Nationals Leader David Littleproud

January 8, 2025

Nationals Leader and Member for Maranoa David Littleproud believes only “a small minority” of people in regional areas oppose the introduction of nuclear energy.

On ABC News Breakfast on Tuesday morning, Mr Littleproud was asked if the Coalition’s nuclear energy policy was dividing regional communities.

“No, on the contrary, I think what you’re seeing in the public is a small minority,” he told host Emma Rebellato.

“What we’re seeing in the polling, what everyone’s seeing the polling in these communities, is overwhelming support for a transition of these coal-fired power stations to nuclear power plants.

“Nearly 80 per cent of the people that work in a coal-fired power station can transition across into a nuclear power plant.

“And regional Australia doesn’t want a future littered with transmission lines, solar panels and wind turbines. We all believe that we have to reduce our emissions, but we should have a say in that future and that it shouldn’t just be an all-renewables approach.

“And that’s not just for regional Australia. We should spread our risk. That’s just common sense. You shouldn’t put all your energy eggs in one basket. We need baseload power to do an all-renewables approach.

“There’s no country of the industrial scale, the size of Australia, that’s doing it anywhere else in the world. We need that baseload power. Otherwise you need over three times the amount of generation that you’ve got at the moment in baseload power. So that means a lot more transmission lines, a lot more solar panels and wind turbines. And we’re destroying the very thing we’re saying, we’re trying to protect, the natural environment, and we’re tearing up your food security, taking away prime agricultural land.

“So there is a mix. We’re committed to reducing our emissions. Regional Australia wants to play a role in that, but we also want the high-paying jobs that come with it.

“Not ones that last for 10 to 15 years, but one that leaves a legacy of 80 to 100 years. And that’s why communities are saying, I’ve got one going into my own electorate, and there’s overwhelming support in those areas for it because they see the opportunity for jobs. But in delivering that base load power to give us an energy mix that reduces our emissions and gives us reliable, affordable energy into the future.”

Tarong Power Station was named last June as one of the seven sites across Australia to be investigated by the Federal Coalition to house nuclear power generators should it win office at the upcoming Federal Election.

However details of what is proposed for Tarong – one or more Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) 0r a single larger unit – have not been announced.

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6 Responses to "‘Overwhelming Support’ For Nuclear"

  1. David is delusional, our community does not overwhelmingly support living near a potential nuclear power plant. Ask anyone if they want nuclear waste stored near them and you will see how divided the community will be. Dogma is not a way to develop energy policy.

  2. David is spot on, our community does overwhelmingly support living near a potential nuclear power plant. Ask anyone if they want the nuclear energy and the infrastructure & jobs it will support, and you will see how united the community will be. Dogma is indeed not a way to develop energy policy – This goes both ways, Michael.

  3. You can rest assured that the residents of the South Burnett are strongly opposed to nuclear, but as usual we will be ignored.

  4. I’m a resident of the South Burnett and I am not opposed at all to nuclear. I understand being of an older demographic myself that I may be an outlier though. It seems that the older generation that don’t rely on industry in our area are very much against it while families who rely on employment and ongoing investment seem to be for it.

  5. You’re probably right that the “older demographic” may be more opposed to nuclear power generation than younger folk, but maybe there is another good reason for this. They were alive when the various nuclear accidents occurred around the world and remember the dire results. They don’t believe the political spin.

    Anyone who thinks that a nuclear power plant at Tarong is going to create jobs is living in cloud cuckoo land. The big jobs at Tarong are in the coal mine. They are going to disappear whether we like it or not. Get used to it.

    Maybe a few jobs in the current power station could transfer over to a nuclear station, just maybe?? But by the time David Littleproud’s fantasy nuclear station is built and running, these people will all be retired anyway (including Mr Littleproud). He won’t have to answer for any problems that happen!

    Bottom line. There will be less jobs at Tarong and they won’t be for us, it will be hideously expensive to build and much, more important, where are they going to safely store the waste that can still kill you after thousands of years?

  6. I completely and fully agree with “Over It All”. Any job at a nuclear power station will need a highly trained person, possibly with a university degree. It is doubtful that employees of the actual coal-fired power station would satisfy these skill requirements.

    And Mr Littleproud still has not given us a clue how and where he plans to store the nuclear waste for the next few thousand years. As he will not be around that long, he probably does not care. But all you supporters of nuclear, do you care about what your grand- and great-grandkids have to live with?

    This whole debate proves to me that humans will never learn from history and mistakes made in the past, and I can only repeat: remember Chernobyl and Fukushima!

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