Can nuclear power help Lorraine's business cope with rising expenses?

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Lorraine Broadley’s bookstore was partially submerged when the 2022 flood waters in Gympie in Queensland reached 22.9 metres.

Since opening Twiga Books in 1994, her small business has overcome it all. Before the flood damaged stock loss, came the COVID-19 pandemic closures.

Now the 74-year-old is facing her latest adversary — an onslaught of rising costs, including increases to power bills.

“The average retail shop has quite a lot of electricity, and our prices have definitely gone up,” she told SBS News.

“We’ve seen a huge increase in costs post-COVID. I have to say that stock cost delivery has gone [up] … the margins have got thinner and thinner.”

A line graph showing how wholesale prices have risen then dropped over five years.

In two years, Broadley’s electricity costs have risen 15 per cent, despite driving down her power consumption which is integral to a “well-lit bookstore”.

Across regional Queensland small businesses saw a 26.8 per cent electricity increase in 2023, while residential customers faced a 28.7 per cent jump in prices, according to the latest data by the Queensland Competition Authority.

Broadley is open to Australia having nuclear reactors, , if the transition can reduce her power bills.

“We haven’t fared too well under what’s going on, because the costs have gone through the roof as far as renewables go,” she said, referring to Woolooga Solar Farm, situated only 20 minutes away from her bookstore.

A cardboard sign saying 'no forest wind' stapled to a tree on the side of the road.

The Forest Wind farm, which plans to build 226 wind turbines 40km north-east of Gympie, has faced local opposition and has been repeatedly stalled. Source: SBS News / Thomas Druitt

Gympie is at a critical renewable intersection, with the $14.2 billion Borumba Pumped Hydro project and the $2 billion Forest Wind project, consisting of up to 226 wind turbines, also planned for the region.

“One of the concerns we have here is that we have giant solar farms impacting our beautiful natural environment, marching across farmland, marching through proposed subdivisions,” Broadley said.

“I actually feel we’re going a little bit far … I know we’ve got the climate impact pressing heavily, but I think we really do need a mix and I’d be prepared to support a nuclear solution.”

Nationals leader David Littleproud is among the loudest backers of the $300 billion nuclear-powered pitch to deliver net zero, despite the construction of nuclear power plants being at least a decade away.

“From being on the ground, it’s overwhelmingly supported, because [regional voters] see a future that’s not one that’s littered with transmission lines, solar panels and wind turbines,” Littleproud told SBS News.

“There’s more jobs and higher paying jobs that are already at those coal-fired power stations … the opportunity that those communities are seeing is us living up to our international commitments but having an energy mix.”

Littleproud said more gas would ease household budgets short term before nuclear reactors were up and running. However, without government resources, he said he couldn’t provide exact figures on how much energy bills would drop.

Earlier this month, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said: “Their policy, as independent experts have looked at it, because nuclear is so expensive would force energy prices up.”

Nuclear pitch dividing Queensland voters

When SBS News visited the safe LNP seat of Wide Bay, it found Broadley is not alone in her support for nuclear.

“I don’t think it’s to be dismissed. I think it needs to have a fair hearing,” said David, a local farmer who has experienced his profit dwindle with rising business costs.

“I think we’ve got a big country with a lot of resources. We got a lot of uranium. We’re selling it to other people … Why not use it ourselves and have cheap electricity?”

“Done in the right way, I think it’s pretty safe these days. So yeah, not opposed to it,” Estelle said.

For others, the Coalition’s plan was too vague, lacking “the information to be able to answer”.

While in Brisbane’s CBD, voters were a lot more wary.

“I hate that idea, it’s such a bad idea to me … what are we going to do with the waste? He [Peter Dutton] still hasn’t responded to that question. And what’s wrong with the sustainable energy that we have at the moment?” Catherine told SBS News.

“I really think it’s a politician stunt to get people thinking that there’s a cheaper way out,” Simon said.

Paul Williams, a political scientist at Griffith University, said views in Queensland didn’t necessarily reflect how the energy debate would play out across the nation.

“Opinion polls tell us that most Australians are opposed to Peter Dutton’s nuclear policy, but in Queensland, it’s a very different case,” he told SBS News.

“Particularly in regional Queensland, where coal has been obviously been the lifeblood of Queensland energy. I can see voters there really gravitating to Peter Dutton’s nuclear policy.”

Political scientist Paul Williams said while Peter Dutton’s pitch may resonate with voters in his home state, it is less likely to strike a chord in more progressive states like Victoria. Source: SBS News / Thomas Druitt

In the Sunshine State, where half of homes have rooftop solar, many voters expressed their support, explaining that after the initial solar installation costs, their power bills went down.

“Solar’s good. It works well, but you gotta know how to use it,” Lance said.

For those without solar, power bill relief has come in the form of $1000 energy rebates subsidised by state and federal governments.

While some voters were concerned about the eventual waste of solar panels or wind turbines at the project’s end of life, overall, sentiments towards renewables in Queensland were far less polarising.