Queensland premier opens up on his non-nuclear power plans
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli says his opposition to the Federal Coalition’s nuclear power policy is based on the fact that his state has the youngest fleet of coal-fired power stations in the country and that these, along with renewables, will help drive down the cost of energy to Queenslanders.
Mr Crisafulli has called for a sensible, rather than “childish”, debate on energy during the federal election campaign.
Mr Crisfaulli also told 7.30 that he welcomed the Albanese government’s commitment to spend $7.2 billion on delivering 80 per cent of the cost of upgrading the Bruce Highway, saying “we welcome the funding commitment from the prime minister because it gives us that ability to deliver what Queenslanders want.”
“I just can’t stress how important this road is”, Mr Crisafulli said.
Asked if he believed the announcement could help Labor — which is behind in the polls in Queensland, and whether it had caught the federal Opposition flat-footed, Mr Crisafulli said: “I’m there to rattle the tin and do the right thing by my state”.
“I’ve got to be on the maroon team, and regardless whether it’s a red team or a blue team in Canberra, I’ve got to be on team maroon and fight for our fair share,” he said.
“Mr Dutton has committed to this previously. In the end, we welcome the funding commitment from the prime minister because it gives us that ability to deliver what Queenslanders want. I just can’t stress how important this road is.
“I’m going to use the opportunity with a federal election to get what my state needs and what’s been lacking for too long, and in a short period of time, we’ve been able to broker what hasn’t been able to be done for some time. And that is bipartisan agreement on that. And you bet that we’re going to drive value for money for Queenslanders.”
The prime minister told reporters in Queensland on Monday that he had discussed priorities for the road funding with the Premier.
Asked who would ultimately determine where the money was spent, and how quickly it could be spent, Mr Crisafulli said the government had “set up an independent advisory council to take all of the politics out of it”.
Many people have died on the Bruce Highway, which connects Brisbane to Cairns. (ABC News: Baz Ruddick)
“That’s been a really big part of the problem over the last decade, there just hasn’t been that long term plan, and there’s been too much short-termism, too much things done on that political focus, by having that independent council, by getting the best and brightest around the table, by making sure that we’ve got a long-term vision. It removes that”, he said
“It removes it being about what’s in the political interest, and it’s about that long-term plan for the Bruce.
“In the end, two thirds of Queenslanders rely on that road. It’s the difference between someone getting home safely to their loved ones, it’s the difference between economic survival for regional Queensland. So if one part of that road goes out, it just affects the communities, the length and breadth of it.
“So it’s important we remove the politics from that.
“This returns the funding arrangement to the 80/20 that it’s always been. It is a federal road. It’s important they do the lion’s share of it. Our role will be to do proper planning and make sure that projects can be delivered on time and on budget, and I’m confident we can do both.”
Why not nuclear?
Mr Crisafulli and the LNP argued against its federal Coalition counterpart’s nuclear policy at the state election.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli spoke about why he doesn’t back nuclear in Queensland. (ABC News)
Pressed on whether it was the economics, or safety issues, or some other factor that made him object to the Coalition’s nuclear power plan, Mr Crisafulli said that “in the last 12 months, Queensland’s power prices went up by 19.9 per cent”.
“That’s three times the national average. There is one thing that Queensland has that the other states don’t, and that is the youngest fleet of coal-fired power stations, and they haven’t operated at their capacity for the better part of three years,” Mr Crisafulli told 7.30.
“We said to the Queensland population in the election, that we will get those plants operating to drive down those power prices. And we’ve spoken about renewable energy, and we’ve spoken about pumped hydro as a way of storage.
“In terms of the argument about nuclear, that will be something that Canberra can debate, and that will be something that will happen as part of the federal election campaign.
“I’m asking people to do it in the right way. We saw some things during the Queensland campaign, and to the credit of the voters in Queensland, they saw through it.
“But no one wins when politics gets reduced to childish barbs. No one wins when there is scare campaigns, so let’s debate that on facts, and we look forward to to playing our role in making sure that energy for Queensland is affordable, reliable and sustainable.”
