Labor heavyweight Joel Fitzgibbon has urged Labor to reconsider nuclear energy after saying watching the iconic AGL Liddell Power Station come down brought ‘a tear to my eye’, as Pauline Hanson blasted the demolition as a ‘national shame’. 

Liddell Power Station operated for 52 years until it was decommissioned in 2023.

While the process of cleaning the site began in early 2024, energy giant AGL Energy tore down the twin, 169m-high chimneys on Tuesday using explosives.

A dramatic livestream showed the moment explosives at the base of each stack went off, causing them to fall into each other.

The former station will be transformed into a ‘renewable energy hub’, with a 500 MW grid-scale battery to store energy.

Fitzgibbon said the demolition of Liddell could have been avoided, and that pressure from investors, banks and corporations to move away from fossil fuels, along with government support and subsidies for renewable energy projects, had made coal-fired power stations less economically viable.

‘Its time had probably come, but these power generators are like any machines,’ Fitzgibbon told Sky News Australia.

‘If you can still get the parts and make the economics stack up, you can just keep them going forever, you know, like a vintage car.

Former Labor heavyweight Joel Fitzgibbon said watching the iconic Liddell Power Station come down brought ‘a tear to my eye’ as he urged Labor to reconsider nuclear energy 

Former Labor minister Joel Fitzgibbon said Australia would need ‘a lot of windmills and solar panels’ to replace the power once generated by Liddell

The twin chimneys at Liddell Power Station were demolished on Tuesday, after explosives were put at the base of each stack to safely fell them

‘I think it would be still going if it wasn’t for all the ESG pressure and all the subsidies for the renewables sector. So it’s a bit of a tragedy from my perspective.’

Mr Fitzgibbon said the power station provided 2,000 megawatt hours of energy for the grid.

‘That’s a lot of windmills and solar panels… You won’t get that sort of capacity out of anything other than nuclear,’ he said.

Fitzgibbon railed against the broader changes to the Labor government’s energy policy, including the decision not to lift a prohibition on nuclear energy.

‘The real reason they don’t like it is because they think it’s going to have a chilling effect on renewables investment,’ he said.

‘If there are other options, then some of that capital might flow to the nuclear sector at the expense of the renewable sector.

‘They actually are fearful. It’s not too expensive. They are fearful that it might be just cheap enough to compete with renewables for that investment. That’s the real tragedy.

‘But we mine uranium. We send it overseas for others to generate power from. But for some reason, we won’t do it here in our own country.’

Pauline Hanson blasted the demolition of the iconic Liddell Power Station as a ‘national shame’, warning Australia was destroying reliable energy infrastructure 

Liddell Power Station operated for 52 years until it was decommissioned in 2023. The site will now become a renewable energy hub

Tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, one of AGL Energy’s largest shareholders through his investment firm Grok Ventures, has repeatedly pushed the company to accelerate its decarbonisation plans and move faster away from coal-fired power. 

The demolition also drew criticism from One Nation leader Hanson, who argued Australia was tearing down reliable coal-fired power before renewable alternatives were capable of fully replacing it.

‘Australia had some of the cheapest electricity in the world in the 2000s when Liddell Power Station was in the prime of its life,’ she said.

‘Today, this government is celebrating literally blowing up Liddell with nothing to replace it and deliver cheap electricity.

‘This madness has to end. This destruction of productive infrastructure is a national shame, not something to celebrate.

‘End Net-Zero. Withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Build Coal.’

Despite the renewables transition, NSW was still getting 77 per cent of its electricity from black coal yesterday.

Hydro supplied 6 per cent, solar 12 per cent and wind just 4 per cent, while gas and battery power accounted for 1 per cent each.

In the 48 hours before the demolition, black coal had contributed more than 80 per cent of the state’s electricity supply.

Nationally, black and brown coal were supplying 64 per cent of demand, gas was supplying 5 per cent, with solar supplying 13 per cent, wind 11 per cent and battery power 1 per cent.

AGL Chief Operations and Construction Officer Matthew Currie acknowledged the significance of the power station but said the change would transform the region.

‘We know that the Liddell Power Station holds deep significance for the local community, employees and families who worked at or were connected to the site,’ he said.

‘Liddell Power Station has played an important role in Australia’s energy system. The demolition will pave the way for the continued transformation of the site.

‘AGL’s vision is to transform the site into a Hunter Energy Hub that will support new jobs, regional growth and long-term economic development.’