Nuclear energy is not the right option for Gippsland, former Liberal MP for Monash turned Independent Russell Broadbent has told the Gippsland Monitor.

“If the community doesn't want it, I think they should have a say in how they're planning for these issues,” Broadbent said. “No nuclear without community support. It's the same with wind turbines. No wind turbines without community support.” 

Broadbent, who was disendorsed by the Liberal Party as the candidate for Monash in 2023 in favour of Mary Aldred, said nuclear “certainly does not have the community backing that coal obviously does”.

Asked if nuclear energy was a viable option in Gippsland, Broadbent said: “No, not when you've got a resource like coal. The reason we haven't got nuclear in this country is because we have magnificent resources of fossil fuels ourselves. The people that have got nuclear [energy], they have no fossil fuels. They've got nothing.”

Recent polling from 89 Degrees East put support for building a nuclear power plant in Gippsland at 31 percent.

Broadbent’s evolving views

Broadbent said he was “not against nuclear energy” but that in the future “I think we'll have different nuclear energy, more like fusion or something else, rather than the current one, because we will move into greater knowledge about those issues”.

He stated he’d “never been against nuclear energy”, however in September 2007 the ABC reported that "the federal member for McMillan in Gippsland ... Russell Broadbent, has reaffirmed his opposition to nuclear energy in Victoria".

At the time, John Howard's Coalition government had been in power for 11 years, and was toying with the idea of going nuclear.

"This area will never have a nuclear power plant, we have the resources, we have the expertise for new cleaner coal," Broadbent said.

Two months after that ABC report, in November 2007, the Coalition was swept from power, Howard lost his seat of Bennelong, the Kevin Rudd era began, and nuclear power fell by the wayside.

Sixteen years on, and Broadbent - who turned 74 on Christmas Day - again had nuclear on his mind, but time had softened his stance. It was September 2023, about nine months before Opposition Leader Peter Dutton would reveal his nuclear plans for Australia.

In a YouTube video titled Net Zero Nuclear, Broadbent said: "We need to be having open discussions about where we are heading in terms of power production. And looking into the prospect of nuclear energy is a discussion well worth having.”

He said "nuclear power might just be our ticket to hitting net zero and combating the surging power prices that are crippling our nation".

"It is illogical for the government to set impossible net zero targets with no reasonable game plan. It is illogical to cut coal and gas without a viable replacement."

Two months after Broadbent's video, he had been disendorsed by the Liberal Party in favour of Mary Aldred. Broadbent promptly quit the party and announced he would run as an independent.

In July 2024, in another report to constituents, Broadbent had firmed on his pro-nuclear position.  

"Labor, The Greens, and Teals have got a real problem if they remain ignorant to the undeniable role that nuclear energy must play in our energy grid," Broadbent said. 

"If the goal is to reduce emissions and reach net zero by 2050, surely nuclear is the obvious option. Nuclear beats renewable energy, fair and square. Nuclear provides continuous and reliable energy. Renewables provide intermittent and unreliable energy."