When Peter Dutton announced plans the Coalition would build seven nuclear power plants across Australia many were left wondering ... where are the details?
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Aside from locations - Loy Yang Power Station in Victoria's Gippsland area, Callide and Tarong in Queensland, Port Augusta in South Australia, Collie in West Australia, Mount Piper at Lithgow and Liddell in NSW's Hunter region - the opposition's announcement had plenty of holes in it.
Then, another announcement ... with a few more holes.
Deputy opposition leader David Littleproud spruiked polling conducted - and paid for - by the Nationals revealing 63 per cent of Calare, or the Central West, was in favour of a nuclear power plant at Lithgow.
They declared it a strong majority of residents.
The only issue ... who did they poll?
Calare, and indeed the Central West, is a massive area. Voters in Orange are probably more likely to be in favour of a nuclear power plant when it isn't at the base of Mount Canobolas than, say, those in the Lithgow district who appear in the firing line.
Not to mention the electorate spans all the way north to Wellington, and then south to Eugowra. A power plant at Mount Piper, in the eastern reaches of the Calare region, is inconsequential for them, really. Especially when the initial announcement had little to no detail in it anyway. How does nuclear power benefit us?
Pushed on the point, Mr Littleproud's media team revealed they pulled over 1200 people in Calare. That's just one per cent of the electorate. Data from the AEC shows there were 111,774 people enrolled to vote at the last Federal election.
And pushed further, the Nationals wouldn't reveal where the 1200 people they pulled were situated throughout Calare. They just said it was a representative sample.
So, you have to ask: are we having the wool pulled over our eyes?
A poll conducted by ACM asking readers of the Lithgow Mercury are they in favour of a nuclear power plant at Mount Piper showed 55 per cent of readers didn't want the plant. While almost 3 per cent were undecided. It's hardly a strong majority, not of the people directly impacted by the plant's location.
In the end, whether the opposition's plans to pop nuclear power plants across the country gets off the ground or not is beside the point here.
NSW currently has a ban on nuclear energy and Premier Chris Minns has declared that ban would not be repealed, lashing the proposal in the process. There are lots of hurdles to clear.
However, what is certain is, Calare is set to see a lot of the Nationals in the lead up to the next Federal election.
The party is more determined than ever to win back the seat after member Andrew Gee - who is also yet to declare his position on a nuclear power plant at Mount Piper - dumped the party and became an independent in December, 2022.
Over the course of the last 12 months, Mr Littleproud has been to Orange four times. While now NSW MLC Sam Farraway has confirmed his intention to run for preselection for the Nationals, a more formal campaign looks imminent.
Make no mistake about it: the party's presence will ramp up in the lead up to the next election.
So when it trots out polling and suggests it represents us, the people of Calare, on a key issue, without really divulging any of the data, it's worth asking the question.
The fact that Mr Littleproud's office didn't release that information, well, that's a note for our readers to consider.
And perhaps one to keep in the back of our minds when we see more from the party in the near future.
Nick McGrath, Central Western Daily editor
Have your say: send us a letter to the editor by emailing: nick.mcgrath@centralwesterndaily.com.au
Nick McGrath
Editor, Central Western Daily
Editor, Central Western Daily
