Grassroots Victorian Nationals members have demanded MPs champion nuclear energy and called for a ban on public funds being spent on Welcome to Country ceremonies.
At the party’s state conference on Saturday, members also passed a motion calling on a future state government to give farmers the same “respect and consideration” as First Nations people regarding the use of their land use, amid a growing debate about the state's cultural heritage laws.
Opposition Leader John Pesutto and Nationals leader Peter Walsh (left), in September.Credit: AAP
The state division of the National Party is holding its annual conference in Bendigo this weekend, and 40 motions are up for debate. The conference gives rank-and-file members a chance to help shape the party’s policies for the year ahead.
Days after Opposition Leader John Pesutto said the Coalition had “no plans to introduce nuclear power into Victoria”, a motion calling on Victorian National Party MPs to support their federal colleagues and “promote the advantages of nuclear energy” passed with majority support.
The motion also called on the Allan government to ditch its target of being 95 per cent reliant on renewable electricity generation by 2035, and support “emissions-free nuclear, high-energy low-emission coal and gas as the main source of firming energy”.
State Nationals leader Peter Walsh on Saturday said the party was up for the discussion on nuclear energy, but his more urgent concern was the state’s dwindling gas supply.
“We are not abandoning net-zero, but we do not support policies that rely solely on renewables,” Walsh told The Sunday Age.
“We are technology agnostic as Victoria moves to net-zero by 2050. Whether nuclear is part of the energy mix is a discussion, the National Party is up for.”
The motion comes just days after The Age revealed the federal opposition was poised to announce the locations of up to seven proposed nuclear power sites, with both the Latrobe Valley and Anglesea in Victoria discussed as possible options.
The grassroots support for nuclear and push for Victoria to dump its ambitious renewables target is expected to exacerbate tensions in the state Coalition amid a broader debate about the state’s future energy mix. In February, there was a rift in shadow cabinet over energy targets.
The Latrobe Valley with the Yallourn power plant in the background in 2021. The region has been touted among the possible Coalition preferences for a nuclear plant.Credit: Simon Schluter
On Saturday, several party branches drafted motions to wind back policies aimed at acknowledging traditional owners and protecting First Nations cultural heritage.
An amended and successful motion by the Mallee branch called on a future Coalition state government to “ensure owners who have provided food and fibre for the nation and international trade” be acknowledged as caretakers, and receive the “same respect and consideration granted to our First Nations people in any discussions or decisions regarding the use of their land”.
The second motion – which passed unamended – was put forward by the Gippsland-based Monash branch and urged “state and federal governments, their departments and agencies, not to fund Welcome to Country ceremonies”.
The motion angered the state’s representative body for Indigenous Victorians, given Walsh is also the opposition spokesman on Aboriginal affairs.
First Peoples’ Assembly co-chairs Ngarra Murray (right) and Rueben Berg in Victorian parliament last year.Credit: Justin McManus
First Peoples’ Assembly co-chair Ngarra Murray – a Wamba Wamba, Yorta Yorta, Dhudhuroa and Dja Dha Wurrung woman – described the motions as a “leadership test” for Walsh.
“On one side you have First Peoples reaching out with an invitation, we’re wanting to share and celebrate our cultures and languages with everyone, and on the other side you have his National Party trying to disregard 60,000 years of custodianship and cling to narrow-minded, colonial views,” Murray told The Sunday Age.
“It’s difficult to believe in 2024 we’re having to explain the significance of Welcome to Country ceremonies, what is ultimately a gesture of respect from traditional owners.
“If the Nationals think that’s a step too far in this country’s shared path of reconciliation, well that shows just how backward they are.”
Walsh did not address the issue of public funding for the ceremonies, but said other communities should also be included.
“At community events, there should not only be Indigenous community acknowledgments, but recognition of the diversity that exists which makes our communities such great places to live,” he said.
Walsh also backed the push for farmers to have more sway in debates on land use.
“We are all Australians, we all care for the land, we all deserve acknowledgment for the contribution we make to our communities,” he said.
Outgoing Nationals state director Matthew Harris used his final conference to take a veiled swipe at some members, urging them to consider whether their “actions are always in the best interests of our party’s success”.
“I am of the view more than ever, that we all need to challenge ourselves constantly to ensure that our actions are helping us achieve our objective of winning more seats and being part of governments that deliver for regional communities,” he wrote in his final letter to members.
“Too much energy of the party is spent dealing with captious issues raised by people too focused on petty internal points scoring, or on arguments over issues that don’t help us gain an extra vote. If we want to grow both our membership and our representation in parliament we need to constantly act in a way that achieves that end.”
The shadow cabinet will meet on Monday before the parliamentary sitting week.
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