January 31, 2023
Nationals leader – and Member for Maranoa David Littleproud – has again called for a National Energy Summit and the introduction of nuclear energy to tackle the “reckless” push for renewable energy.
Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday morning, Mr Littleproud called for a pause in the rollout to protect the environment.
“These renewable projects are destroying (the environment), as well as tearing up prime agricultural land, tearing up the food security of this nation and driving up your food costs,” Mr Littleproud said.
“We can pause, we can plan.”
He said solar energy panels should be erected where the power is needed, ie. on city rooftops.
“We’re not against renewables as The Nationals. There’s a place for them. And particularly I think you can look at solar. Solar should be the main source and probably the only source moving forward in terms of renewable energy,” Mr Littleproud said.
“And that should be on rooftops. That should be the environment that they’re put on, not on prime agricultural land or knocking down native vegetation.
“And if you put solar panels where the concentration of power is required and the concentration of the population is, then you don’t need the transmission lines.
“So this is why this reckless race that the government’s bringing in, we’ll see the next wave of costs come in. And Australians will have to pay for it.
“So we’re very sceptical. We’ve said, let’s pause, let’s plan, let’s have a National Energy Summit. Let’s also look at nuclear energy.”
Mr Littleproud suggested nuclear plants could in built beside existing coal-fired power stations.
“It can be plugged in where existing coalfired power stations are and it doesn’t put all our energy eggs in one basket, but instead spreads it with firming power, with renewables and with the traditional coal and gas, with carbon capture storage,” he said.
“That’s common sense. And that’s the solutions The Nationals have been trying to tell this government to sit down and work through.
“They’ve been ignoring us, unfortunately and you’re all going to pay extra because of it.”
Really? Perhaps Mr Littleproud should step into the real world a bit more.
He could start by taking a trip to the Coopers Gap Wind Farm. Farmers with turbines on their land still farm cattle but now make more income from their farms thanks to the rental fees they now receive. Unlike Mr Littleproud, I’ve talked with farmers who were deeply opposed to Coopers Gap when it was first announced but are now firm supporters of it.
Then perhaps Mr Littleproud could pick up the phone and talk with energy experts who’ll confirm to him that nuclear is now one of the most expensive ways to generate power (quite apart from the dangers it poses) and the small reactors he’s been pushing as a possible nuclear solution over the past two years don’t exist anywhere outside experimental labs.
I do agree with Mr Littleproud that rooftops in urban areas should all be covered by solar cells (a process that already seems well under way without his help) but the locations where most rural solar farms are being built – certainly in the South Burnett – are either unused or low-grade agricultural land which don’t produce food now and possibly never will.
Finally, I’d remind Mr Littleproud he was part of one of the worst Federal Governments we’ve seen in decades, subservient to miners and the very rich.
Ho hum! I see the naysayers towards renewable energy are at it again. Think nuclear, think Chernobyl. Who wants to ever see that disaster again? Solar is the way to go. Wind turbines have been a huge success in parts of Europe and the UK, so why not harness the power of the wind here in Australia?
Honestly. How stupid do the Nats (and the Libs) think we all are?
Their push for nuclear, using non-existent SMR technology, is nothing more than a ploy to keep us using coal until at least 2050.
That’s how long it would take to bring just one nuke, costing well over $20 billion, online.
For over a decade, the Nats haven’t been for farming communities. They’ve stood for miners & multinational agribusiness.
And to talk as if a nuke can just be popped beside existing coal stations & ‘plugged in’ is just total & utter simplistic garbage.
They will require a ground-up rebuild of network connections AND major works to poles & wires.
Nothing but treating us like idiots while they pretend to be concerned about the environment, all so that the coal miners can keep running the show for at least another 25 years.
Pathetic game of deception, Littleproud.