Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Do you remember learning in primary school how unique our island continent is? I remember being taught that the Great Barrier Reef is the longest reef in the world and it can be seen from outer space. I'm not sure if that's true but I remember hearing about that—it's a big thing in Queensland—and that we were the smallest continent, filled with animals not found anywhere else. One fact I particularly remember is that Australia is the driest inhabited continent in the world. It's not the driest but is the driest inhabited continent. Antarctica is actually drier.

Growing up in Saint George, out in western Queensland, this fact wasn't too hard to imagine. We went for long periods without rain. In fact, 70 per cent of Australia is classified as either arid or semiarid. In the arid zone, there is an average rainfall of 250 millimetres or less. This fact is particularly pertinent now, given the coalition's nuclear fantasy. The nuclear plan of the honourable opposition leader, Mr Dutton, is fanciful in numerous ways, as was detailed by Mr Repacholi in his speech this morning. But, there are so many other things.

We know it's fanciful because of the cost, the timeframe, the risk, the legal barriers and the lack of social licence. That's has been covered by many of the other speakers so far. I'm going to particularly talk about the fact that the LNP's nuclear pipedream involves generating nuclear energy on the driest inhabited continent on earth, and I'm particularly going to talk about Queensland.

We know that water plays a crucial role in the generation of nuclear power.

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