Bush Summit 2024: Farmer would choose nuclear reactor over wind or solar on his property

A cattle farmer from Orange has told The Daily Telegraph’s Bush Summit he would rather host a nuclear reactor on his property than wind or solar turbines.

A farmer who runs cattle near Orange says he would rather host a nuclear reactor on his property than wind or solar.

Gordon “Des” Taylor, who has a 320ha farm close to Millthorpe, south of Orange, said the Opposition’s proposal for seven nuclear reactors across Australia was a game-changer.

“If it came down to a question of wind or solar or nuclear on my farm, I’d go nuclear every time,” Mr Taylor said in an interview for DTTV yesterday after his appearance on a Bush Summit panel on energy.

“I would have no trouble having a nuclear reactor.”

One of the nuclear reactors sites slated by the Coalition would be built at the Mt Piper power station near Lithgow, which, like Orange and Millthorpe, is in the federal electorate of Calare.

Journalist John Rolfe (l to r) talks to Gordon ‘Des’ Taylor, and Kate Hook at the Bush Summit. Picture: Rohan Kelly

During the summit, Mr Taylor said that he believed “nuclear is the way to go”.

“The numbers and the cost of renewable energy, as we know at the moment which is solar and wind, is absolutely astronomical,” he said.

Mr Taylor shared the panel with Kate Hook of non-profit RE-Alliance, which helps communities get long-term benefits from renewables projects.

Ms Hook countered Mr Taylor’s estimates for how much space wind and solar farms would take up.

She also told the forum how, with her help, the town of Hay was able to negotiate with project proponents to make their worker accommodation capable of being converted into assisted living for the elderly.

Ms Hook, who ran as an independent for seat of Calare at the 2022 election and attracted 40 per cent of the two-candidate vote, said she was “talking to people” about running again at the next federal poll.

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Originally published as Bush Summit 2024: Farmer would choose nuclear reactor over wind or solar on his property