I’m Jordan, I live on Whadjuk Noongar boodja in Perth and this election, I’m voting for a future powered by clean and safe renewable energy.

Currently 1 in 3 Australian homes have rooftop solar and around 40% of Australia’s energy grid is powered by renewables. The energy transformation is already underway! With the rise of cheap and abundant renewable energy replacing polluting fossil fuels like coal and gas, we need our next term of government to continue this momentum to phase out coal and gas as fast as possible. 

I grew up in Gippsland on Gunaikunai country, about 50 km from Loy Yang (one of the seven sites the Coalition has earmarked for nuclear reactors). I’m really concerned about Peter Dutton’s proposal for nuclear energy. Not only am I scared of the disproportionate impacts nuclear would have on my community’s health, the burden of radioactive waste that lasts forever, and the strong link between nuclear power and nuclear weapons. I’m also really worried about the delay that nuclear would have on Australia’s transition to 100% safe and clean renewables. 

There is a long history of First Nations communities resisting against nuclear. From uranium mining, to nuclear waste dumps and nuclear weapons testing, nuclear projects have consistently been staunchly opposed on this continent. All lands across Australia are First Nations lands and the colonial misconception that nuclear projects happen ‘far away’ or on ‘unoccupied lands’ must be opposed. 

Nuclear is a delay tactic that extends the path that’s coming to an end for fossil fuels. Nuclear greenlights gas to continue to expand whilst the rest of the world moves to renewables. The Coalition’s current nuclear plan would only account for 10% of Australia’s energy and it wouldn’t deliver any energy until at least 2040… so what does the Coalition want to fill the gap with?  Gas. We know we can’t afford any more fossil fuels and that continued gas expansion puts all of us at risk. 

Our communities deserve better. Regional towns and communities that have been on the frontlines of fossil fuels, bearing the brunt of negative health and environmental impacts for decades, so to now have proposals for nuclear reactors in their backyards is unfair. We can have a better world - with clean energy that never runs out, diverse and thriving cultures, fairer and more connected communities,  and thriving biodiversity. But we have to invest in a future powered by clean, and safe renewable energy, which means: 100% renewables by 2030 and no nuclear energy. 

We can’t afford any more climate inaction, and we definitely can’t afford nuclear energy on this continent. We need to rapidly move beyond coal, gas and oil to renewable energy if we are to mitigate the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

This federal election, I’m voting for climate justice because communities like the one I grew up in deserve a just transition to safe, reliable and affordable renewable energy, not nuclear!