‘Death knell for Collie’: Residents unconvinced by Peter Dutton’s nuclear pitch for South West mining town

The quiet West Australian town that could one day house one of the Coalition’s seven nuclear power plants is divided over the audacious plan Opposition leader Peter Dutton put forward on Wednesday. In the wide-ranging but fledgling plan, Mr Dutton said the soon-to-be decommissioned Muja coal-fired power plant in Collie would be transformed into a small modular reactor by 2050. Collie, two hours south of Perth, has for years been working to transition away from a dependency on mining with the region now seeing tourists from across Australia visit the region for attractions including the Wellington Dam mural and Black Diamond Lake. And in Collie on Wednesday, many locals said they were yet to be convinced of Mr Dutton’s bold pitch. One such resident with reservations was Rob Lovering who has a long history with nuclear power, going back to his time working for the Australian embassy in Moscow when the Chernobyl reactor exploded. Although he said the West’s safety standards were far greater compared to the former USSR, he said the economics and time frame did not add up. “I think it’s just a pipe dream, something that they’ve got to talk about,” he said. “It’ll never happen, I mean not in my lifetime, put it that way. “It’s the cost — we haven’t got the technology in Australia for nuclear. They’ve got to build that first, people that can actually run the power stations, build the power stations, none of that’s been answered yet.” Local Indigenous man James Khan he said he was worried about the environmental impacts. “My thoughts on the nuclear power station or whatever it’s going to be is a no,” he said. “It’s a no-go. As a traditional owner, a custodian of the land, I don’t want it here and I’ve seen a few others, not only Aboriginal people, even the community-wide and surroundings, they don’t want it.” Not all residents were opposed, though, with many saying something had to be done to keep the lights on. Resident Ashley Davidson said the reality was power had to be produced. “I‘m not upset about the news. I think that at the end of the day, it’s all going to come down to dollars and cents and what’s good for Western Australia, not just Collie, all of Western Australia,” he said. “We need something because the present policies in regards to energy are not working, they’re going to send the place black.” Former Collie-Preston MLA Mick Murray was not as keen on the idea. He said the Liberal Party was “totally, totally out of order” on the plan. “There’s been no studies done about the impact,” he said. “ Where are they going to get the water from for the cooling, which is a huge problem even with the current power stations with water. “So those sort of studies that haven’t been done, to just say ‘this is where it’s going to be’ is just pie in the sky to be totally honest.” Liberal O’Connor MP Rick Wilson met the Shire of Collie council on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the announcement. Mr Wilson said discussions were positive and a good first step. “Peter Dutton has a very significant announcement for our country, but also a very significant announcement for the people of Collie,” he said. “Today I have spent some time with the Shire of Collie councillors discussing the components of the announcement that relate to Collie. “We had a really robust and fruitful session, lots of questions from councillors, most of which I could answer, some of which I’ll need to get answers to. “I have made a commitment to the community of Collie to keep the dialogue going for as long as required and I certainly look forward to continuing that dialogue over the next little while.” Speaking alongside Mr Wilson was Collie shire president Ian Miffling who said conversations were productive, but left some questions left unanswered. “As the shire, we still need to do a lot more reading of it (the zero-emissions plan) but I think it’s important from the shire’s point of view to say that this is a long-term project,” he said. “It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight — there are questions that the councillors have put to Rick and he’ll go back and get some information. “We’re talking about things like buffer zones and the development of perhaps industrial opportunities for Collie. So there are lots of questions there that the councillors will come up with, but we will ultimately get some answers to.” Cr Miffling said it was too early for the council to take a position on the matter. “I have an open mind on everything as the shire president. I’m not standing here today saying it’s a good thing for our community or a bad thing for our community,” he said. “I’m only the leader of the council so the council hasn’t yet made a decision about anything, so I will not pre-empt the future.” AMWU State secretary Steve McCartney said the plan was rubbish and followed no community consultation. “Peter Dutton’s ridiculous nuclear plan would decimate all that hard work (to transition Collie from coal) and put the futures of our members and the South West economy in jeopardy,” he said. “The Collie community certainly hasn’t been asked if they want to chuck their transition in the bin and instead have a nuclear reactor in their backyard. “The WA Liberals haven’t run a single community consultation session before Dutton’s announcement of Muja as the site of their planned facility. This is a betrayal of the community.” Collie Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive officer Tara van Beuningen said her organisation would be working to ensure no matter what was put forward, it would benefit the community. “As an organisation representing Collie’s business and industry interests, the chamber remains focused on supporting our local businesses and ensuring sustainable conditions for their long-term success in our town,” she said. “While we acknowledge the Federal Opposition’s policy direction on nuclear power, we currently lack specific details about what this would entail for Collie. “We will carefully review any forthcoming information and work closely with our members to ensure their concerns and perspectives are thoroughly understood.” The Coalition’s plan seems to have garnered support from the right side of politics, however. During One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s trip to Bunbury last week, she said she supported a potential proposal for nuclear in Collie. “We’ve got to have a diversity of power when they’re used in up to nearly 40 countries around the world that have used nuclear, Britain’s had it since 1956,” she said. “We have to look at it.”