Energy debate goes nuclear

MALLEE will not have one of the first seven nuclear energy reactors in Australia, if the Coalition is elected Federally.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton announced on Wednesday that a future Coalition Government would seek to transition seven active and decommissioned coal-fired power stations to nuclear sites.

The Loy Yang power station, in the Federal electorate of Gippsland, was the only Victorian site listed.

Member for Gippsland Darren Chester, who was in Mildura when the locations were made public, said he is comfortable with the announcement.

“Latrobe Valley has an extraordinary rich heritage as an energy-generating region, for 100 years now, and I’m very confident about the community’s capacity to have a sensible, rational and mature conversation about how we meet our nation’s future energy needs,” Mr Chester said.

“There won’t be people in Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley quoting the Simpsons, they will be quoting our future energy requirements, and how we meet that reliability and affordability challenge while also being responsible in terms of our environmental emissions and commitments we’ve made on a global stage.”

He said the Federal Coalition aimed to take a balanced approach to meet the nation’s future energy needs.

“We’re looking at renewables where it’s appropriate but also the opportunity for gas to firm up the intermittency of those renewable forms of energy, and the role nuclear could play in terms of baseline reliability,” Mr Chester said.

“(Nuclear) is a very mature industry and one that I think Australians would be happy to have a facts based conversation on, rather than a scare based campaign.”

No costings have been released regarding the Federal Coalition policy, and there is both a Federal ban and a Victorian ban on nuclear energy.

Victorian Opposition leader John Pesutto on Wednesday said the Victorian Coalition had no plans for nuclear power.

Meanwhile, Premier Jacinta Allen said she would do everything in her power to stop a nuclear power plant being established in Victoria should the Coalition win the next Federal election.