A breakaway group of Liberal voters and MPs have released new modelling which shows nuclear plans could leave the country’s farmers high and dry.
Liberals Against Nuclear released a report, “Australian nuclear energy proposals, water availability and acquisition options,” which detailed water consumption would increase by up to 200 gigalitres, or 200 billion litres of water.
“The nuclear idea is toxic with voters,” said Liberals Against Nuclear spokesman Andrew Gregson, a former NSW Irrigators’ Council chief executive.
“It will require enormous water buybacks from farmers – which the Coalition has fought bitterly against for 15 years.”
Relying on the coalition’s own modelling, the report assumed 13.8 gigawatts of nuclear capacity would replace the existing 8 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity. It estimates water consumption based on newly-commissioned nuclear reactors at Georgia USA, the same ‘off the shelf’ Westinghouse AP-1000 units proposed by the coalition.
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"The Nationals have spent 15 years educating rural communities on how much water buybacks hurt them and fighting tooth and nail to protect our agricultural water,” Mr Gregson said. “Now, there is a proposal to take water from the very farmers who grow our food.”
“Making matters worse, this precious water will be used to create government-owned electricity companies to compete against private businesses. Forcing farmers to compete with the government when they buy water assaults every value that liberal voters hold dear.”
Mr Gregson said recent polling showed just 22 per cent of residents surveyed across the Central West supported a nuclear plan, with those numbers likely to drop if water buybacks were required.
“Nuclear must be dumped. It is already causing an electoral nightmare and in the long run, it is political and economic suicide. It will completely distort our economy, crowding out the private sector. It is the wrong thing to do and means destroying the livelihood of some of our most loyal supporters,” he said.
“This water grab threatens to sever the trust between the Coalition and agricultural communities permanently. We've spent decades building our reputation as champions of farmers' rights - particularly water access. Why would we throw away that political capital for nuclear plants that most Australians don't want?”
