What are they hiding? Nationals refuse to release Calare nuclear power poll

On June 24 the Nationals issued a press release stating 63 per cent of voters in the Central West were in favour of a nuclear plant near Lithgow.

The data was compiled by polling company Freshwater Strategy, after being commissioned by the Nationals.

However key details were missing, including how many people were polled; what exact question were they asked and where in the Central West were they from.

After a line of questioning by the Central Western Daily, the office for Nationals leader David Littleproud revealed the answers to some, but not all of those questions.

"The Nationals have been upfront in relation to the commissioning of the polling, which was conducted in the electorate of Calare and had a representative sample of 1270 respondents from throughout the electorate, including Lithgow, Bathurst and Orange," the statement said.

"The question put to those in the survey was, 'would you support or oppose constructing a nuclear plant near Lithgow, in the next decade, to generate electricity'?"

The poll itself was conducted in May, weeks prior to Peter Dutton revealing the Coalition's proposed regional nuclear sites.

But the party refused to divulge exactly how many of those people polled lived in the district most impacted by a potential nuclear plant - Lithgow - or any other Calare community.

So why be so secretive about the results?

For starters, a poll carried out by this publication's sister newspaper the Lithgow Mercury, showed of the 309 respondents - who don't necessarily live in Lithgow but do at least read the paper - 54 per cent were against a nuclear plant and only 43 per cent in favour.

Another reason may be that if the Nationals poll was truly a "representative sample", then only 150 people from Lithgow would have voted. This is based on the 2021 Census data which showed Lithgow only makes up 11.83 per cent of the 169,000 people living in Calare.

In terms of size, Calare covers roughly 32,000 sq.km and stretches from Oberon to Wellington to Gulgong with major cities such as Orange and Bathurst in-between.

Incumbent Calare member Andrew Gee has declined to reveal his position on nuclear power on multiple occasions.

Lithgow City Council Mayor Maree Statham said the first she heard of any Nationals poll was on the radio after results had been released.

The mayor added she, nor the council, has not been approached by any political party regarding the proposed nuclear plant in her district, which has a historical position of "no nuclear".

"I haven't been contacted by anybody from government, any level of government whether it's the shadow members or the current members of parliament," Ms Statham said.

"We haven't heard anything and that's the disappointing thing for me, is that people are asking me everyday 'what's going on'. Well I have no comment because I have no information and no facts."

Mount Piper, owned by EnergyAustralia and slated to close as a coal powered power station in 2040, joins six other locations under the proposal. Those other locations are Collie in Western Australia, Liddell in NSW, Callide and Tarong in Queensland, Port Augusta in South Australia and Loy Yang in Victoria.

As Mount Piper is privately owned it is understood the government would need to purchase the site and it would be run by a government-owned corporation.

Ms Statham said Lithgow's "no nuclear" position could be overturned but would require "all the facts" before a decision could be made.

"I think it's not right. I think there could have been a better way to do things whether I'm for nuclear or against nuclear," she added.

"We will make decisions informed by facts and we haven't had any facts at all. We don't need to have somebody announce this in Canberra and then not follow through."

Ms Statham will be travelling to Canberra for the 2024 National General Assembly of Local Government taking place from July 2-4. While there, she hopes to secure more information regarding the coalition's plan.