At 7.30pm on a Sunday night, a press release landed in my inbox from Barnaby Joyce's office announcing a press conference.
It didn't say what the press conference was actually about.
🤳 Getting detail: I messaged the number on the release asking for detail. The reply didn't provide any insight into what Joyce might be talking about:
“‼️Media Alert ‼️ All will be announced at the Doorstop”, was all it said.
After an unanswered call I went to bed.
📻 In the loop: By Monday morning, 2GB was reporting an exclusive drop that the press conference would focus on Joyce's opposition to a renewable energy zone in his electorate of New England.
⏰ Who showed up: The press conference was set for 7.30am on a Monday, before most reporters clock on for the day.
In the end, the turnout was me, a reporter and cameraman from the ABC, a News Corp reporter, and a reporter from the Land, an agricultural newspaper.
⚡Doorstop: After talking through his opposition to new power lines, Joyce raised coal and nuclear as alternatives to building more renewable energy.
With CSIRO research estimating it would take at least 15 years for a nuclear reactor to start supplying Australia's grid, I asked Joyce directly: is nuclear a solution for the 2030s, or the 2040s?
Without giving a clear answer Joyce opted instead to argue for lifting the ban on nuclear power introduced under the Howard government in 1998.
☢️ Nuclear waste: I asked Joyce whether he'd support a nuclear waste facility in New England.
🗣️ "I tell you what, you've got a nuclear waste facility in every hospital. Low grade waste is stored at the hospital. Got a problem with that?" he said.
The details: Hospitals and universities across Australia store low level nuclear waste, like personal protective and lab equipment that has been exposed to radiation.
However, according to the government nuclear organisation ANSTO, those sites were only ever meant to be temporary and are nearing capacity.
Joyce then mentioned that nuclear waste is also stored at Lucas Heights in “the middle of Sydney”.
The details: Intermediate nuclear waste is stored at the OPAL research reactor, found 31km southwest of the CBD in the Sutherland Shire.
The storage of this nuclear waste at the Lucas Heights facility is also only a temporary measure, as Australia currently has no permanent solution for the long term storage of nuclear waste.
When pressed on this, Joyce simply repeated “Where else have they put it lately?” until the press conference ended.
🤔 The result? Joyce couldn't answer two simple questions:
When might nuclear arrive? And where would the waste go?
Watch the National Account's Archie Milligan below: