Opposition leader Peter Dutton has visited the southwest town of Collie for the first time since announcing plans to build a nuclear power plant if the Coalition wins government. The state government accused him of sneaking into and out of the town without consulting locals, and also rejected Mr Dutton’s announcement he would cancel plans for an off-shore wind farm between Mandurah and Bunbury.
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00:00Anti-nuclear protesters were waiting for the opposition leader as he left Collie.
00:15Mr Dutton had just held a closed door meeting with councillors to discuss his plans for
00:20a nuclear power plant in their town to replace ageing coal-fired power stations.
00:25We have got to see what's going on in this town here, not a closed door.
00:30Shire President Ian Mifflin says the meeting went very well and councillors asked questions
00:36on safety, waste disposal and jobs.
00:38They know that the jobs are going to go under Anthony Albanese and what we're proposing
00:43is a revitalisation of the region with thousands of jobs and a power source which is zero emissions.
00:51The state government accused Mr Dutton of failing to properly consult the community.
00:56If Peter Dutton was proud of his nuclear plan he'd be very happy to openly talk about it
01:00in Collie.
01:02He has snuck into Collie to try and say that he has ticked off, that he has visited the
01:07town of Collie.
01:09It is disrespectful to the people of Collie.
01:11It was just such a silly proposition, we didn't of course, we met with the Shire President,
01:17we met with the councillors who represent the local community, we met with Rick Wilson
01:22who is the local federal member.
01:24Mr Dutton also announced that he would scrap a proposed offshore wind farm off the south
01:30west coast promoted by the Albanese government.
01:33The opposition says there's been a significant community backlash to the plan.
01:37Around the world these projects are falling over, cancelled, bankrupt and ultimately this
01:43would be a travesty for our south west.
01:46The state government says it understands the concerns but that these projects are rigorously
01:50assessed.