Therese Creed has spent nearly six years battling to stop a solar farm being built next to her cattle property in central Queensland.
She argues renewables, like the solar project, are consuming large areas of valuable agricultural land, which the country cannot afford to lose.
Ms Creed and her husband, Cedric, own a property at Smoky Creek on the outskirts of Biloela, which has been earmarked for a potential nuclear site as part of the federal Liberal Party’s energy plan.
Now, the grazier has put herself at the forefront of the federal government’s energy debate between renewables and nuclear, standing up to present today at the first regional public hearing of the Inquiry into Nuclear Energy.
“Having learnt more about nuclear power, I see it as a very viable solution for Australia,” she told the ABC.
“A new option that’s not going to make dust, that’s not going to make emissions and make extremely efficient power for our industries that we have around here.”
Therese Creed’s property at Smoky Creek near Biloela neighbours a solar farm. (ABC Capricornia: Jasmine Hines)
Along with 90 other residents from Biloela, Ms Creed attended the public event at the local RSL, hosted by the House Select Committee on Nuclear Energy, to ensure her views were heard alongside those who oppose the proposal.
Around 90 people gathered at the Biloela ANZAC Memorial Club for the nuclear energy public hearing. (ABC Capricornia: Vanessa Jarrett)
The federal Liberal Party has earmarked Callide as one of seven sites across the country that would suit a small modular nuclear reactor facility.
The embattled coal-fired generator provides more than 250 local jobs but is slated to begin shutting down from 2028 as the federal government looks to transition away from coal-fired power.
It is the federal Liberal Party’s vision that a nuclear facility could be built, plugging into existing infrastructure and supporting the current workforce to transition industries when the power station closes.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has committed to pursuing this vision if his party is returned to government at the federal election in 2025.
A concept design of a zero-emissions small modular reactor Peter Dutton shared on X (Twitter). (X: Peter Dutton)
While the majority of those at the hearing supported the proposal, others like Marion Meissner were sceptical about the details.
Ms Meissner was concerned about the time it would take to create affordable nuclear power as well as the water required.
Biloela resident Marion Meissner is hesitant about nuclear energy. (ABC Capricornia: Vanessa Jarrett)
“Water is quite scarce in this valley [Callide Valley], water is critical to the farming functioning of this valley and that’s underground water not just rain,” she said.
“The other thing that really bothers some of us is dealing with the nuclear waste and I haven’t heard a satisfactory solution to that, burying it on site does not strike me as a smart solution.”
She would like answers to the finer details of what a nuclear site in Biloela would look like.
“I’m not opposed to nuclear power generation; I’m opposed to the gaps,” she said.
Maurie Esler travelled from Monto, 90 kilometres away, to attend the event and was firmly pro-nuclear.
Maurie Esler from Monto believes Australia should have implemented nuclear energy 20 years ago. (ABC Capricornia: Vanessa Jarrett)
“It’s a natural resource, the country is rich in natural resources in nuclear, coal, and gas. We’re digging it out of the ground and sending it overseas for other people to use as cheaply and as quickly as we can … it’s ridiculous,” he said.
Biloela resident Cammi Donohue stood firmly against it — her main concern being the water supply.
The Callide and Kroombit Dams provide the residential water supply for the township of Biloela.
According to storage levels reported by the dam operator, Sunwater, the Callide Dam is sitting at 16.5 per cent.
When the dam is at low levels, water is pumped from Awoonga Dam at Gladstone, which Ms Donohue argued was not sustainable.
“The mind boggles at what it would be like for nuclear power when water is so much more critical,” she said.
“I just want to know where the water is going to come from.”
Ms Donohue said there needed to be a reliable water source and nuclear was “way too expensive” when renewables were so far advanced.
“We [Queensland] have more sun than anywhere else on the planet, why are we not harnessing that more?” she said.
What if the state opposes nuclear?
Queensland’s new Premier David Crisafulli has previously ruled out nuclear energy stating it was “not part of his plan”.
The new state government has chosen to pursue smaller pumped hydro generation to firm up the state’s renewable supply.
A spokesperson for the Minister for Energy said the state would keep the Callide Power Station running with an electricity maintenance guarantee until affordable, reliable, and sustainable alternatives were available.
But federal Nationals member for Flynn Colin Boyce, who is pro-nuclear, said discussions with the premier would happen “in due course” if Mr Dutton wins the next election.
“The federal government does have the option of overriding the state when it comes to these sorts of things,” Mr Boyce said.
“It remains to be seen, but I have the greatest faith in both of those leaders to come to a compromise.”
Around 5,700 people called Biloela home in the 2021 Census. (ABC Backroads)
He said the wider community would accept a nuclear site at Callide because of the high-paying skilled jobs that would follow.
The Gladstone Conservation Council said it remained opposed to nuclear power because of its “excessive” cost and the issue of waste.
Hearings will be held in Nanango, in the South Burnett, and Brisbane later this week with further public hearings in Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, and Western Australia in December.
The committee is expected to present its final report by no later than April 30, 2025.
