NUCLEAR DEBATE
Some politicians propose replacing coal-fired power stations with nuclear reactors. Even pro-nuclear group Nuclear for Australia concedes nuclear reactors use at least 1.2 times more water than comparable coal fired power, and the proposed reactors are much larger than existing coal plants, meaning water use could more than double.
Some suggest desalination plants to supply water for nuclear reactors, but this requires seawater, and nearly all the proposed reactor sites are a long way inland. Desalination is also extremely costly.
As a core principle, Farmers for Climate Action stands for protecting regional water supplies and does not support making water scarcer or more expensive for farmers.
Sincerely,
Natalie Collard
Farmers for Climate Action
ATTACK ON AGRICULTURE
Editor,
You wouldn’t think fishermen in our southern oceans and farmers in northern Victoria and southern NSW would have much in common? But they do.
Their livelihoods are all threatened by a Federal Environment and Water Minister who won’t listen to their concerns but is ever ready to make rulings that defy common sense.
In what has been labelled ‘Plibersek’s green tide’, the Minister has changed marine park rules to ban fishing, and as a consequence, the fishermen say it will affect livelihoods and force up seafood prices.
Simon Boag, of the Southern Shark Industry Alliance, was quoted saying: “It reeks of poor decision making – failing to get in the car and come to regional Victoria and Tasmania and actually talk to fishermen about the reality of what they are proposing.”
Talking to those affected by her decisions and listening to viable alternatives is not something Minister Plibersek seems to care about.
In northern Victoria and southern NSW, she barges ahead with water buybacks, despite all the evidence that they are unnecessary and have significant adverse social and economic impact on communities.
Yet numerous invitations to Minister Plibersek to visit these regions and get a greater understanding of how to effectively balance water management so alternatives can be considered are ignored.
It seems the Minister is too comfortable in her north Sydney lifestyle to bother about the impact of her actions on those who are trying to put food on our tables.
So, when you pay more at the supermarket for staple foods, or start paying more for your seafood, please think about why this is occurring, and give a nod to the Minister who is making a unique contribution. Especially one in a government which claims it wants to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.
Yours,
Shelley Scoullar
Chair
Speak Up Campaign
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