By LIAM DURKIN
IT really was her.
Pauline Hanson, who many Australians believe should be the Prime Minister, made a brief stop by Loy Yang power station on Monday.
The One Nation leader arrived at the Jack Vines lookout, where she was greeted by One Nation Victoria State President Warren Pickering, and local candidates for the upcoming state election, Greg Hansford (Eastern Victoria) and Ben Lucas (Narracan).
A police car was present before her arrival in a white Isuzu SUV.
Security around Senator Hanson has beefed up in recent weeks. The One Nation leader confirmed with reporters she has received death threats as opposition to the hard-right conservative party rises.
As serious as those threats may be, for the Latrobe Valley at least, One Nation believes the biggest threat is to jobs and the state’s energy future targeting net zero.
That’s why One Nation was in town – to declare its pledge to keep coal-fired power stations open.
And it came with a bonus add-on.
“Eventually in time, let’s look at nuclear,” Senator Hanson said.
“The small reactors that can be built for around $6.5 billion – it can be done.
“Bring the people along on the journey with us to say ‘where is nuclear waste going to go?’, and that discussion needs to be had.”
The Coalition took a promise to last year’s federal election to build seven nuclear power stations, with Loy Yang identified as one of the sites.
“The reactors need to happen, but I’m not going to go out and say seven,” Senator Hanson said.
“I’d suggest a couple across the country on the east coast, but we need that diversity of power.
“Albanese says no one wants to invest in them (coal-fired power) – of course they’re not going to invest in them because the government’s policies are saying ‘shut them down’.
“Or you’ve allowed these Green companies to buy them out to shut them down so they can make more money out of selling renewables.
“The way that we for decades, industry, manufacturing, cheap power, was always delivered to us, the Australian people, through coal-fired power stations, and that’s where we need to go to do that.
“We’re losing so much productivity in this nation, you can only deliver a productive state or nation through cheap power.”
“Other countries around the world are waking up to this, we’re still fools following the lead that this government has dished out to us,” Senator Hanson said of the nation’s push toward renewables.
“They say it’s about climate change – climate change is changing by all means – but for our one per cent emissions, we need to wake up to ourselves because we’re only shipping our coal across to India and China, that’s got 30 per cent emissions but no one’s reigning them in and we’re buying back the finished product from them.”
One Nation confirmed it would work to repeal the current Nuclear Activities Prohibition Act preventing nuclear power generation in Australia.
“And ensure that Victoria can partake in any future of nuclear technology,” Mr Pickering said.
“Whether that be small micro-reactors, or in accord with One Nation’s federal policy as beneficiary of a major nuclear power plant on the eastern seaboard.”
Opponents have been quick to slam the thought of a nuclear future in the Latrobe Valley.
Greens Candidate for Morwell at this year’s state election, Rochelle Hine, said the nuclear risk was simply too great.
“Any talk of nuclear as a viable energy source is a dangerous, costly and disingenuous distraction from the very real and urgent issues of supporting a rapid transition to renewables,” she told the Express.
“Empirical evidence demonstrates unequivocally that renewable energies – solar and wind – are the cheapest and safest options.
“This current resurgence of a terrible policy that was obliterated at the last federal election, is motivated by the greed of the fossil fuel industry and demonstrates a lack of respect for the environment, the cost-of-living crisis and for the intelligence of voters.”
One Nation is yet to formally speak to plant operators AGL (Loy Yang A) or EnergyAustralia (Yallourn) about the possibility of remaining open post their scheduled closures.
Yallourn is scheduled to close in two years, while Loy Yang A has until 2035. Loy Yang B operator Allinta Energy will be the last to fall, with a closure date of 2047 slated.
Senator Hanson was firm that the closures were avoidable, despite operators saying the plants are reaching end-of-life.
“They are reaching end-of-life because they haven’t put the money in to do the maintenance on them,” she said.
Mr Pickering added that private investment could see power stations remain open.
“I’ve already spoken to many people within the coal-powered industry, they’ve assured me that they are prepared to tip in the capital expenditure required to make sure we get these up and running,” he said.
When quizzed on a cost estimate, he was unable to provide a definitive figure, saying only it “would be a speculatory estimate right now”.
“Wind turbines are doing more destruction to the environment, but no one talks about what’s going to happen in the next 15 or 20 years when you’ve got to get rid of them,” Senator Hanson added.
“How are you going to dispose of them? The only way you do, is by burying them. What’s going to happen to all of your millions upon millions of solar panels?
“We’ve got to get smarter, and if we’re going to do it, you have to have nuclear power to run AI, and we need the water as well.
“These are things the government, and also Albanese, is telling us.”
Nuclear for Australia Founder Robert Parker has released a video outlining what a nuclear energy future could look like in Victoria.
In correspondence seen by the Express, Mr Parker says building two new South Korean nuclear power plants would revitalise the industry if the Latrobe Valley followed suit.
“They would deliver ultra low carbon energy more cheaply than a full wind and solar based system can ever achieve,” he asserted.
“For far less money they will deliver seven times the energy of Snowy Hydro 2.0 at about eight per cent of the capital cost of each unit of energy.
“They are a massive boost in protecting our environment and farm land from the hugely destructive impacts of wind and solar factories and associated transmission.
“Best of all – they will help to power Australia’s transition to an AI future with ultra low carbon energy.”
Latrobe City Mayor Sharon Gibson said she was willing to explore the full gamut of energy options.
“If you don’t want coal, what are you going to have?” she asked.
“How long do batteries last?
“What concerns me, (is that) Yallourn is 18 months away. Sit back, have a look at the amount of power there when 2028 comes, take it out of the equation, we have not replaced it.”
On the current ban on nuclear energy, the Mayor said: “It was changed on the stroke of a pen, it can be changed”.
Voices of the Valley President and Yes to Renewables organiser Wendy Farmer said nuclear had no place in the energy future.
“We absolutely reject nuclear. Nuclear’s not even an option,” she said.
“I think Gippsland pretty well spelt that out before the federal election that we were not going to accept nuclear. They’re private facilities, owned by private industry that have got plans for their facilities, for their power stations, to close them down, they’re not making a profit, they’re becoming dangerous, it’s just crazy that they’re even putting nuclear on the table.”
