting the state ban.

“The Opposition is open to lifting the ban to allow nuclear power to be considered, if feasible, as a longer term supplement to delivery of reliable, affordable and clean energy under the Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap and subject to rigorous environmental assessments for particular projects,” Mr Speakman said.

Local MPs react to Mt Piper and Liddell sites

Meanwhile, NSW Bathurst MP Paul Toole, who under Mr Dutton’s proposed sites would have a nuclear reactor in his electorate at Mount Piper near Lithgow, has accused his federal colleagues of blindsiding his community.

“I think the community feels as though they’ve been left in the dark,” he said. “There’s been an announcement made but it appears there’s been no community consultation.

“The announcement lacks detail and raises more questions than answers. I’ll be backing the views of my community 100 per cent.”

Mr Toole said he believed the federal Coalition’s plans were “a work of fiction”, as the Mount Piper coal-fired power station is fully operational till 2040.

He said he was concerned that any plans to compulsorily acquire the site from Energy Australia would affect NSW’s baseload power.

Mr Dutton said the nuclear power stations would be owned by the federal government, similar to the way energy projects such as the Snowy Hydro scheme are owned.

Two new sites will be commissioned by 2037 as part of the plan.

Nationals Upper Hunter MP Dave Layzell also said he would also fight a proposal to have a reactor at Liddell Power Station in his electorate near Muswellbrook.

“I do not accept a federal government decision to lob a facility onto the community of the Upper Hunter,” he said.

“We have to heed the lessons of the renewable energy rollout and the issues that have been created in regional areas.”

Mr Layzell said the community had not been consulted over the reactor’s location.

“Consultation and engagement with local communities does not mean simply asking for feedback,” he said.

“Without defined shared benefits for my local community then my support for a nuclear facility in the Upper Hunter will not exist.”

While both National MPs said they were not opposed to nuclear as a source of energy, they did not want it in their backyards, especially without any community consultation.

The position of Mr Layzell and Mr Toole is at odds with the Nationals state party leader Dugald Saunders, who said he was open to the locations put forward by the federal Coalition.

“This is the starting point for a sensible discussion,” he said.

“It is too early for us as a state opposition to get hung up on where sites may or may not be.

“People have demanded (Dutton) say where would they put it (the reactors) and they’ve had to come to the table with some solutions and the solutions that make the most sense is where there is existing infrastructure.”

Senior NSW Liberal MP and shadow treasurer Damien Tudehope said it would be “anti-intellectual” not to consider nuclear energy.

He also raised doubts over whether the NSW government even had to overturn its ban on nuclear power, or whether the Commonwealth could forge through with building power stations in NSW whether the state gave permission or not.

“We do say that all things relating to technology should be on the table for the purposes of consideration,” he said.

“It’s anti-intellectual, to say that you exclude a particular form of technology from consideration if it can deliver better outcomes for the environment, if (it) can go through all the environmental impact studies, if it can be economically feasible … Why would you exclude a discussion on that?”

Mr Tudehope said Mr Minns was “plain wrong” to say NSW’s ban would prevent the Commonwealth from building nuclear power stations in the state.

He said the Prohibition Act on nuclear power in NSW “does not apply to the Commonwealth”.

It is understood that neither EnergyAustralia, which owns Mount Piper power station, or AGL, which is currently building a massive 500 megawatt grid-scale battery at Liddell, were consulted by Mr Dutton about the reactors potentially being built on those sites.

An EnergyAustralia spokesperson that while the company was “technology neutral” to the clean energy transition, there needed to be strong regulatory frameworks in place.

“Nuclear is recognised internationally as a zero carbon energy generation technology, one that needs a good regulatory framework and a well developed industry to deliver support it,” the spokesperson said.

“To date, we have not discussed the use of any EnergyAustralia sites in the context of nuclear.”

Earlier this year, AGL’s chief executive Damien Nicks said the company no plans to develop nuclear on the site.

“There is no viable schedule for the regulation or development of nuclear energy in Australia, and the cost, build time and public opinion are all prohibitive,” he said in March.

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Originally published as NSW Nationals MPs vow to fight Dutton on nuclear sites